LATVIA
Overall, during Nazi occupation, around 70 000 Latvian Jews and 20 000 – 25 000 Jews from other European countries were killed in Latvia.
Burning of the Riga synagogues
4 July 1941
4 July 1941
The biggest synagogues burned in Riga:
The Great Choral Synagogue, on Gogol Street 25;
The Old-new Synagogue on Maskavas Street 57;
Raisishe Minyanim Belarussian Synagogue on Elijas street 15;
Soldiers' Synagogue on Krāslavas street 24 (Palisades street 22);
Synagogue on Stabu Street 63.
The Great Choral Synagogue, on Gogol Street 25;
The Old-new Synagogue on Maskavas Street 57;
Raisishe Minyanim Belarussian Synagogue on Elijas street 15;
Soldiers' Synagogue on Krāslavas street 24 (Palisades street 22);
Synagogue on Stabu Street 63.
The Great Choral Synagogue, burned on 4 July 1941 during the Riga Pogrom
Choral Synagogue
Ruins of a synagogue in Riga. Today a memorial to the victims on those who saved the Jews from Nazis is here.
A Stone where the Great Choral Synagogue of Riga was
The burning of the Riga synagogues and Prayer Houses was the starting point for the massacres of the Jewish populations.
The Nazi Occupation regime initiated the burning, presenting it as a spectacle, because the burning of the Great Choral Synagogue was photographed and even captured on film. The "event" was aimed at uniting the Latvian collaborationist squads and showing everyone else that the Jewish population was outside the legal field and had no right to live.
What happened: They gathered the local Jews by force to the Great Choral Synagogue and other synagogues and prayer houses in Riga. Part of the Jewish refugees from the city of Šiauliai were already hiding in the Great Choral Synagogue. Then the building was set on fire.
The number of victims from the burning of Great Choral Synagogue: around 500 people.
Overall victims of the pogrom: around 2 000 people
The Executioners: members of the auxiliary police the absolute majority of these were ethnic Latvians; members of the Sonderkommando Arajs led by Viktors Arājs
The Nazi Occupation regime initiated the burning, presenting it as a spectacle, because the burning of the Great Choral Synagogue was photographed and even captured on film. The "event" was aimed at uniting the Latvian collaborationist squads and showing everyone else that the Jewish population was outside the legal field and had no right to live.
What happened: They gathered the local Jews by force to the Great Choral Synagogue and other synagogues and prayer houses in Riga. Part of the Jewish refugees from the city of Šiauliai were already hiding in the Great Choral Synagogue. Then the building was set on fire.
The number of victims from the burning of Great Choral Synagogue: around 500 people.
Overall victims of the pogrom: around 2 000 people
The Executioners: members of the auxiliary police the absolute majority of these were ethnic Latvians; members of the Sonderkommando Arajs led by Viktors Arājs
Recollections (press to read)
"Endorsing independent purges":
Part of the Einsatzgruppen A (commander Walter Stahlecker) report on the "action in Baltics." Chapter "Endorsing independent purges":
"Because the population of the Baltic countries have suffered incredibly from the Bolshevik-Jewish powers after being included into the USSR, it was reasonable to expect that after liberating themselves from it, it would destroy the hostile elements that remain in the Baltics after the Red Army's retreat.
In order to achieve this goal faster, the [German] security police supported the process of self-purging in all ways, accelerating it and aiming it in the required direction. For the future it was important to get proof that the liberated population would, of their own volition, take efficient measures against the enemy – Bolsheviks and Jews, with the German power behind this not being seen … From the very beginning it was apparent that pogroms would be possible only during the first days of occupation … It was a lot more difficult to organize self-purges in Latvia. This was due to Soviet powers exiling or killing the national leaders in Latvia, especially in Riga. And still, with some pressure on the auxiliary Latvian police, we managed to organize a Jewish pogrom in Riga. During the pogrom, all of the synagogues were destroyed [except the synagogue on The Peitav street, due to it being adjacent to other buildings] and killed around 400 Jews. But because the people of Riga quickly calmed down, it was impossible to organize future pogroms. In Kaunas, as well as Riga, wherever possible, we gathered films and photographs proving that the first murders of the Jews and communists were done by the Lithuanians and Latvians."
"Because the population of the Baltic countries have suffered incredibly from the Bolshevik-Jewish powers after being included into the USSR, it was reasonable to expect that after liberating themselves from it, it would destroy the hostile elements that remain in the Baltics after the Red Army's retreat.
In order to achieve this goal faster, the [German] security police supported the process of self-purging in all ways, accelerating it and aiming it in the required direction. For the future it was important to get proof that the liberated population would, of their own volition, take efficient measures against the enemy – Bolsheviks and Jews, with the German power behind this not being seen … From the very beginning it was apparent that pogroms would be possible only during the first days of occupation … It was a lot more difficult to organize self-purges in Latvia. This was due to Soviet powers exiling or killing the national leaders in Latvia, especially in Riga. And still, with some pressure on the auxiliary Latvian police, we managed to organize a Jewish pogrom in Riga. During the pogrom, all of the synagogues were destroyed [except the synagogue on The Peitav street, due to it being adjacent to other buildings] and killed around 400 Jews. But because the people of Riga quickly calmed down, it was impossible to organize future pogroms. In Kaunas, as well as Riga, wherever possible, we gathered films and photographs proving that the first murders of the Jews and communists were done by the Lithuanians and Latvians."
