History
Archeological evidence discovered in the area of present-day Kharkiv indicates that a local population has existed in that area since the 2nd millennium BC. Cultural artifacts date back to the Bronze Age, as well as those of later Scythian and Sarmatian settlers. There is also evidence that the Chernyakhov culture flourished in the area from the 2nd to the 6th century.
Founded in the middle of 17th century, the city has had a university since 1805. During the early years of the Soviet Union, Kharkiv was the capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (from 1917–1934).
In the early 1930s, the Ukrainian famine (Holodomor) drove many people off the land into the cities, to Kharkiv in particular, in search of food. Some of them died and were secretly buried in one of the city's cemeteries. During April and May 1940 about 3,800 Polish prisoners of Starobelsk camp were murdered in the Kharkiv NKVD building, later buried in Pyatykhatky forest (part of the Katyn massacre).
During World War II, Kharkiv was the site of several military engagements. The city was captured by Nazi Germany in October 24, 1941 and its military allies, recaptured by the Red Army, captured a second time by the Nazis in May 24, 1942; retaken by the Soviets in February 16, 1943, captured for a third time by Nazis in March 16, 1943 and then finally liberated on August 23, 1943. Seventy percent of the city was destroyed and tens of thousands of the inhabitants were killed. It is mentioned that Kharkiv was the most populous city in the Soviet Union occupied by Nazis, since in the years preceding World War II, Kiev was the smaller of the two by population.
Between December 1941 and January 1942, an estimated 30,000 people (mostly Jewish) were killed by the Nazis. They were laid to rest in a large mass grave that located at Drobitsky Yar.
During World War II, four battles took place for control of the city:
- Battle for Kharkov
- Struggle for Kharkov
- Kharkov offensive operation
- Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev
Before the occupation, Kharkiv's tank industries were evacuated to the Urals with all their equipment, and became the heart of Red Army's tank programs (particularly, producing the legendary T-34 tank earlier designed in Kharkiv). These enterprises were returned after the war, and still continue to produce some of the world's best tanks.
It was the third largest scientific-industrial center in the former USSR (after Moscow and Leningrad).