From the history
of the Drobytsky Yar tragedy documentary in the book
series of assistant professor Yu. M. Lyakhovitsky "Jewish genocide in
Ukraine during the occupation. 1941-1944".
(1988-1996)
Yuri Mikhailovich Lyakhovitsky (born in 1940) - PhD of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor, taught at the department of lifting machinery of the Ukrainian Correspondence Polytechnic University (later - Ukrainian Engineering Pedagogical Academy).
Coming from a well-known Kharkov medical family - professor-surgeon
Mikhail Mikhailovich Lyakhovitsky, Doctor of Medical Sciences (1903-1972) and
pathologist Mariya Moiseevna Tiraspolskaya, PhD (1909-1991), he knew
firsthand about the tragedy of Kharkov Jews - based on the fate of his
11 relatives who were caught by the occupation and perished "at the
Tractor plant" and in connection with the professional activities of
his parents during their work at frontline (father) and evacuation
(mother) Red Army hospitals.
These circumstances explain the interest of Dr. Yu. M. Lyakhovitsky to
this burning topic, tabooed until the end of the 80s, which was
allowed only on the wave of "perestroika" and "glasnost" - in the
framework of the Kharkov Society of Jewish Culture (KhSJC) which was
founded in April-May of 1989 with his active participation.
His article "I would like to memorialize everyone's names", the first on the subject of the Jewish genocide in Kharkov
during the occupation, published on 9/13/1988 in the Kharkov regional newspaper
"Red Flag" (then the "organ of the Kharkov regional committee of the
CPSU"!), received a large public response. From this point on, the
"official" research of the Drobytsky Yar documented history began.
So, having contacting the Kharkov regional archive regarding the
"direction of the organization" (in this case, the aforementioned
KhSJC), Dr. Yu. M. Lyakhovitsky, with the highly valuable assistance of
V.V. Reznikova, the director of the archive, and archivist A.I. Burik,
was given access to the regional archive's "holy of holies" - the
notorious "special storage". From there, he gathered the materials for
his "Series" preparation ( and, first of all, the "The Book of Drobytsky
Yar"), including the collection and study of the occupational
documents of that time, the compilation of Drobytsky Yar martyrology
(according to about 5,000 yellow house lists of the ominous 125
thousandth Nazi's order #23 for registration of Kharkov Jews (
December 6-15, 1941), their eviction to the barracks of the
Machine-Tool and Tractor plants (December 14-16, 1941) and subsequent
destruction.
In his next article "The lists of the dead were found..."
(in the newspaper "The Bulletin of Jewish Soviet Culture" dated
September 26, 1990), he called these forms "yellow lists" and this
term got wide use in casual document circulation. In any case, you
can't find find its use in this context prior to that date.
These lists, supplemented by data obtained in the wake of the
above-mentioned newspaper publications of Dr. Lyakhovitsky, as well as
preparatory materials of the exhibition of the Kharkov Historical
Museum, in which he participated, dedicated to the 50th anniversary
of the Drobytsky Yar tragedy, made up the actual initial martyrology of
Drobytsky Yar.
This work was completed with the publication (with the oversight of
Yevgeny Yevtushenko of the book
"Trampled Mezuzah" by Yu. M. Lyakhovitsky ("The Book of Drobytsky Yar"):
Testimonials, facts, documents of the Nazi genocide of the Kharkov
Jewish population during the occupation. 1941-1942. - Kharkov: Osnova,
1991. - 192 pp. [24] p. il. (Submitted for a print set on 12.12.90.
Signed for print on 3/15/91), which pioneered on this subject and
started the mentioned book series "The Jewish genocide in Ukraine
during the occupation. 1941-1944". By the way, "Osnova", the
publishing house of the Kharkov university, the only one of the then
existing 12 Soviet publishing houses, which was brave enough to
publish this book ( even at the expense of the author, but in the
author's original edition where "peaceful Soviet civilians - victims
of Nazi atrocities" buried in Drobytsky Yar , were finally called"
"Jews").
