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© Tatiana TUR (USA), “Vechirniy Kyiv”(“Evening Kyiv”), March 16^th, 1996

 

Holocaust. Truth about Babyn Yar.

Documental research

(Part seven)

 

Ehrenburg in his article tells

 

Ehrenburg in his t article ells about the old, neglected and not used at that time (so far as there was no a good approaches) Kyrylivske cemetery. On the other hand, the Jewish cemetery, which Molotov mentioned was near the main river bed of the Repiahiv ravine, which took its beginning from that graveyard. Only in the very best case it is possible to say, that the Jewish cemetery was “abreast”, “near”, “above” Babyn Yar, but no one can say, that it was in “Babyn Yar”.

Ehrenburg descended from the rich Kyivan family and knew his family city very well. No doubt, that he came to the graves of his ancestors on the Jewish cemetery every year and knew, that it was not possible to conceal 55 thousand shot or envenomed citizens there or in the Repiahiv ravine, which crossed it. Ehrenberg knew as well, that on the opposite side of the Melnikova street was a large orthodox cemetery. That’s why at the time when there were no faxes, Ehrenburg, probably, decided to put Molotov right offhand and hastily and “transfer” the place of slaughter of Kyivans to the remote, forgotten and neglected Kyrylivske cemetery, that is situated among the deep ravines of Babyn Yar to make that all more verisimilar. At present this forgotten cemetery became a tract, where Kyivans, lovers of quietness and fresh air, enjoy their life and don’t know that once there was situated a graveyard.

Before the war Ehrenburg for many years lived in the Western Europe as correspondent and, probably, didn’t know that in the far end of Babyn Yar at the Syrets’ Cheka hided their victims in one of the ravines. That’s why he had not to hint at Babyn Yar.

            Probably, that all happened because of the lack of means for the fast interchange of information. Ehrenburg was in Almaty, Lozovskyi – in Kuibyshev, and Molotov – in Moscow. Probably, they hadn’t agreed the place of annihilation. That gave us an opportunity to see, that the war tragedy of Babyn Yar (firstly – the Jewish graveyard) is a fib, which was invented to conceal the ferocities of NKVD and especially Cheka against Ukrainians in Kyiv.

The number of victims, changed by Ehrenburg, additionally shows the imperfect at that time interchange of information: Molotov had 52 000, and Ehrenburg changed it to 55 000. It doesn’t look like a misprint.

            A week after, 3.Х.42, “Krasnaya zvezda” (“Red star”) published an article “The fascist tyranny in Kyiv”, which was signed by the Military Correspondent of TASS. This article was based on interviews with inhabitants of Kyiv, who passed over front and moved to “The large land” (“Mainland”). The Correspondent of TSS tells about “Germans’ bloody terror” in Kyiv and as the worst display of it he gives us a fact of shooting of trespassers (who came only 10 minutes later) of curfew. Still neither this unnamed correspondent, who was added to the “Acting army”, nor numerous refugees-Kyivans knew anything at that time (that is why they didn’t recollect) the mass military shootings in Kyiv. It is known that the “executions” in Kyiv weren’t mentioned in the Russian-language note of Molotov in the pocket edition for the every political instructor. Thus the “decree” of Informindjel about that in the press USSR of 27.IX.42 it is possible to hint at slaughter of inhabitants in Kyiv, reached Sovinform and Ehrenburg , but did not reach the front correspondent of TASS. It looks like the interchange of information between Informindjel and TASS wasn’t coordinated yet. The article of Ehrenburg in the “Krasnaya zvezda” of 27.IX.42 is a proof of it.

 

 

(To be continued)