Investigating Babyn Yar: Shadows from the Valley of Death pieces together the story of the destruction of Kyiv's Jews using history's shattered fragments. Martin Dean traces their journey out of the city, using discarded clothing and distinctive terrain as a trail of breadcrumbs to identify the killing site in the ravine. Shadowy figures in photographs and escape stories from the mass grave reveal the suffering of many that is documented by the survival of just a few. Using aerial photographs, ground photographs, and extensive eye-witness testimony, the author locates specific incidents in the topography to explain what happened on September 29-30, 1941. Interwoven into the main narrative, this book examines the massacre's broader context. Respective chapters describe efforts by Jews to flee the city, the escalation of Nazi mass shootings, and the plunder of Jewish property. During its occupation of Kyiv, the Gestapo established a network of prison camps and deployed a special unit to exhume and burn the corpses at Babyn Yar, covering up the crime before their hasty retreat. Postwar, the ravine was scarred by a terrible mudslide in 1961. Then Soviet redevelopment and memorial plans sought to erase both the topography and the Jewish identity of this symbolic site of Holocaust memory.
Martin C. Dean is historical consultant based in Washington DC, who works for the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, the University of Cologne, and other organizations as researcher and lecturer.
Introduction 1. Special Assignment 2. Placards Pasted on the Streets 3. Baptism of Fire: The Bloody Road to Kyiv 4. The Lone Tree as Silent Witness 5. The Streets Were Full of Jews 6. Escape from the Bunker 7. Not on the Map 8. The Checkpoint on Melnikov Street 9. The Brick Factory and the Mudslide 10. Luggage Piled Up on Dorohozhytska Street 11. Evacuations of Jews from Kyiv and their Return 12. Running the Gauntlet 13. Clothing Discarded in the Sand Quarry 14. The POW Camp on Kerosynna Street 15. Trill's Bridge 16. The Organization of the Mass Shooting 17. Efforts by Jews to Escape 18. Exploding the Valley Walls 19. German Retreat from the City 20. Claiming the Plunder 21. Gestapo Prison and Forced Labor Camps in Kyiv 22. Jewish Tombstones 23. The Burial of History and Its Rebirth at Babyn Yar 24. Missile Strike on the TV Tower 25. War Crimes Investigations 26. Lengthening Shadows Acknowledgements Bibliography About the Author