It is worth noting that, along with the collection of material for the
"Trampled Mezuzah", Dr. Lyakhovitsky, per request of the archive's
administration, complied and transferred to it a list of all the
related documents from the "special storage" for their
subsequent "declassification" and to make them available to the general public.
Also, in June 1991 (after the release of "Trampled Mezuzah"), Dr.
Lyakhovitsky, also at the request of the Archive administration,
provided consulting assistance to a group of foreign compilers of the
first generalized "List of Jews from Kharkov who perished during the Holocaust" in the
Kharkov region, having transferred to it the source database (F.
P-3746, P-4743, P-6245, etc), used by him when compiling the martyrology
of the "Trampled Mezuzah", which, thus, was included in the mentioned
"List" and then to the "The Central Database Of Shoah Victims' Names" at Yad
Vashem.
Further activities of Dr. Yu. Lyakhovitsky on this topic were held in
the legal framework of the private Jewish newspaper "Bensiah"
("Interlocutor") which he founded (1989) and the Section of History
and Culture of the Jewish Population of Sloboda Ukraine ("Institute
of Jewish Studies") of the North-Eastern Scientific Center of the
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (1994), as well as a number of
informal (legalized by notification) Jewish organizations for the
study of the Catastrophe, which operated under his leadership during
that period ( before his emigration in 1996), such as: Kharkov
Regional Historical and Memorial Center of the Catastrophe "Drobytsky Yar" (1988); Ukrainian Holocaust Memorial Fund
"Drobytsky Yar" (1990);
The International Foundation for the Holocaust "Drobytsky Yar"
(1993), the Institute for the Study of the Holocaust at the New York
Academy of Sciences (of which he was elected as a member in 1996), the
Independent Archive of the Holocaust "BeNAKH" (1996), and also the
project (see a government telegram photocopy) "Educational complex of
the Holocaust Museum" (based on the Kharkov Scientists' Society)
(1996) and others.
Their activity resulted in the release in 1992-1996 of the
book series "The Jewish Genocide in Ukraine during the Occupation.
1941-1944" ( with a preface by the chairman of the Northeastern Center
of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences, Academician of the
Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences V.P. Seminozhenko).
Architectonics and composition of the book series "The Jewish Genocide
in Ukraine during the Occupation. 1941-1944" is a collection of
artifacts (documentary, epistolary, etc) related to the study of the
tragedy of Drobytsky Yar, the personalities of its persons involved -
victims,survivors, saviors and collaborators, collected mainly in the
process and in order to prepare and publish the above-mentioned book
series. Accordingly, these materials, having reflected the general
characteristics and scope of the "final solution of the Jewish
question" in Kharkov and the Kharkov region, constitute their main
content
They include published for the first time documentary materials about
the destruction, in the framework of the "final solution of the Jewish
Question in Europe" of the Jewish population of Kharkov and the region
by the Nazis during the occupation, orders and instructions of the
occupation authorities, eyewitness' accounts of prisoners of the
Kharkov ghetto, memories of people from Kharkov and other cities about
people and events of that time, publicistic materials, photographic
documents, etc.
The "Series" also examined various aspects of the national tragedy of
the Jewish people, which, for many years of silence and distortion,
had accumulated many painful problems - such as collaborationism among
the local population, Jewish participation in the Resistance, the role
of the Ukrainian nationalist press in implementing the Holocaust, the
relationship of saviors and the rescued ones etc.
Some "Series" materials are devoted to issues of current interest,
related to the attempt to distort the tragedy of the Holocaust in
historiography and journalism of that time, overcoming its
consequences in the Jewish mentality of that time,
raise of anti-Semitism, emigration and so-called Jewish revival in the
domestic diaspora Galut.
A special place in the "Series" belongs to information about the
rescuers of the Jews - both those gentiles who were awarded the
Israeli medals and diplomas ("Hasidim ummot ha-olam" ("Righteous Among the Nations") or Ukrainian diplomas "Righteous of Ukraine", and
just patriots.
