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

 

Holocaust. Truth about Babyn Yar.

Documental research

(Part six)

 

THE EVIDENCE OF THE SOVIET PRESS DURING THE OCCUPATION OF KYIV

 

I USSR the communist party had an absolute control upon mass media, the main of which were: TASS, which represented the creative work of journalists; Soviet Informational bureau, through which the party informed “the Soviet man”; the Informational bureau of People’s Commissariat of Foreign Affairs – the mouthpiece of the government, which reported news abroad and to the western allies.

Taking into consideration the difficulties during the war there often appeared contradictions between those organizations about information. Because of the mistakes and because all the time SOMETHING was suppressed, in particular about Babyn Yar, it could be seen how the untruth was created, to learn about the state secrets and to come to a truth. The analysis of the chronology of the reports of that three Soviet press services gives an opportunity to find out: when, how, who and why boomed the fib about the tragedy of Kyivans on the Jewish cemetery, and after some time – of Jews in Babyn Yar.

Although in this reports lie and truth are in pell-mell, they are an important historical source. However, firstly, nowadays the documents in archives are difficult to find and it is unknown, who brought them there and are they falsified or not. Secondly, the reports of the press services are made hurriedly, and not all of them are concerted. Thirdly, the workers of archives often limit an access to them. Fourthly, the most important is that the reports of press are hardly to counterfeit, because different periodicals, often outside the Soviet Union.

 

THE FIRST MEMORY ABOUT BABYN YAR IN THE PRESS

 

An important information about Babyn Yar is possible to find in “Krasnaia zvezda”(“Red star”). In 1993 already the archives of Kyiv didn’t want to publish for revising the duplications of this paper for the 1941. Probably, that’s because the paper had to screen and acquit the terrible failures of the Red Army. However the revision of the duplications from 1942-44 give an explanation about who and why invented a fib about the war tragedy in Babyn Yar.

The first memory about Babyn Yar in the Soviet press we have found in the article “Kyiv”, written by Illia Ehrenburg on the occasion of the first anniversary of occupation of Kyiv (“Krasnay zvezda” 27.IX.42). In a comparative large article it is said hardly not with one sentence about the “the most horrible slaughter” in all history of humanity:

 “A year ago on the cemetery in Babyn Yar 55 thousand inhabitants of Kyiv were shot from machineguns. Since then no day passes without execution. On the walling of the walling of the city it is possible to read: “For the act of sabotage 300 hundred criminals were shot by the German military authorities. Not long ago two women in Darnytsia were hanged for harbouring of Red Army soldiers”.

Firstly we should pay attention to the phrase of I. Ehrenburg “in the cemetery in the Babyn Yar”. Probably it is not just a language or literal error. In his article Ehrenburg contradicts Molotov, who definitely pointed out in his note nine months ago that the military shooting was held on the Jewish cemetery. The contradiction between Molotov and Ehrenburg about the place of slaughter of more than 50 thousand citizens of Kyiv had several reasons, that’s why it needs more detailed elucidation.

 

(To be continued)