On the eve of the war, Rostov-on-Don was the third city in Russia in terms of the number of Jews after Leningrad and Moscow. It was home to 27 thousand Jews. With the outbreak of hostilities, the number of Jews in the city increased due to refugees from the front-line areas. According to German statistics, there were about 50 thousand Jews in Rostov.

The first occupation lasted from 21 to 29 November 1941. During this period, more than 1,000 Jews died. After the liberation, representatives of the Soviet government argued that the city would not be surrendered again. Moreover, the military commandant of the city forbade local residents to leave the city limits. On the road, the NKVD officers checked the availability of documents for the right to evacuation.

The Nazis captured Rostov for the second time on July 24, 1942. One of the first orders of the occupation authorities was the order for the registration of the Jewish population.

At the end of July, the Nazis chose Zmievskaya Balka as the place of execution. The Balka was located on the outskirts and had steep slopes. The inhabitants of the houses adjacent to the balka were resettled by the Nazis. In early August, prisoners of war were forced to dig ditches in the balka. Soviet soldiers who were digging the ground were the first victims of executions in the Zmievskaya Balka.

On August 9, 1942, an order was published for the Jewish population to gather at the collection points on August 11. It was reported that crimes were committed against the Jews and the German command offered to move to a safe place. The Jews were ordered to appear at 8:00 at one of the six collection points with valuables. They should hang the keys to the apartments on a tag indicating the address.

Some of the Jews were transported from the collection points by trucks, some in gas vans (gas chambers), and some were escorted in a convoy. On the way to the Zmievskaya Balka, the Nazis carried out a selection: they separated men, women from children. Men and women were shot in the balka from machine guns. The children were given poison.

After the extermination aktion, the Nazis in the city were looking for those who hid and escaped extermination.

According to various sources, up to 27 thousand Jews were killed in Rostov-on-Don.

After the war in the 1940s, Jews held memorial services in Zmievskaya Balka. In 1949, the activities were banned. In the 1970s, as part of the expansion of the city, a road was built across the balka, which dismembered it. In the mid-1970s, a memorial was erected in the balka. In 2004, during the reconstruction, a memorial plaque was installed on which there was an inscription about the exterminated Jews. In 2011, the board was replaced. Instead of Jews, the inscription reads about the death of civilians.