28. Kriegskarten & Vermessungsamt, Stadtplan von Kiew, 'Berichtigung am 15.X.1942, Kiew'. Warschau 1942. COLL.S/T W.2y.6
19 September 1941 a German army of half a million men captured Kiev/Kyiv after a stiff defense lasting 45 days. Before the war it had 875.000 inhabitants, of whom 175.000 were Jews. Just in time, the Soviets had evacuated important factories and their workers. The Germans entered a city that was almost intact, the encirclement battle mainly damaged suburbs. But on September 24 heavy mines detonated that blew up the centre, including the army headquarters and the Hotel Continental, where German officers resided (see the gray hatched area). Jews got the blame for this attack. September 29 they were directed to the Babi Yar ravine. There a mobile killing squad massacred 33.771 Jews in two days. The following months, many more Jews were shot, as well as Roma and communists and tens of thousands Soviet prisoners of war. In total some 100,000 people were murdered in Babi Yar [I,2].