"Where do the Jew bastards live here?"
"Summer of 1941, I was 10 years old. A few days after the German occupation began, our five-story house with around thirty apartments was visited by three or four armed men in Aizsargi uniform [Latvian paramilitary organization]. They knocked on our door and my grandmother went to open it<…>
To the question of "Where do the Jew bastards live here?" she responded saying that she couldn't say, cause she didn't know and she has her own church. One of the men quite rudely accused her of lying to which my grandmother (I was standing right next to her) said "You're still a pup to talk to me like that!" And in a more polite way they said "Well if you don't want to help, we'll handle this without you." Some time later the armed men gathered all of the Jews that were home at the time in the front yard, which was two families with children, and ordered them to follow. With my grandmother's permission I followed along (or rather with [my friend] Dodik [Pivovarov]). We walked on Ludzas and Gogol street until we reached the synagogue. I was walking on the sidewalk and Dodik on the road. We were walking and carelessly chatting. One I moved to the road as well, then one of the armed men shouted "Back on the sidewalk!"
At the synagogue we were separated. I remained there alone on the opposite side. I remember it being a warm sunny day and the armed men in Aizsargi uniform, or maybe Latvian Army uniform, led all of the Jews, adult and child alike. There was a crowd of curious onlookers near the synagogue. The synagogue was surrounded by a fence that was so high that I could not see anything.
And in my memory it is a unforgettable moment when the first smoke appeared and the shots went off. A few women who stood near me and looked on started going on. One of them loudly went "Oh God, oh God…Where is God, live children are being burned…" At this moment, I also realized that my friend Dodik was now burned. The flame enveloped the whole building. Clouds of smoke, as I recall, had a specific smell. <…> I don't think there was a single German among the killers, because at that age I was well versed in the German language, uniforms and German army."
An excerpt from the recollection of Latvian journalist and political scientist Nikolay Neiland (1930–2003) who lived in the Maskavas forštate at the time.
To the question of "Where do the Jew bastards live here?" she responded saying that she couldn't say, cause she didn't know and she has her own church. One of the men quite rudely accused her of lying to which my grandmother (I was standing right next to her) said "You're still a pup to talk to me like that!" And in a more polite way they said "Well if you don't want to help, we'll handle this without you." Some time later the armed men gathered all of the Jews that were home at the time in the front yard, which was two families with children, and ordered them to follow. With my grandmother's permission I followed along (or rather with [my friend] Dodik [Pivovarov]). We walked on Ludzas and Gogol street until we reached the synagogue. I was walking on the sidewalk and Dodik on the road. We were walking and carelessly chatting. One I moved to the road as well, then one of the armed men shouted "Back on the sidewalk!"
At the synagogue we were separated. I remained there alone on the opposite side. I remember it being a warm sunny day and the armed men in Aizsargi uniform, or maybe Latvian Army uniform, led all of the Jews, adult and child alike. There was a crowd of curious onlookers near the synagogue. The synagogue was surrounded by a fence that was so high that I could not see anything.
And in my memory it is a unforgettable moment when the first smoke appeared and the shots went off. A few women who stood near me and looked on started going on. One of them loudly went "Oh God, oh God…Where is God, live children are being burned…" At this moment, I also realized that my friend Dodik was now burned. The flame enveloped the whole building. Clouds of smoke, as I recall, had a specific smell. <…> I don't think there was a single German among the killers, because at that age I was well versed in the German language, uniforms and German army."
An excerpt from the recollection of Latvian journalist and political scientist Nikolay Neiland (1930–2003) who lived in the Maskavas forštate at the time.
"The poor victims screamed horribly…"
Из воспоминаний Георга Фридмана (1916–1985):
"One morning, we saw that the Latvian policemen loading a barrel (with gasoline?) into a car and driving up Gogol street. <…> Some time later we even heard single shots and the thick black smoke started rising up and going towards the Dvina river <…> That morning in the district closest to the biggest and most lavish synagogue, armed Latvian police started grabbing Jews off the streets and from the nearby homes, mainly old ones with beards, and started mercilessly pushing them into the synagogue, pouring gasoline outside and inside and setting it on fire. The poor victims screamed horribly, trying to escape through the windows and doors, but there the policemen viciously shot them."
"One morning, we saw that the Latvian policemen loading a barrel (with gasoline?) into a car and driving up Gogol street. <…> Some time later we even heard single shots and the thick black smoke started rising up and going towards the Dvina river <…> That morning in the district closest to the biggest and most lavish synagogue, armed Latvian police started grabbing Jews off the streets and from the nearby homes, mainly old ones with beards, and started mercilessly pushing them into the synagogue, pouring gasoline outside and inside and setting it on fire. The poor victims screamed horribly, trying to escape through the windows and doors, but there the policemen viciously shot them."
"…That was them burning the synagogue."
From the recollection of Sholom Kobyakov (1916–1996):
"At the exact time I went to the Jewish bakery which was on Gogol street 4/6. That's when the police arrived for the owner, they took her and let me go. Then I found out she was taken to the synagogue. That was where they drove a lot of Jews from this and other houses. Coming home I saw the large smoke clouds. Back then, we thought there was a fire, but then we found out that was them burning the synagogue. And the firefighters stood by to protect the nearby Latvian homes from the fire."
"At the exact time I went to the Jewish bakery which was on Gogol street 4/6. That's when the police arrived for the owner, they took her and let me go. Then I found out she was taken to the synagogue. That was where they drove a lot of Jews from this and other houses. Coming home I saw the large smoke clouds. Back then, we thought there was a fire, but then we found out that was them burning the synagogue. And the firefighters stood by to protect the nearby Latvian homes from the fire."
Information on the burning of the Riga synagogues was collected and studied by Latvian historian, particularly, by the Holocaust historian in Latvia Grigory Smirin (1955–2017).
Mass Murders in Bikernieki Forest
Location:
The woodland area on the outskirts of Riga, between Brīvības, Biķernieku, Lielvārdes and Eisenstein streets in the Mežciems neighborhood. During Nazi occupation, the forest was considered the border of the city and was not part of it in terms of administration.
Memorial:
In 2001, a Memorial complex dedicated to the victims of the Nazis was constructed. The architect of the memorial was Sergey Rizh.
The woodland area on the outskirts of Riga, between Brīvības, Biķernieku, Lielvārdes and Eisenstein streets in the Mežciems neighborhood. During Nazi occupation, the forest was considered the border of the city and was not part of it in terms of administration.
Memorial:
In 2001, a Memorial complex dedicated to the victims of the Nazis was constructed. The architect of the memorial was Sergey Rizh.
Overall number of victims: 35 000 to 46 500.
The Extraordinary State Commission on Nazi Crimes puts the death toll at 46 500.
Modern researchers use the death toll of 35 000.
Jews made up approximately 20 000 of that.
Altogether 55-57 mass graves were found. This is considered to be the biggest massacre of civilians during Nazi occupation of Latvia.
The Extraordinary State Commission on Nazi Crimes puts the death toll at 46 500.
Modern researchers use the death toll of 35 000.
Jews made up approximately 20 000 of that.
Altogether 55-57 mass graves were found. This is considered to be the biggest massacre of civilians during Nazi occupation of Latvia.
Chronology (press to read)
Riga Ghetto. Rumbula Forest Massacre
Locations:
Overall number of prisoners: by 20 November 1941, there were 29 602 people in the Riga Ghetto (including 5 652 children younger than 14). The Riga "Big Ghetto" was the fourth largest on Soviet territory (after Vilnius, Kaunas and Minsk).
Overall number of victims of the Rumbula Forest Massacre: according to various sources from 26 000 to 30 000 people.
- Borders of the Riga ghetto: Maskavas street – Jersikas street – Ebreju (Jewish) street – Līksnas street – Lauvas street – Lielā street – Kalna street – Katoļu street – Jēkabpils street – Lāčplēša street.
- Rumbula Forest
Overall number of prisoners: by 20 November 1941, there were 29 602 people in the Riga Ghetto (including 5 652 children younger than 14). The Riga "Big Ghetto" was the fourth largest on Soviet territory (after Vilnius, Kaunas and Minsk).
Overall number of victims of the Rumbula Forest Massacre: according to various sources from 26 000 to 30 000 people.
Riga Ghetto territory
Riga Ghetto prisoners on their way to Rumbula, 8 December 1941. Photograph taken by unknown photographer.
The building of the future Saeima of Latvia (Parliament). During Nazi occupation, this was the resident of the chief of police and SS Ostland troops commander Friedrich Jeckeln.
Memorial:
In 1962, Riga resident Samuel "Buba" Zeitlin and his friend Bella Martinson found the mass execution site in Rumbula and set up a Memorial Stone there.
In 1962, Riga resident Samuel "Buba" Zeitlin and his friend Bella Martinson found the mass execution site in Rumbula and set up a Memorial Stone there.
Rumbula, Memorial Stone
A group of activists started cleaning up the area and studying the execution site.
29 November 2002 – a Memorial ensemble was open in Rumbula, done by architect Sergey Rizh
29 November 2002 – a Memorial ensemble was open in Rumbula, done by architect Sergey Rizh
Memorial in Rumbula Forest.
Chronology (press to read)
Recollections
"…They called one up and asked her to rise."
Before imprisonment in the Ghetto, a few dozen women were transported to the Riga Military Prefecture building, where the auxiliary police torture chambers were.
"…They gave us potatoes to peel and in the evening they would lock us in a room, it was like a cellar. We slept on the floor… And they guarded us… And then…one of them shows up with a flashlight and started looking up the Jewish women…they called one up and asked her to rise, took her to the second floor. Then some time later she returned crying, not saying anything. Then they came for a second one and then a third. And they were all taken upstairs…Then we started to understand that there was an orgy there. The next day, the rounded up all of the girls and women they "had their fun with", they drove them away in cars and then shot them. Because the Latvians were scared… They weren't supposed to have any kind of relations with the Jewish women."
From an interview of Ella Medalje,"Surviving Shoah" documentary 20 June 1997
"…They gave us potatoes to peel and in the evening they would lock us in a room, it was like a cellar. We slept on the floor… And they guarded us… And then…one of them shows up with a flashlight and started looking up the Jewish women…they called one up and asked her to rise, took her to the second floor. Then some time later she returned crying, not saying anything. Then they came for a second one and then a third. And they were all taken upstairs…Then we started to understand that there was an orgy there. The next day, the rounded up all of the girls and women they "had their fun with", they drove them away in cars and then shot them. Because the Latvians were scared… They weren't supposed to have any kind of relations with the Jewish women."
From an interview of Ella Medalje,"Surviving Shoah" documentary 20 June 1997
"…Finally they locked up the Ghetto"
In late October 1941, the majority of the Jews in Riga were relocated into the Ghetto. After the forced relocation was complete, its gates were closed.
"Finally they locked up the Ghetto. They officially said that all connections with the outside world would cease. The guards would shoot if they see someone talking or handing something over the fence…The next day after the Ghetto was locked up, they caught a Jewish boy who was caught in town after spending the night with his Christian friend. He was taken to the Ghetto and shot…In order to deter anyone else, they did not remove the body."
Fragment from the "Notes" of sculptor Elmar Rivosh (1906–1957)
"Finally they locked up the Ghetto. They officially said that all connections with the outside world would cease. The guards would shoot if they see someone talking or handing something over the fence…The next day after the Ghetto was locked up, they caught a Jewish boy who was caught in town after spending the night with his Christian friend. He was taken to the Ghetto and shot…In order to deter anyone else, they did not remove the body."
Fragment from the "Notes" of sculptor Elmar Rivosh (1906–1957)
The Shy Policeman from the Latvian Hilfspolizei:
Despite the ban of entering the Ghetto, the guards would regularly slip inside to beat, rob and rape its prisoners.
'When we entered the house…we saw a Latvian Hilfspolizei member who told us to go away. But we were surprised to see his shy expression. In the courtyard they told us that there were two of them, while one kept watch the other would rape a Jewish girl in some apartment while her parents would be forced to watch. And apparently someone somehow…told the administration about it and the gendarmes would be there any minute. And indeed, a short time later an army jeep arrived with a few armed gendarmes…They ran upstairs and came out with two of the policemen who they caught and drove off."
From the recollections of Georg Friedman
'When we entered the house…we saw a Latvian Hilfspolizei member who told us to go away. But we were surprised to see his shy expression. In the courtyard they told us that there were two of them, while one kept watch the other would rape a Jewish girl in some apartment while her parents would be forced to watch. And apparently someone somehow…told the administration about it and the gendarmes would be there any minute. And indeed, a short time later an army jeep arrived with a few armed gendarmes…They ran upstairs and came out with two of the policemen who they caught and drove off."
From the recollections of Georg Friedman
On the Punitive Action of 30 November 1941:
"This was done very fast, as if on a conveyor belt. Ones would leave their possessions, while the others were already undressing and the third ones were already being shot. That way our group of a thousand people was shot within an hour or maybe an hour and a half. There were three Germans with submachineguns in the pit, their sleeves rolled up. They were walking on the bodies, bloody like butchers on a slaughterhouse and shot with no break. They weren't shooting when they were changing magazines. How did the people act before being shot? We, the police, were even surprised. There was no screaming, no noise… only the children crying and the elderly whispering their prayers."
Fragment of the interrogation of Latvian collaborationist Adolf Lazda by the Soviets
Fragment of the interrogation of Latvian collaborationist Adolf Lazda by the Soviets
Photo Frida Michelson, a survivor of the Rumbula Massacre
Frida Michelson avoided the execution, managed to escape Rumbula at night and kept hiding thanks to friends and strangers, finally finding refuge in the family of Baltic Germans Adventists Willumsons in the Riga suburb of Katlakalns.
She moved to Israel in 1979 and she testified against Latvian collaborationist Karlis Detlavs who personally took part in the Rumbula massacre.
She moved to Israel in 1979 and she testified against Latvian collaborationist Karlis Detlavs who personally took part in the Rumbula massacre.
"The people are weeping, saying their farewells."
"The column entered the forest through a line of convoy guards. And also near the entrance was a big tall box and fat SS German with a baton shouting that they must throw all of the jewelry into the box. Gold rings, earrings, bracelets and watches go into the box. <…>
Another convoy guard, a Latvian, orders me to take off my coat, throw it in the pile, which was by now a mountain, and to go forward. <…>
I am walking forward, screaming and tearing out my hair, and I don't even feel it, tearing them out with full locks. The next convoy guard shouts that we need to strip down to our underwear. <…>
Using the moment, I throw myself unto the ground, facefirst into the snow and freeze in place. Sometime later, I hear someone speaking Latvian over me:
"Who is that lying there?
"She's probably dead." says another voice loudly. <…>
"Ātrāk, Ātrāk!" that's them rushing the Jews, faster, faster. And the Jews are running right to their graves. I hear a woman moan next to me and hear how she threw some object unto my back, then another.
I can't hear the woman's voice any more, but the objects keep falling one after the other and I realize that they are shoes. Soon I am covered in a whole mountain of boots, shoes and the like. <…>
The people are weeping, saying their farewells and running to the pit by the thousand. The machineguns keep chirping and the convoy guards keep shouting "Faster! Faster!" and hit people with clubs and whips. This goes on for many hours. Finally, the shouting quiets down, the running stops, the shooting stops. I can hear noises from the deep, as if working a shovel – that must have been them, burying those shot.
Russian voices rush them on, telling them to work faster. They probably brought in Soviet prisoners of war to work on this. They will probably get shot afterwards as well. I am being weighed down by the mountain of shoes, my whole body is numb from the cold and remaining so still, but I am fully aware. The warmth of my body melted the show under me, so I am lying in a puddle <…>
Suddenly a child's cries pierce the silence and he is screaming for his mother.
I hear scattered single shots. The child's cries go silent. They were killed. And then silence again."
A fragment of Frida Michelson's book "I survived Rumbula
Another convoy guard, a Latvian, orders me to take off my coat, throw it in the pile, which was by now a mountain, and to go forward. <…>
I am walking forward, screaming and tearing out my hair, and I don't even feel it, tearing them out with full locks. The next convoy guard shouts that we need to strip down to our underwear. <…>
Using the moment, I throw myself unto the ground, facefirst into the snow and freeze in place. Sometime later, I hear someone speaking Latvian over me:
"Who is that lying there?
"She's probably dead." says another voice loudly. <…>
"Ātrāk, Ātrāk!" that's them rushing the Jews, faster, faster. And the Jews are running right to their graves. I hear a woman moan next to me and hear how she threw some object unto my back, then another.
I can't hear the woman's voice any more, but the objects keep falling one after the other and I realize that they are shoes. Soon I am covered in a whole mountain of boots, shoes and the like. <…>
The people are weeping, saying their farewells and running to the pit by the thousand. The machineguns keep chirping and the convoy guards keep shouting "Faster! Faster!" and hit people with clubs and whips. This goes on for many hours. Finally, the shouting quiets down, the running stops, the shooting stops. I can hear noises from the deep, as if working a shovel – that must have been them, burying those shot.
Russian voices rush them on, telling them to work faster. They probably brought in Soviet prisoners of war to work on this. They will probably get shot afterwards as well. I am being weighed down by the mountain of shoes, my whole body is numb from the cold and remaining so still, but I am fully aware. The warmth of my body melted the show under me, so I am lying in a puddle <…>
Suddenly a child's cries pierce the silence and he is screaming for his mother.
I hear scattered single shots. The child's cries go silent. They were killed. And then silence again."
A fragment of Frida Michelson's book "I survived Rumbula
Salaspils Concentration Camp
(also known as Kurtenhof Concentration Camp)
(also known as Kurtenhof Concentration Camp)
A Concentration Camp with a strict regime, where the prisoners were forced into daily useless labour and small children had their blood taken for medical needs.
Overall number of victims of the Concentration Camp:
According to the Extraordinary State Commission on Nazi Crimes, the death toll is 100 000.
This includes Soviet POWs (around 50 000) who were in the Stalag-350 POW camp, founded in July 1941.
The Salaspils Concentration Camp, two kilometers away from that, was a camp for civilians. The exact number of victims at Satalag-350 is difficult to establish because the Nazis did not keep an account of its victims.
Memorial:
In 1967, the Salaspils Memorial Center opened where the concentration camp used to be.
Overall number of victims of the Concentration Camp:
According to the Extraordinary State Commission on Nazi Crimes, the death toll is 100 000.
This includes Soviet POWs (around 50 000) who were in the Stalag-350 POW camp, founded in July 1941.
The Salaspils Concentration Camp, two kilometers away from that, was a camp for civilians. The exact number of victims at Satalag-350 is difficult to establish because the Nazis did not keep an account of its victims.
Memorial:
In 1967, the Salaspils Memorial Center opened where the concentration camp used to be.
Flowers at the Salaspils Memorial, photo by russkie.lv
Salaspils Memorial, aerial view.
The Unkbroken sculprute
A Child’s toy where the blood donor barracks were (Salaspils)
The Sign on the Memorial Stone in Russian
Sign on the Salaspils Memorial
Chronology (press to read)
Recollections
"They took my blood for Nazi soldiers."
"Once again they started leading us somewhere, and once again no one knew where. We approached a fence lined with barbed wire. Guard towers with patrols and dogs. They pushed us passed the gate. That is how we ended up in the Salaspils Concentration Camp.
The children were shaved bald. Everyone was stripped and sent to another barrack across the cold for a so-called "quarantine". After the quarantine, me and a few other children were selected and sent to an infirmary, where I was given "treatment": they took my blood for Nazi soldiers. Once a woman from the medical staff approached me and told me not to tell anyone, but if I wanted to see my mom that I would have to be dressed and wait for her. She told me that tomorrow our parents will be taken away so she will lead me to the barrack where my mom was. I will forever remember the name of this good woman, she was called Anna. All night, me and my mother cried, and in the morning she was taken away."
From the recollections of Liudmila Levchenko
The children were shaved bald. Everyone was stripped and sent to another barrack across the cold for a so-called "quarantine". After the quarantine, me and a few other children were selected and sent to an infirmary, where I was given "treatment": they took my blood for Nazi soldiers. Once a woman from the medical staff approached me and told me not to tell anyone, but if I wanted to see my mom that I would have to be dressed and wait for her. She told me that tomorrow our parents will be taken away so she will lead me to the barrack where my mom was. I will forever remember the name of this good woman, she was called Anna. All night, me and my mother cried, and in the morning she was taken away."
From the recollections of Liudmila Levchenko
"I only slept on my forehead and knees."
"In the camp, I saw how people were shot and hanged. The bodies would be left to hang for a while. They were driving us to starvation. Every day they would bring out those who couldn't walk anymore and throw them into a pit. They took blood from the children. All of my body was covered in big blisters. I could not sleep on my back or stomach. I only slept on my forehead and knees…"
From the recollections of Anna Krasnova
From the recollections of Anna Krasnova
"We have found that the children were intentionally poisoned with arsenic."
"While examining the bodies one by one, 28 out 54 pits, we have found that the children were intentionally poisoned with arsenic. This is confirmed by witness testimony that the porridge and coffee, that the German "nurses" gave to the children in Salaspils Concentration Camp, were initially poisoned with arsenic by the Nazi barbarians. This was done in order to kill the children and free up their mothers, so they could be sent into slavery in Germany."
From the forensic report of the mass graves of the children of Salaspils Concentration Camp (28 April 1945)
From the forensic report of the mass graves of the children of Salaspils Concentration Camp (28 April 1945)
"Bath"
"The "Bath" sticks out in my memory. How they would send naked women and children through a line of guards with dogs. The mothers embarrassed as the guards shamelessly stared. The children crying, scared of the dogs. From the baths they led us to the new barrack, gave us some robes. We slept on a floor covered with hay."
From the recollections of Valentina Zheludeva
From the recollections of Valentina Zheludeva
"Murdered, hanged, shot…"
"…there were up to 20 000 foreign Jews there. And when I arrived, there were only around 5 000 Jews remaining, the rest were murdered, hanged, shot or died from starvation or epidemics. I personally saw that there would 2-3 Jews hung in the Jewish part of the camp. Also during this period I saw how they shot up to 6 Jews at once near the camp command for managing to trade a piece of bread for their clothes. <…>
They buried the victims next to the Salaspils camp in the forest. I don't know how many they buried there, but it has to be a tens of thousands. <…>
Everyone was brought to the courtyard, the Germans said that everyone would have to work now, and since the children would just get in the way, they would separated from them. What happened next was horrible. The mothers would not give their children away and the Germans and Latvian police would pull the children away by force. The children were screaming, the mothers were tearing their hair our and many of them went insane to the point of being put in the hospital. And babies and kids under the age of 6 were sent to a separate barrack where they would all die and get the measles. Those with the measles would soon be taken to the so-called "camp hospital" where they would immediately bathed in water, which you must not do when afflicted with measles. The children would die in 2-3 days after that. They would turn blue, as the infection seized the organism. <…>
The Germans would take children aged 5 and up out of the camp take them somewhere, saying they would give them to the farmers as shepherds. During the aforementioned period, so in one year, more than 3 000 children between 5 and 15 were transported away. Their fate is unknown to me. Out of the children below 5, they were sent to the barracks and hospital of Salaspils camp, no one survived. They were all killed by the Germans."
Excerpt from the questioning of Kazimir Laugalaitis, prisoner of Salaspils Concentration Camp from 18 May 1942 to 19 May 1943
They buried the victims next to the Salaspils camp in the forest. I don't know how many they buried there, but it has to be a tens of thousands. <…>
Everyone was brought to the courtyard, the Germans said that everyone would have to work now, and since the children would just get in the way, they would separated from them. What happened next was horrible. The mothers would not give their children away and the Germans and Latvian police would pull the children away by force. The children were screaming, the mothers were tearing their hair our and many of them went insane to the point of being put in the hospital. And babies and kids under the age of 6 were sent to a separate barrack where they would all die and get the measles. Those with the measles would soon be taken to the so-called "camp hospital" where they would immediately bathed in water, which you must not do when afflicted with measles. The children would die in 2-3 days after that. They would turn blue, as the infection seized the organism. <…>
The Germans would take children aged 5 and up out of the camp take them somewhere, saying they would give them to the farmers as shepherds. During the aforementioned period, so in one year, more than 3 000 children between 5 and 15 were transported away. Their fate is unknown to me. Out of the children below 5, they were sent to the barracks and hospital of Salaspils camp, no one survived. They were all killed by the Germans."
Excerpt from the questioning of Kazimir Laugalaitis, prisoner of Salaspils Concentration Camp from 18 May 1942 to 19 May 1943
A drawing by one of Salaspils’ prisoners. Main view of the camp.
Near a camp barrack in the Salaspils Concentration Camp
View of the burned camp. Autumn 1944.
Remains of Soviet POWs who were in the Salaspils Stalag
Exhumation in Salaspils. Spring 1945
Exhumation of a mass grave for children in Salaspils. Spring 1945
Exhumation of a mass grave for children in Salaspils. Spring 1945
Daugavpils Ghetto
Victims of the first urban pogroms: Since Nazi occupation started in 13 July 1941, around 1 500 people were killed
Overall number of prisoners in late July: around 20 000 people.
Memorial:
The exact location of the mass murder of Daugavpils Jews was unknown for a long time due to its distance from the city center.
27 June 1960 – A memorial to the Holocaust victims in Daugavpils (sculptor Harijs Sprincis, architect Zigurds Ābelīte)
The mass graves of the Jews killed in the Holocaust were found in June 1989 by accident. 9 July 1989, the remains of the victims were reinterred in a symbolic grave at the Memorial.
10 November 1991 – A Memorial to the victims of the Holocaust and the Jews of the Daugavpils Ghetto was opened on the site of shootings in Pogulyanka Forest
6 September 2005 – A Memorial stone was set up in the Pogulyanka Forest.
Overall number of prisoners in late July: around 20 000 people.
Memorial:
The exact location of the mass murder of Daugavpils Jews was unknown for a long time due to its distance from the city center.
27 June 1960 – A memorial to the Holocaust victims in Daugavpils (sculptor Harijs Sprincis, architect Zigurds Ābelīte)
The mass graves of the Jews killed in the Holocaust were found in June 1989 by accident. 9 July 1989, the remains of the victims were reinterred in a symbolic grave at the Memorial.
10 November 1991 – A Memorial to the victims of the Holocaust and the Jews of the Daugavpils Ghetto was opened on the site of shootings in Pogulyanka Forest
6 September 2005 – A Memorial stone was set up in the Pogulyanka Forest.
Chronology (press to read)
Jews in the Daugavpils Ghetto
Reinterring the victims in Pogulyanka Forest.
Jews in the Daugavpils Ghetto
Recollections
"The Local Police appeared out of nowhere."
"The city fell on the fourth day of the war. The people reacted to the change differently: some with unmasked joy, others with worry. The German administration hadn't yet set up base, but the local police appeared out of nowhere. The enlisted volunteers were walking around with rifles and green patches sleeves, and some dressed in the uniforms they had hidden away – uniforms of the Aizsargi, a Latvian nationalistic organization. <…>
Soon all of the poster stands, fences and walls were covered in the Prefect's orders in German and Latvian. They were only given to the Jews. And first one of them categorically ordered the men under 60 to gather at the selected time on the market square. The other order was about sewing yellow stars to clothing – on the chest, on the back and on the trousers. We were banned from walking on the sidewalks, appearing in any kind of public places.
Those who risked coming to the market square were sent to prison where they were tormented for a few days. Then most of them were shot in the railway park. The police started raiding Jewish houses more often, taking valuable, leading people away or killing them in the front yards. There were mass graves forming on the outskirts of town."
From the recollections of Simon Shpungin "Long Way to Freedom."
Soon all of the poster stands, fences and walls were covered in the Prefect's orders in German and Latvian. They were only given to the Jews. And first one of them categorically ordered the men under 60 to gather at the selected time on the market square. The other order was about sewing yellow stars to clothing – on the chest, on the back and on the trousers. We were banned from walking on the sidewalks, appearing in any kind of public places.
Those who risked coming to the market square were sent to prison where they were tormented for a few days. Then most of them were shot in the railway park. The police started raiding Jewish houses more often, taking valuable, leading people away or killing them in the front yards. There were mass graves forming on the outskirts of town."
From the recollections of Simon Shpungin "Long Way to Freedom."
"No hope of salvation."
"Late night before the 7th of November 1941, the guards led everyone out into the front yard; they waited for something for a while and then let us go. But at dawn, the Gestapo officers arrived and the usual sorting started. First they called out the craftsmen, who directly serviced with Sicherheitspolizei. Then they also set aside the members of the Judenrat. There were also other groups. Out of the workers they only took the men and led them through the city via the massive gates. Everyone else, thousands of people, they lined up on the wall.
I pressed to my mother, Rosa grabbed her hand. We had a feeling, more like we were sure, that they would take us to Mežciems and there was no hope of salvation. And when the firing squad in front of us threw up their rifles, I thought that they would kill us right there and then. There is no moment of my life more terrifying than this. My panicked mind was pulsing with just one thought: 'I don't want to die!...I only lived twelve years in this world…As soon as I'll hear the Latvian command to fire, I will drop instantly and pretend to be dead…I just need to make it in time… Make it in time…'
And there were no shots. Apparently, the murderers were just practicing. I had an insane urge – to run or just roll off the wall, in order to hide somewhere in the stone corridors. I almost stepped on the edge, but turned around just in case…And understanding that there was no way they wouldn't see me, I hid back into the silent rows. At the same time, there was a search in the Ghetto. The police were digging through the tents, shooting at piles of stuff, beds, climbing into attics, looking into every dark corner.
But where was my mom?! I was desperately looking for her, pushing through the standing people, shouting, calling her name, but she did not respond. 'Mom! Mommy!' Absolute silence. Suddenly an order is heard.
"Medical personnel! Doctors, medical workers with families – five steps forth!
Around sixty or maybe eighty step out and form a row. My legs also took me forward. But what do I do? I have to stick to someone. But whom? Who would pretend I was their son? I throw myself to one, then the other, then the third one, but they each turn away and try to send me away. No one wants to take the risk. I was almost through the whole row, without seeing anyone I knew, until I finally see madam Magid – our family's dentist. She stands there with her daughter, my age, beckons me forth.
'Here, Sema! Here! I will say that you're both my children…'
And that's how it was. We were lucky with the search. We stand there and watch with abandon, as the long row is led off to get shot. Sadly the same fate would befall my savior and her daughter."
From the recollections of Simon Shpungin "Long Way to Freedom."
I pressed to my mother, Rosa grabbed her hand. We had a feeling, more like we were sure, that they would take us to Mežciems and there was no hope of salvation. And when the firing squad in front of us threw up their rifles, I thought that they would kill us right there and then. There is no moment of my life more terrifying than this. My panicked mind was pulsing with just one thought: 'I don't want to die!...I only lived twelve years in this world…As soon as I'll hear the Latvian command to fire, I will drop instantly and pretend to be dead…I just need to make it in time… Make it in time…'
And there were no shots. Apparently, the murderers were just practicing. I had an insane urge – to run or just roll off the wall, in order to hide somewhere in the stone corridors. I almost stepped on the edge, but turned around just in case…And understanding that there was no way they wouldn't see me, I hid back into the silent rows. At the same time, there was a search in the Ghetto. The police were digging through the tents, shooting at piles of stuff, beds, climbing into attics, looking into every dark corner.
But where was my mom?! I was desperately looking for her, pushing through the standing people, shouting, calling her name, but she did not respond. 'Mom! Mommy!' Absolute silence. Suddenly an order is heard.
"Medical personnel! Doctors, medical workers with families – five steps forth!
Around sixty or maybe eighty step out and form a row. My legs also took me forward. But what do I do? I have to stick to someone. But whom? Who would pretend I was their son? I throw myself to one, then the other, then the third one, but they each turn away and try to send me away. No one wants to take the risk. I was almost through the whole row, without seeing anyone I knew, until I finally see madam Magid – our family's dentist. She stands there with her daughter, my age, beckons me forth.
'Here, Sema! Here! I will say that you're both my children…'
And that's how it was. We were lucky with the search. We stand there and watch with abandon, as the long row is led off to get shot. Sadly the same fate would befall my savior and her daughter."
From the recollections of Simon Shpungin "Long Way to Freedom."
"Survived by some Miracle"
"Among the prisoners of the Daugavpils ghetto was my father [Gershon Rochko], who was there with his first family. He lost his own father – my grandpa – wife, two children and other relatives. He survived by some miracle – thanks to a series of accidents.
He was a leatherworker by trade and his golden hands were what saved him. He made quality gloves for the Nazis, tents for their cars, so they spared him. My father walked this mournful path completely: the Ghetto in Daugavpils, the Riga Kaiserwald camp, Danzig, Stutthoff… Stutthoff was infamously one of the worst death camps, with its crematorium turned a colossal amount of bodies to ash. My father's last job before liberation – he would stuff car seats with the hair of the executed women."
From an interview of Josef Rochko to the BB.lv site.
He was a leatherworker by trade and his golden hands were what saved him. He made quality gloves for the Nazis, tents for their cars, so they spared him. My father walked this mournful path completely: the Ghetto in Daugavpils, the Riga Kaiserwald camp, Danzig, Stutthoff… Stutthoff was infamously one of the worst death camps, with its crematorium turned a colossal amount of bodies to ash. My father's last job before liberation – he would stuff car seats with the hair of the executed women."
From an interview of Josef Rochko to the BB.lv site.
Gallery of executioners
Walter Stahlecker, the curator of the Holocaust in the Baltics.
Viktors Arājs
Hinrich Lohse, Ostland Reichskommissar (in the center, wearing glasses) and his subordinates.
Konrāds Kalējs in his youth
Konrāds Kalējs in his old age
Map of Ostland
