Babi Yar Park

A Meaningful Memorial

Babi Yar Park is a 27-acre memorial landscape located in southeast Denver, Colorado. Completed in 1982, the park was designed by Lawrence Halprin and Satoru Nishita to commemorate the victims of the 1941-1943 Nazi massacre of Ukrainian Jews and others in Kiev.

The park's layout is centered around a pathway configured as a Star of David, featuring three distinct architectural elements: an amphitheater, a grove, and a ravine.

Design Elements

Visitors enter the park through a narrow passage between two inscribed, rough-hewn, black granite monoliths. The path then ascends a berm planted with cottonwood and willow trees before descending into a bowl-shaped amphitheater known as People's Place, which contains a circular platform at its center.

The Grove of Remembrance consists of 100 linden trees planted in a grid, symbolizing the 200,000 people killed at Babi Yar. At the center of the grove, water flows from an irregularly shaped, black granite disc.

Along the western edge of the site runs a ravine reminiscent of the location where victims were buried in Kiev. A narrow bridge with high, black wooden walls crosses this ravine, evoking the train cars used by Nazis to transport prisoners.

Park Features

Granite monoliths with highly reflective surfaces flank each end of the bridge. The park's perimeter is planted as a prairie, featuring native grasses, yucca, and prickly pear.

In 2011, the park underwent renovations by Mundus Bishop, which included prairie restoration, new walls, gravel paving, and curbs. Stone terraces were added to People's Place and the Grove of Remembrance during this time, and a sculptural element was installed in the northern corner of the park.

Visitor Experience

Babi Yar Park serves as a place for memorial gatherings, walking, biking, educational tours, and quiet remembrance. It is designed to respectfully honor the voices of victims and survivors of world terrorism without speaking for them or representing their pain.