On the territory of the Russian Federation there are many places reminiscent of the tragic pages of the Great Patriotic War. One of them is the Zmievskaya beam in Rostov-on-Don. Here in the summer of 1942 the Nazis destroyed about 27 thousand civilians, more than half of whom were the Jewish population of the city. The beam became the largest place of extermination of people of this nationality on Russian lands for the entire period of the war. In 1975, a memorial complex was opened in its place, reminding mankind of the atrocities of the Nazi occupiers in the occupied territories.
Events Prior to the Tragedy
After the attack on the Soviet Union, the German invaders managed to advance inland in a relatively short time. The first time they approached Rostov-on-Don in November 1941, but after 11 days under the pressure of the Red Army they had to surrender their positions. The Germans again launched an attack on the city in the summer of 1942, as a result of which on July 24 they managed to capture it. Immediately after this, the Nazis ordered the registration of all local Jews who were 14 years old. For recognition, they were forced to wear identification marks on their clothes in the form of a hexagram (six-pointed star of David).
The preparation for the extermination of the Jewish people in Rostov-on-Don was carried out by the izantz group (death squad) "D" led by Commander-in-Chief V. Birkamp. Mass executions were led by Obersturmbannführer K. Christman. The place of extermination of the Jews was chosen Zmievskaya beam. Digging deep ditches in it made the Soviet military captured by the fascists. After finishing work, they were shot and thrown into the holes they dug.
Destruction of the Jewish population
On August 8, the Nazis distributed an order throughout the city, according to which Jews of both sexes and all ages were ordered to come to the assembly points by the morning of the 11th, from where they would be relocated to a separate area of the city. Also, members of Jewish families should have arrived at the appointed places, even if they were representatives of other nationalities. Those who dared not come were threatened with execution. There were 6 collection points in total, the main one was located at the intersection of Bolshaya Sadovaya Street with Budenovsky Prospekt. Now there is a city conservatory.
On a designated day, thousands of Jews marched through the streets of Rostov: old people, women, and children. At the collection points, people who checked according to the lists were checked, after which people began to be sorted. Those who could not move independently were put in trucks, the rest were built in columns of several hundred people. Crowds of Jews, surrounded by machine gunners and dogs, led to the Zmievsky beam, where freshly dug pits were waiting for them. Disabled, wounded, and old people were taken in freight gas-chamber gas vans poisoned from the inside with carbon dioxide.
People perfectly understood that they were going to death, but they had no chance to break free from the hands of the Nazis. At the place of execution, adult Jews were led to dug ditches and opened fire. The bodies of the dead were dumped in pits. Children were killed in another way: they smeared their lips with quick-acting poison. Residents of nearby villages heard gunfire from the side of the beam throughout the night and the next day. According to historical documents, 13.6-15 thousand Jews and their families were killed there. Later, the Nazis began to shoot Soviet prisoners of war, underground workers, Komsomol members, people with mental illnesses, prisoners, and law-breakers in this place. The bodies of murdered gypsies, Kurds, Assyrians and Armenians were also dumped here. In total, the Zmievskaya beam in Rostov-on-Don became a grave for 27 thousand people.
Opening of the memorial complex
Residents of the city never forgot about the tragedy of 1942 and honored the memory of the people who died in it. Exactly 30 years after the defeat of Nazi Germany, on May 9, 1975, at the place of mass execution of the Jewish population, the Zmievskaya Balka memorial complex was solemnly opened, a photo of which can be seen in this article. It was created by architects N. Nersesyants and R. Muradyan, sculptors E. Lopko and B. Lopko, N. Avedikov. The memorial consisted of a sculptural composition, the Mourning Hall, the Alley of Sorrow, an observation deck, eternal flame, pylons and green spaces organically fit into the landscape of the area.
Description of the sculptural composition
The monument "Zmievskaya beam" is made of gray concrete. It is a monumental sculptural composition, standing on the ground without a pedestal. In its center is a woman-mother, who threw up her hands in despair. On one side of her is a frightened child, and on the other is an elderly man kneeling with his hands outstretched in front of him. Near the old man are depicted the figures of two more people, one of whom, of the last forces, is trying to lift himself in his arms, and the second covered his face in horror.
The further fate of the complex
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Zmievskaya Balka memorial began to gradually collapse. Restoration work was carried out here only in 2009. Today, the memorial site has become one of the main attractions of Rostov-on-Don. People come here to pay tribute to the victims of the Nazis, both locals and tourists from other cities and countries.
Commemorative plaque
In 2004, a memorial plaque was erected on Zmievskaya Balka, the text of which stated that more than 27 thousand representatives of Jewish nationality were buried at the site of the memorial, and it is itself the largest place of the Holocaust in the country. After 5 years, the inscription was modified, removing from it the mention of the Jews. This was motivated by the fact that people of different nationalities were buried in a mass grave . The updated tablet contained information about the burial in the beam of 27 thousand civilians and prisoners of war of the Soviet army.
In 2013, under the pressure of public organizations protecting the rights of Jews, it was decided to change the text again. Today, the inscription on the plaque looks more compromise. Its essence boils down to the fact that on the territory of the memorial in 1942 the Nazis killed more than 27 thousand civilians of Rostov and the Red Army. Among them were representatives of different nationalities. The monument is the site of the largest in Russia extermination of Jews for the entire period of the war.