The special sections of the "Series" contain documents and lists of
persons who collaborated with the Nazis in the destruction of the
Jewish population.
More detailed information is given in the following bibliographic
descriptions of the "Series" books:
1. Lyakhovitsky Yu. M. Trampled Mezuzah.("The Book of Drobytsky Yar"):
Testimonies, facts, documents about the Nazi genocide of the Jewish
Kharkov population during the occupation period. 1941-1942. Vol. 1.
-H.: Osnova,1991. -192 p.
The book includes published for the first time documentary materials,
in the framework of the "final solution of the Jewish
Question in Europe" of the Jewish population of Kharkov and the region
by the Nazis during the occupation, orders and instructions of the
occupation authorities, eyewitness' accounts of prisoners of the
Kharkov ghetto, memories of people from Kharkov and other cities about
people and events of that time, publicistic materials, photographic
documents, etc.
The martyrology includes biographical references of a several thousand
victims of the genocide by the Nazis.
The overwhelming majority of data was
obtained from the funds of the Kharkov regional archive (the author
expresses deep gratitude to the staff of the archive V.V. Reznikova
and A.I. Burik for their assistance in conducting archival research).
The book is published in the author's edition and at his expense.
2. Holocaust in Ukraine and Anti-Semitism in Perspective./ Collect.
auth.; Under general ed. Yu.M. Lyakhovitsky. - H.: Library of
"Bensiakh" newspaper, 1992.-150 p.
The book, which is the first collective work on a similar subject in
post-war domestic historiography (scientists from Ukraine, Russia,
France and Israel - historians, lawyers, philosophers, sociologists
and psychologists), examined various aspects of the national tragedy
of the Jewish people - the tragedy that accumulated lots of painful
issues during many years of its suppression and distortion - such as
collaborationism among the local population, the participation of Jews
in the Resistance, the role of the Nationalist press in the
implementation of the Holocaust, relationships of rescuers and
rescued.
A number of materials are devoted to hot issues related to the attempt
to distort Holocaust tragedy in today's historiography and journalism,
to overcome its consequences in the modern Jewish mentality, to
strengthen anti-Semitism world-wide, repatriation to Israel and the
so-called Jewish revival in the domestic Diaspora-galut. A separate
book includes the monograph "The Yellow Book" (issue 1) that contains
published for the first time testimonies and memoirs of eyewitnesses
and prisoners of the Kharkov Jewish ghetto, archival materials, a
martyrology (the first book, "Trampled Mezuzah, published in June
1991).
3. Lyakhovitsky Yu. M. Yellow Book: Evidence, facts, documents about
the Nazi genocide of the Jewish population of Kharkov during the
occupation. 1941-1993. Vol. 2, 3. -H.: Library of "Bensiah" newspaper,
1992. -52 p., 1994.-124 p.
The book contains documentary materials published for the first time,
that reflect the chronology, theater of characters and persons
involved in the Nazis "final solution of the Jewish Question" in
Kharkov and other Ukrainian regions during the occupation,
journalistic materials, martyrology. The previous books, "Trampled
Mezuzah" and "Yellow Book" ( Vol 2 and 3), were published in 1991,
1992 and 1994, respectively.
4. The Jewish genocide in Ukraine during the occupation in German
documentary. 1941-1944 / Compiled by: A.I. Kruglov, Yu.M.
Lyakhovitsky, Yu. G. Subocheva (Shulman); Under general ed. of Yu. M.
Lyakhovitsky. - H.: Library of the "Bensiah" newspaper. 1995. -292 p.
Another book from the series "The Jewish Genocide in Ukraine during
the occupation. 1941-1944." ("Trampled Mezuzah" ("The Book of Drobytsky Yar")),
1991;
"Holocaust in Ukraine and anti-Semitism in perspective", 1992; "Yellow
Book" (2nd edition), 1992; "Yellow Book"(3rd edition), 1994) includes
published for the first time German documents and materials that give
an overall picture of the mass extermination of Jews in the occupied
territory of Ukraine in 1941-1944.
