‘The Corpses in the Ravine Were Women, Men, and Children’: Written Testimonies from 1941 on the Babi Yar Massacre

TY - JOUR

T1 - ‘The Corpses in the Ravine Were Women, Men, and Children’

T2 - Written Testimonies from 1941 on the Babi Yar Massacre

AU - Berkhoff, K.C.

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - This research note brings to light important primary sources on Babi Yar: two testimonies written for the NKVD in 1941 by non-Jewish Soviet citizens who had spent time in occupied Kiev. Although problematic in various ways, these testimonies offer details not found elsewhere about the murder of Kiev's Jews. The research note also traces how subsequent NKVD reports and Soviet press articles used the two documents. This close examination reveals editorial cuts, additions, and other changes—and, in one case, a lack of concern with accuracy even when the NKVD passed on the information in a classified report for Stalin.

AB - This research note brings to light important primary sources on Babi Yar: two testimonies written for the NKVD in 1941 by non-Jewish Soviet citizens who had spent time in occupied Kiev. Although problematic in various ways, these testimonies offer details not found elsewhere about the murder of Kiev's Jews. The research note also traces how subsequent NKVD reports and Soviet press articles used the two documents. This close examination reveals editorial cuts, additions, and other changes—and, in one case, a lack of concern with accuracy even when the NKVD passed on the information in a classified report for Stalin.

U2 - 10.1093/hgs/dcv030

DO - 10.1093/hgs/dcv030

M3 - Article

SN - 8756-6583

VL - 29

SP - 251

EP - 274

JO - Holocaust and Genocide Studies

JF - Holocaust and Genocide Studies

IS - 2

ER -