Figure 1.--Most of the Latvian Jews in the Riga Ghetto were killed during a Winter Aktion (November-December 1941). For the killing actions, the men were separated from the women and children and killed first. Then the women and small children were killed. They were forced to undress first and then marched off to the execution point. This way the clothing and any valuables could be easily collected. Note the piles of coats from people sho have already been shot. This emptied the Ghetto for the arriving Reich Jews. We can only wonder about the individual who would take a photograph like this.

Riga is an important Baltic sea port with a fascinating medieval history. The city was founded by Germans who conquered and Chritinized the Latvian people. Riga became an important Hanseatic port. Like much of northern Europe Latvians sonverted to Protestantism during the Reformation. The Russians absorbed Riga into the Tsarist Empire during the Great Northern War. Latvia briefly gained independence during after World war I and the Russian Revolution. Anti-Semitism existed in Latvia, but was not particularly pronounced, but there were Fascist groups that has abnti-Semetic beliefs. This changed dramatically when the Soviets seized and occupied Latvia (1940). Many Latvians felt that Jews colaborated with the Soviets. While the Latvian Government had restricted anti-Semtitism, this was no longer the case when the NAZIs invaded the Soviet Union and quickly occupied Riga. About half of Latvia's small Jewish population lived un Riga. Within a few weeks the NAZIs forced the cuty's Jews in a small Ghetto (August-October 1941). The Riga police began registering Jews in the city, shooting a number of Jews in the process. Some NAZIs wanted to use the Jews in the Ghetto for slave labor. The Ghetto was, however, very short lived. The NAZIs emptied the Ghetto (November-December 1941). The NAZIs told the Jews that they were being transported east. Instead the Jews were marched to the Rumbuli Forest and shot. There were almost no survivors.

Riga

Riga is an important Baltic sea port with a fascinating medieval history. It is located at the union of the Daugava and Ridzene rivers. The Ridzene was once known as the Riga River which is believed to be the origin of the city's name. The joined rivers then flow into the Gulf of Latvia this making the site a valuable port and trading center. The first known people to settle the area were the Livonians, a Finnic tribe. The history of Riga as a city is a medieval German story. German traders recognizing the potential value of the location arrived (12th century). With the traders came both mercenaries and missionaries to covert the local population. German merchants established an trading post (1158). The pot and port allowed them to trade Baltic German goods for the produce that the Balts brough down the rivers. German missionaries founded the first monastery (1190). The German conquest of Latvia, called Livonia by the Germans began with Bishop Albert. With his appointment as Bishop of Livonia, Albert landed at Riga with with 23 ships and more than than 1,500 crusaders to participate in the Northern Crusades (1201). Albert founded the Order of Livonian Brothers of the Sword which eventually became pat of the better-known Teutonic Knights. It was at this time that Riga officially proclaimed a city. The inhabitants were forivcibly converted. Riga was granted rights of a city (1225). Thus Riga and other Baltic ports and provinces came under the control of the Holy Roman Empire, but as not part of it. Riga was an important Baltic port of the Hanseatic League. The Reformation rocked Germany (16th century). Riga along with much of northern Germany and the Baltic area converted to Protestantism (Luthernism). Riga during this tumultous period continued the economic dynmamic forseen by the early German traders. Traders exchanged German goods for the goods profuced by the Baltic tribes and Russia which at the time did not have a Baltic seaport. The commercial exchange brought mny different peoples to Riga and the city developed as a cosmopolitan city influenced by the NBltic peoples, Germany, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia. The Teutonic Knights banned Jewish settlement, but with their fall, Jews were added to the ethnic mix of Riga. The Holy Roman Emperor granted Riga the status of a Free Imperial City (1561). The German era ended with the rise of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the seizure of Riga (1581). The Poles-Lithuanians attempted to reimpose Catholocism, but the Riga population remained largely Lutheran. Riga was almost destroyed in the Thirty Years Wars. Sweden came to the aid of the Riga Lutherans and gained control of the city (1621). Swedish king Gustav-Adolf declared Riga the second capital of Sweden (1628). Swedish rule was short lived. The expanding Russian Empire gained control of much of modern Latvia during the Russo-Swedish War (1656-58). Finally Tsar Peter the Great seized Riga durung the Great Norther War (1710). Although absorbed into the Tsarist Empire, Riga into the 20th century retained much of its German heritage. The Russians launched upon a Russiafication process in the late-19thbcentury. It was only in the mid-19th century that Latvians replaced Germans as the major ethnic population in the city. Thus boith Germans and Latvians benefitted from industrialization and the resulting economic expansion. The Latvians had been the rural population and peasant labor class. Economic expansion meant that a Latvian middleclass grew sunstantially in Riga. Thus Riga was the center of the Latvian National Awakening. The Riga Latvian Association was founded (1868) and the organization of the first Latvian Song Festival (1873). Because of Tsarist political despotism, the Latvians and other subject peoples pursued cultural and economic issues. The Russian response was to impose the Russian langiage as Latvia's official language (1891).

World War I (1914-18)

The 20th century brought huge changes and for a time, the end of the Russian Empire. The Russians and the Germans fought massive battles in Eastern Prussia and Poland. The Russians almpst certainly prevented a German victory on the Western Front. The suffered massive casualties in the battles with the Germans. The Germans occupied Warsaw (1915) and moved into the Baltics including Riga and all of modern Larvia. The Tsarist regime because of the milutary disaters at the front and food shortages at home fell (1917). The Bolsheviks who seized power took Russia out of the War and signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918). This essentially gave the Baltics and Ukraine to Germany. Allied victory in the West, forced the Germans to renounce the Treaty. This gave Latvia and the other Baltic States the opportunity to declare their importance, although achieving independence required wars with the Bolsheviks.

