This documentary film “Babi Yar: Lessons of History” dates to the 1970s; it was released in the West in the 1980s. It was originally produced by Soviet filmmakers through the Ukrainian Studio of TV Films. The film depicts the horrors of the Nazi occupation of Ukraine and the massacre of Jewish people during the Holocaust at Babi Yar – where they were buried in a mass grave outside of Kyiv. The film is a historical account of events and warns nations about the dangers of Neo-Nazi ideologies around the world, especially in the United States. The events are told from the perspective of Ukrainian-Jewish poet Vitaly Korotich through voice over that is intertwined with survivor testimonies and archival footage. (Note: The film has been subject to criticism since the time of its release, as some facts are in dispute, and the narration / translation may not always be accurate, and historical images are sometimes misused or used out of context.)

Opening credits (0:11). Coast of the Dnieper River (0:23). Ukrainian Motherland Monument (0:30). Pivnichnyi Bridge (0:36). Aerial footage of Kyiv, Ukraine with narration by Ukrainian poet Vitaly Korotich (0:48). Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra or Kiev Monastery of the Caves (1:00). Saint Sophia Cathedral (1:07). Downtown Kyiv (1:13). Dramatic music plays as the camera pans towards the ravine to symbolize Babi Yar or Babyn Yar (1:26). Sepia toned footage from inside the ravine (2:10). Vitaly Korotich speaks to the camera from the area of the ravine (3:00). Old footage from a baby nursery (3:57). Footage of Hitler making a speech in front of the Germans in Berlin (4:08). Rise of Nazism (4:52). Footage of fiery battles from World War II (5:41). Post-war Neo-Nazi parades around America and Europe in cities like Cologne and Munich (5:51). Nazis entering Kyiv (6:34). Interview with Fyodor Zavertanny and other survivors of Babi Yar like Yakov Steyuk, David Budnik, Leonic Ostrovsky, Zakhar Trubakov, and Yakov Kaper (7:58). Interview with survivor Vladimir Davydov (9:35). Nazi executions of Jews, Ukrainians, Russians, Kazakhs, Soviets (9:54). “Road of Death” in Kyiv (10:33). Details of the Nazi occupation (10:34). Resistance fighters of the Dnieper Flotilla (11:09). Newspaper announcement ordering Jews to turn themselves in by going to Melnikov Street (11:34). Interview with Genya Batashova (12:09). Camera pans personal belongings of Jews rounded up by the Nazis (13:44). Interview with Galina Voytyuk (14:09). Children killed in the concentration camps (14:45). Testimony of Dina Pronicheva at the first trial of war criminals about surviving Babi Yar (16:22). Hermann Göring at the Nuremberg Trials (19:04). Map showing locations of concentration camps (20:00). Acts of anti-semitism around Europe (20:06). Post-war racism and Neo-Nazism promoting white power (21:04). Graphic scenes and sounds of mass-extermination of Jewish people (22:01-25:21). Ukrainian resistance to Nazis (25:23). Equestrian statue monument of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky in foreground with victorious Ukrainian soldiers marching through Kyiv in background (26:45). Vitaly Korotich speaks to the camera about looking through newsreels and other documentary material to create this film (27:28). Image of chief of Kyiv Ukrainian Police during the Nazi occupation who called for capture and execution of Jews (28:12). Graphic images of execution (28:45). Merging of Anti-Soviet forces (29:16). Graphic images of corpses (30:27-31:00). Interview with Yakov Steyuk (31:22). Graphic images of corpses and their cremation (32:37-33:11). Aerial footage of damage done to Kyiv from war (33:14). Graphic images of corpses (33:53-34:10). Interview with Yakov Kaper (34:11). Ku Klux Klan ceremony in the United States (35:31). Footage of American dropping bombs on Japan – graphic imagery (36:03). Cruelty towards humanity similar to that of Holocaust shown in Chile (36:54). Trial of man in Italy (37:05). Belarus Holocaust Monument (37:58). Babi Yar Monument (39:16). Closing credits (41:09).

Babi Yar is a ravine in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and a site of massacres carried out by Nazi Germany’s forces during its campaign against the Soviet Union in World War II. The first and best documented of the massacres took place on 29–30 September 1941, killing some 33,771 Jews.

It is estimated that between 100,000 and 150,000 people were murdered at Babi Yar during the German occupation.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com