Most of the published documents were obtained from foreign sources
(Federal Archive of Germany, Koblenz; Archive of the Central Office of
the Land Justice Administration of Germany for the Disclosure of Nazis
Crimes, Ludwigsburg; National Archives of the USA); meetings of
departmental members of the autonomous non-profit organization of the
International Association of Holocaust Studies Centers.. It is
published in Russian for the first time.
5. Lyakhovitsky Yu. M. Survivors of the Holocaust: survivors,
rescuers, collaborators. Evidence, facts, documents. -H. :Library of
the "Bensiah" newspaper, 1996. -232 p.
Another book from the series "The Jewish Genocide in Ukraine during
the occupation. 1941-1944." ("Trampled Mezuzah" ("The Book of Drobytsky Yar")),
1991;
"Holocaust in Ukraine and anti-Semitism in perspective", 1992; "Yellow
Book" (2nd edition), 1992; "Yellow Book"(3rd edition), 1994); "Jewish
genocide in Ukraine during the occupation in German documentary.
1941-1944", 1995) contains published for the first time testimonies of
Kharkov residents - former prisoners of Jewish ghettos and
concentration camps in Ukraine, who survived in the territory occupied
by the Nazis; their non-Jewish saviors, both those who have been
awarded the Israeli Hasidei Ummot Ha-Olam medals and diplomas
("Righteous Among the Nations") or the "Righteous of Ukraine"
Ukrainian diplomas, and simply patriots; archival documents and lists
of persons who collaborated with the occupiers in the extermination of
the Jewish population.
Like all previous books of the series "The Jewish Genocide in Ukraine
during the Occupation. 1941-1944", the book "Survivors of the
Holocaust..." continues the martyrology of the victims of the Nazi
genocide, established to date.
6. Holocaust, "Jewish Question" and Modern Ukrainian
Society / Collective auth.; Under general ed. Yu. M. Lyakhovitsky.
-H.: Library of the "Bensiah" newspaper, 1996. - 392 p.
Another book from the series "The Jewish Genocide in Ukraine during
the occupation. 1941-1944." ("Trampled Mezuzah" ("The Book of Drobytsky Yar")),
1991;
"Holocaust in Ukraine and anti-Semitism in perspective", 1992; "Yellow
Book" (2nd edition), 1992; "Yellow Book"(3rd edition), 1994); "Jewish
genocide in Ukraine during the occupation in German documentary.
1941-1944", 1995; "Survivors of the Holocaust: survivors, saviors,
collaborators. Testimonies, facts, documents", 1996) is collective
work, dedicated to the study of various aspects of the Jewish
Holocaust in Ukraine during the occupation; historiography, chronology
and the main stages of its implementation; the participation of the
Jews in the Resistance; collaboration among the local population; the
role of the Ukrainian nationalist press in Holocaust implementation;
relationships between the Jewish and non-Jewish population during the
Holocaust.
A number of sections of the book are dedicated to hot issues related
to overcoming the consequences of the Holocaust in the mentality of
modern Ukrainian society, raise of anti-Semitism in the mass
consciousness, ways to counter them, emigration, prospects and current
problems of the Jewish diaspora in Ukraine.
In conclusion, it is worth mentioning that all the books in "The
Jewish Genocide in Ukraine during the occupation. 1941-1944" series
included in the collections of all National and university libraries
of the former USSR (CIS), UK and other european countries, Japan, as
well as the Library of the US Congress.
Since 1996, Dr. Yu. M. Lyakhovitsky lives and works in Israel. At the
heart of his scientific, social, political and journalistic
activities, as before, is the current issue of the Holocaust (as it
relates to the realities of the political life in Israel).
In it, the perpetuation of the memory of the Kharkov Drobytsky Yar
tragedy continues to occupy a special place - both as the moral
imperative of the former Kharkov resident and as a
scholar-historian's duty - before the victims and the outgoing
generation of Drobytsky Yar.
Translated by Lolita Gendelman
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