Books: Ravine of the Dead

BABI YAR by Anatoly Kuznetsov. 399 pages. Dial. $5.95.

It was September, 1941, and victorious Nazi armies were pouring into Russia. Toward the end of the month, the Germans ordered "all Jews of the city of Kiev and its environs" to assemble near the Jewish cemetery overlooking a ravine called Babi Yar (Old Wives Gully). They came, locking their homes behind them and carrying their valuables, believing they were to be resettled beyond the war zone. Instead, they were marched to the cliffs of Babi Yar, stripped and machine-gunned in groups of ten. By...

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