Babii Yar (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Yevgeny Yevtushenko
- First Published: 1961
- Type of Work: Dramatic monologue
- Genres: Poetry, Dramatic monologue
- Subjects: Murder or homicide, 1940’s, World War II, Jews or Jewish life, War, Death or dying, Holocaust, Jewish, Massacres, Russia or Russian people, Soviet Union or Soviets, Cemeteries
The Poem
“Babii Yar” is a poem in free verse consisting of ninety-two lines. The title, roughly translated as “Women’s Cliff,” refers to a ravine near Kiev where thousands of Jews were massacred during the Nazi occupation of the Ukraine in the Soviet Union. The name of the place in itself has no symbolic connotation in the poem, even though Babii Yar has become one of the most recognizable symbols of the Nazi crimes perpetrated against the Jews. The Holocaust is not the main focus of the poem. The very first line, “No monument stands over Babii Yar,” reveals...
[The entire page is 1308 words long]
