I rose up this morning and charted out my Metro route. Red Line to Teatralnaya, transfer to the green line, then three stops to Dorogozychi. I've read about Babi Yar and have seen it on documentaries. Soon after the nazis occupied Kiev, they found a nice deep ravine on the outskirts of the city and set up operations. Jews were ordered to report there for transfer to a refugee camp. Some transfer. They were lined up, machine-gunned down or shot with pistols, and their bodies were thrown into the ravine. There were a few that weren't quite dead when they were tossed in, or jumped in when they heard the gun shot, and may have been only grazed by the bullet aimed at them. They then pulled themselves out from under the piles of bodies during the night and managed to make their escape. I don't recall the numbers of those killed, but I believe it was in the tens of thousands over the course of about three days. This is a mass grave site, now filled in and turned into a park.
There is no massive memorial here like the kind you find in the city commemorating war heroes. I found two small granite memorials and two very crude ones, almost like they were made in someone's garage, which were made of steel pipe in the shape of crosses, the Russian Orthodox version, with two horizontal members. Rather interesting considering that the victims were primarily Jewish. I would imagine there were probably a few Christians that got in there as well. No matter, I'm sure Jesus would have pity on them despite their specific beliefs, and doesn't mind the shape of the symbol.
When I arrived at the site, as is often the case, the reality did not quite fit the vision I had. Instead of the flat plateau with neatly-trimmed grass which I had imagined, the place appeared very virgin, a huge area, maybe 100 acres, criss-crossed with trails, picnic areas and many small hideaways, perfect for shelters of those unfortunate who are forced (or choose) to live on the streets. Up from the metro station, the park - lets call it a wilderness area instead – was only a few steps away. I began walking down a widely-paved area lined with weathered wooden benches. Grandmothers were taking their grandchildren for walks in their strollers, there was one group of three women having an impromptu picnic, and there were some young folks laughing it up and imbibing in some spirits. Ten o'clock in the morning, very common here, any time is drinking time. There were a few homeless people who probably didn't know the date, let alone the time.
After finding my way past the first stone memorial, the path started getting narrower and more overgrown with trees. I could see where fires had been doused and the areas were littered with cans and other debris. I changed direction a few times when I saw some rough-looking youths having a party behind the trees. I topped another hill, and found the second memorial, a granite monument in the shape of the Jewish candle. Nearby I found the first cross made of steel pipe. By that time I was near the other end of the “wilderness area”. There were about four different paths leading away from there. I headed down what seemed to be the widest, and it took me behind some houses into an alley way. Looking like a possible dead end, I reversed after about a hundred yards and decided to turn right. I could hear traffic noise in the distance so I decided to head towards it. I walked into a small wooded cul-de-sac, so I veered off onto another small path which started to descend down at a slight angle. I could still hear the traffic noise, but could not see through the trees. I hadn't seen any humans now for about ten minutes. The vegetation got thicker, the path drew narrower. Soon it was only a small trail. It seemed to end in a small cove, where again I saw remnants of someone's
I was a long distance now from the metro station, probably at least a mile. One way led downhill, away from the metro. The pictures I had seen of Babi-Yar showed a street sort of like on the down-stream side of the dam, and the story was the dam was creeping out into the street, and at one time was in danger of collapse. If that happened, the street would fill with skeletons from the dead. That was about twenty years ago, I'm sure some repairs have been made since then. Part of me wanted to see the bottom of that street, but the better part told me to hoof it back to the metro station. I chose that option. Enough drama and walking for one morning.
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