syscom3
Pacific Historian
In Kiev, the Nazis murdered approximately 100,000 people in a ravine named Babi Yar.
......The Germans were counting out only a few people at a time and then letting them move farther on. Machine-gun fire could be heard nearby. For those that realized what was happening and wanted to leave, it was too late. There was a barricade staffed by Germans who were checking identification papers of those wanting out. If the person was Jewish, they were forced to remain. .........
.....Taken from the front of the line in groups of ten, they were led to a corridor, about four or five feet wide, formed by rows of soldiers on each side. The soldiers were holding sticks and would hit the Jews as they went by......
......There was no question of being able to dodge or get away. Brutal blows, immediately drawing blood, descended on their heads, backs and shoulders from left and right. The soldiers kept shouting: "Schnell, schnell!" laughing happily, as if they were watching a circus act; they even found ways of delivering harder blows in the more vulnerable places, the ribs, the stomach and the groin.......
.....Those who hesitated had their clothes ripped off them by force, and were kicked and struck with knuckledusters or clubs by the Germans, who seemed to be drunk with fury in a sort of sadistic rage......
.....Once the Jews were lined up, the Nazis used a machine-gun to shoot them. When shot, they fell into the ravine. Then the next then were brought along the edge and shot........
.....According to the Einsatzgruppe Operational Situation Report No. 101, 33,771 Jews were killed at Babi Yar on September 29 and 30. But this was not the end of the killing at Babi Yar......
....The Nazis next rounded up Gypsies and killed them at Babi Yar. Patients of the Pavlov Psychiatric Hospital were gassed and then dumped into the ravine. Soviet prisoners of war were brought to the ravine and shot. Thousands of other civilians were killed at Babi Yar for trivial reasons, such as a mass shooting in retaliation for just one or two people breaking a Nazi order.....
....The killing continued for months at Babi Yar. It is estimated that 100,000 people were murdered there......
Commiting genocide and murder on a vast scale requires lots of accomplices. To say "I didnt know" is not factual. It should be a warning to all of us what happens when we stay silent in the face of horrors (like Bosnia, Ruwanda, Cambodia).
Note - strange as it seems, the Afrika Corps was never accused of war crimes, even when capturing jewish soldiers. The lack of SS control over Rommel (plus the remoteness from Berlin) meant the army acted in a more proffesional manner.
I myself dont hold any German responsible for what happened when they were to young to do anything. Plus its been 60 years after the fact, and Germany has reearned its right over the years to be a considered a great country.
......The Germans were counting out only a few people at a time and then letting them move farther on. Machine-gun fire could be heard nearby. For those that realized what was happening and wanted to leave, it was too late. There was a barricade staffed by Germans who were checking identification papers of those wanting out. If the person was Jewish, they were forced to remain. .........
.....Taken from the front of the line in groups of ten, they were led to a corridor, about four or five feet wide, formed by rows of soldiers on each side. The soldiers were holding sticks and would hit the Jews as they went by......
......There was no question of being able to dodge or get away. Brutal blows, immediately drawing blood, descended on their heads, backs and shoulders from left and right. The soldiers kept shouting: "Schnell, schnell!" laughing happily, as if they were watching a circus act; they even found ways of delivering harder blows in the more vulnerable places, the ribs, the stomach and the groin.......
.....Those who hesitated had their clothes ripped off them by force, and were kicked and struck with knuckledusters or clubs by the Germans, who seemed to be drunk with fury in a sort of sadistic rage......
.....Once the Jews were lined up, the Nazis used a machine-gun to shoot them. When shot, they fell into the ravine. Then the next then were brought along the edge and shot........
.....According to the Einsatzgruppe Operational Situation Report No. 101, 33,771 Jews were killed at Babi Yar on September 29 and 30. But this was not the end of the killing at Babi Yar......
....The Nazis next rounded up Gypsies and killed them at Babi Yar. Patients of the Pavlov Psychiatric Hospital were gassed and then dumped into the ravine. Soviet prisoners of war were brought to the ravine and shot. Thousands of other civilians were killed at Babi Yar for trivial reasons, such as a mass shooting in retaliation for just one or two people breaking a Nazi order.....
....The killing continued for months at Babi Yar. It is estimated that 100,000 people were murdered there......
Commiting genocide and murder on a vast scale requires lots of accomplices. To say "I didnt know" is not factual. It should be a warning to all of us what happens when we stay silent in the face of horrors (like Bosnia, Ruwanda, Cambodia).
Note - strange as it seems, the Afrika Corps was never accused of war crimes, even when capturing jewish soldiers. The lack of SS control over Rommel (plus the remoteness from Berlin) meant the army acted in a more proffesional manner.
I myself dont hold any German responsible for what happened when they were to young to do anything. Plus its been 60 years after the fact, and Germany has reearned its right over the years to be a considered a great country.