Drobytsky Yar

In the beginning of the 1990s, a competition was held for the best design of the memorial to immortalize the thousands of citizens murdered by the Nazis. Twenty-nine designs were submitted. The winner was the architect A. Leibfreid. The construction of the complex lasted several years however it was suspended due to the lack of funds.

At a meeting in late August 2001, the Kharkiv Oblast administration decided to resume the construction of the memorial. The oblast authorities supervised the construction process. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine allotted 600,000 hryvens for the construction. Contributions have also been made by city and oblast administrations, as well as by sponsors.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}

File:Drobitskiy menora.jpg, which was smashed by Russian military forces in March 2022]]

On 13 December 2002 the President of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma, opened the memorial.

The main part of the memorial is a monument symbolizing a synagogue, with the Ten Commandments between its columns; most notably: "Do not kill". The memorial begins with a monument stylized under a Jewish menorah. A road leads from a black menorah to a white main building of the complex. Thousands of Kharkiv Jews took their last steps along it in 1941/1942. These dates are found on the wall of the main arched building. Underground is a hall of memory; the wall will bear the names of known victims.

The site includes two burials area. One trench is 100 m long and the other is 60 m. The Kharkiv archives contain data on fifteen thousand victims. However, the "Drobytsky Yar" foundation considers the number of victims to be closer to thirty thousand.

180 tons{{Vague|date=February 2009}} of a Zhytomyr granite was used in the construction of the memorial. This is the same material that was used for Lenin's Mausoleum. Due to the granite's particular qualities (it has reddish veins), the stones lying at the menorah's foot seem to bleed.[http://www.jewukr.org/observer/jo24_43/p0204_e.html Observer]

As of 2006 the names of 4,300 of the 16,000 victims were etched on an underground memorial wall, illuminated by candlelight, in a room called "Room of Tragedy".{{cite news|publisher=Orlando Sentinel|url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/orl-greg-dawson-travels-to-ukraine-071909,0,85243.story|author=Greg Dawson|title=A return to Ukraine|year=2009}}

On 26 March 2022 it was reported that Russian artillery fire had damaged the menorah sculpture.{{Cite web |last=Lonas |first=Lexi |date=2022-03-26 |title=Russian military damages Holocaust memorial near city of Kharkiv |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/599865-russian-military-damages-holocaust-memorial-near-city-of-kharkiv |access-date=2022-03-26 |website=The Hill|language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center on Twitter: "#Russia continues to attack not only the civilian population of #Ukraine but also the places of remembrance. Russians shelled another Holocaust memorial. This time, Russian artillery damaged the Menorah monument in Drobytsky Yar near Kharkiv. |url=https://twitter.com/babynyarhmc/status/1507683460839882752 |access-date=2022-03-26 |website=Twitter |language=en}} This allegation was made by Ukrainian government officials, then relayed by the Ukrainian embassy in Israel and the Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky.

On 27 January 2002, a new exposition in the Kharkiv City Holocaust Museum was officially opened. The exposition was created in December 2001, when Kharkiv commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Drobytsky Yar massacre. Excursions to the ravine had already been held before, but the official opening was on 27 January, the anniversary of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp's 1945 liberation (later designated International Holocaust Remembrance Day). Six candles were lit in memory of the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.[http://holocaustmuseum.pochta.org/index.html Museum website (in Russian)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008082542/http://holocaustmuseum.pochta.org/index.html |date=October 8, 2007 }}

File:Memorial Sign - Drobytsky Yar Holocaust Memorial - Outside Kharkiv (Kharkov) - Ukraine (30162902498).jpg|Memorial sign

File:Killing Fields - Drobytsky Yar Holocaust Memorial - Outside Kharkiv (Kharkov) - Ukraine - 02 (43982791882).jpg|Killing fields (the sign reads 'Burial place')

File:Memorial Stone - Drobytsky Yar Holocaust Memorial - Outside Kharkiv (Kharkov) - Ukraine (43982786902).jpg|Memorial stone

File:Original Soviet Monument (at Left) with Killing Site - Drobytsky Yar Holocaust Memorial - Outside Kharkiv (Kharkov) - Ukraine (29094013637).jpg|Original Soviet monument (on the left) on the killing site

File:Killing Site with Memorial Stone - Drobytsky Yar Holocaust Memorial - Outside Kharkiv (Kharkov) - Ukraine (30162905688).jpg|Killing site with memorial stone

File:Facade of Main Memorial - Drobytsky Yar Holocaust Memorial - Outside Kharkiv (Kharkov) - Ukraine - 03 (42222134570).jpg|Facade of main memorial

File:Facade of Main Memorial - Drobytsky Yar Holocaust Memorial - Outside Kharkiv (Kharkov) - Ukraine - 01 (30162909378).jpg|Facade of main memorial

File:Distant View of Main Monument - Drobytsky Yar Holocaust Memorial - Outside Kharkiv (Kharkov) - Ukraine (30162910018).jpg|Distant view of main memorial

File:Panorama of Killing Site with Memorial Stone - Drobytsky Yar Holocaust Memorial - Outside Kharkiv (Kharkov) - Ukraine (30162903628).jpg|Panorama of killing site with memorial stone

File:Menorah Monument - Drobytsky Yar Holocaust Memorial - Outside Kharkiv (Kharkov) - Ukraine - 01 (44031359141).jpg|Menorah monument

File:Interior of Memorial - Drobytsky Yar Holocaust Memorial - Outside Kharkiv (Kharkov) - Ukraine - 01 (30162912898).jpg|The "room of tragedy" with names of victims

File:Detail of Jewish Star on Padded Jacket - Drobytsky Yar Holocaust Memorial - Outside Kharkiv (Kharkov) - Ukraine (30162914228).jpg|Detail of Jewish star on padded jacket

{{commons category|Drobytsky Yar memorial}}

• [http://www.drobytskyyar.org/ Official website of the memorial complex "Drobitsky Yar"]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071008071218/http://www.kholokostmemorial.org/main.php Kharkov Charitable fund "to Victims of Holocaust in Drobitskiy Yar"]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070202171439/http://www.artukraine.com/historical/kharkivmon.htm Memorial information]

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{{Holocaust Ukraine}}

{{Massacres of Jews}}

{{Einsatzgruppen}}

Category:Kharkiv in World War II

Category:Jews and Judaism in Kharkiv

Category:Mass murder in 1941

Category:Geography of Kharkiv Oblast

Category:Massacres in Ukraine

Category:World War II sites in Ukraine

Category:World War II sites of Nazi Germany

Category:World War II memorials in Ukraine

Category:Buildings and structures in Kharkiv Oblast

Category:Tourist attractions in Kharkiv Oblast

Category:Holocaust locations in Ukraine

Category:Holocaust massacres and pogroms in Ukraine

Category:Buildings and structures destroyed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine