Werner, Kurt

During the war, Kurt Werner was a member of Sonderkommando 4a, which was part of Einsatzgruppe C. On 28 May 1964, he made a deposition during West-German investigations on the alleged mass shooting of Kiev Jews at Babi Yar. He claimed to have been one of 12 men who were doing the shootings. He said nothing about whether the Jews were dressed or naked, and if the latter, then where they had left their clothes.

Werner stated that, at the beginning of the operation, he and his fellow gunmen had to go to the bottom of the ravine. Then, the victims were led down the slopes of the ravine towards them. The Jews had to lie face down on the ground, where they were shot in the back of the neck. The following Jews had to lie down on the bodies of those previously shot.

This version is in stark contrast to claims by witnesses who were interrogated by the NKGB after the German retreat from Kiev. These witnesses insisted that the victims were either shot while standing at the upper edge of the ravine, then falling down into the ravine dead or wounded; or they had to run along the ravine and were shot while running, by men standing at the ravine’s edge. Children were tossed alive into the ravine.

(For more details, see the entry on Babi Yar, as well as Mattogno 2022c, p. 573.)