Independent Latvia (1918-40)

The ndependent Latvia that emerged from Russian control was a parlimentary democracy. That democracy was unvle to survive the strains of the Great Depression. Prime Minister Karlis Ulmanis seized control of the country a year after Hitler's rize to power (1934). He ruled as a dictator and dissolved the Saeima (parliament). There were political arrestts, including Communists and Fascists. Ulmanis censorsed the press. One consequence of this was that many Latvians were poorly informed of the growing danger from both the Soviets and Germans. Economic policies included Latvianization, mening largely the break up of large German-owned estates. Ulmanis was not, however, a fasist or NAZI sympthizer. He supressed the Baltischer Brudebund, a political group that achieved some influence among ethnic Germans in Latvia. This was a NSI-affliated organization which demanded that Latvia be incorpated into the Reich. Ulmanis became president (1936). He persued economic policies that brought the country out of the Deoression. Ulmanis did not, however, give any major attention to military modernizaion leaving the country virtually undefended. Ulmanis and other Latvian leaders were unable to decided on whether it was the NAZIs or Soviet Unin that most threatened Latvan indendence making it difficult to persue a coherent defense strategy. [Lumans] There were also Communists in Latvia. Peteris Kuzeris lead a batallion of volunteers fighting with he Republic in Spain (1936). Stalin honored his service with the Order of Lenin (1937). Only a few months later the NKVD arrested him in Moscow durng the Great Terror. He was tried as a spy, sentenced, and shot. As Europe moved toward war, Latvia desired nothing more than to be "left alone to follow its own destiny'. [Lumans] Wedged between Germany and the Soviet Union, however, Latvia as an accident of geography was caught in the middle of the most destructive war in history. The people of Latvia would pay a heavy price.

Soviet Invasion (June 1940)

Latvia like the other Baltic Republics had the misfortune of being caught between two vicious totalitarian regimes. As a result of the NAZI-Soviet Pact and the NAZI and Soviet invasion of Poland (1939), the two countries proceeeded to divide up Eastern Europe. Latvia was in the Soviet zone. The Soviet Union first demanded bases and then occupied Latvia militarily. Finally the Soviets annex the country (June 17, 1940). Soviet authorities began arresting Latvians associated with the old regime. There were executions and deportments. Other Latvians were recruited into the Red Army.

Home to the Reich (1939-40)

Many Baltic German in the late-19th and early-20th century had emmigrated to Germany. Hitler in 1939 after seizing Poland ordered the remaining Baltic Volksdeutsche "heim ins Reich"--home to the Reich. Hitler was not yet planning an invasion of the Soviet Union, although it was his ultimate goal. But under the terms of NAZI-Soviet Non-Agression Pact, the Baltics were to be turned over to the Soviets and the NAZIs dis not want ethnic Germans to come under Soviet control. Hitler proceeded to negotiate a treaty to bring the Baltic Germans back to the Reich. Stalin did not impede this. This was done while Stalin's primary focus was on Finland and had yet seized control but had begun to strongly pressure the Baltic republics. Most of the Baltic Germans complied. This mean that a community with 700 years of living in Latvia and the two other Baltic republics was ended. It also meant that when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, there was no longer a major German population in the Baltics.

Riga Jews

The first Jews settled in Riga (17th century). At the time the area was controlled by Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but contested by the Germans, Swedes, and Russians. Tsarist Russia seized Riga (1710). The Russians expelled the city's Jews (1742). The Russians eventually changed their policy and Jews began to return to the city. The numbers were relatively small compared to the Jewish communities in Lithuania and Poland. A Census reports that there were about 43,000 Jews in Riga (1935). This was over 10 percent of the city's population and about half of the overall Jewish population of Latvia. At the time of the NAZI invasion, the Jewish population of the city was probably somewhat higher becauuse refugees from both Germany and Poland probanly reaced the city, although we hdo not know how many. Thecnumber was probably limited because Latvia did not border on either Germany or German occupied Poland.

NAZI Invasion (June 1941)

The situation changed dramatically with the NAZI invasion of the Soviet Union (June 1941). German panzers after crossing the border reached Latvia within days. The Germans reached Riga (July 1). German troops occupy Riga.Because of the brutal albeit brief Soviet occupation, many Latvians looked on the NAZIs as liberators and cooperated with the invaders. Many Latvians assisted the Germans in rouding up Jews. The Germans recruited Latvians for a "border patrol". They also formed a legion in the Waffen SS. The Germans made Latvia a part of the Reichskommissariat Ostland.

Latvian Ghettos

Not all NAZI government agncies had identical plans for the Jews of the Soviet Union. Reichskommissar of the Ostland, Hinrich Lohse ordered Jews to be concentrated and used for slave labor. The NAZIS established ghettos at Riga, Dvinsk, and Liepaja.

Riga Ghetto Location

Riga unlike many Polish cities was a largely integrated city. There was no largely Jewish section of the city. Thus the NAZIs had to decide where to locate the Ghetto. The NAZIs chose the Maskavas suburb. It was chosen because it was a poor area of the city. About 9,800 Jews (19 percent of Riga's Jewish population) lived there. About 19,000 Latvians and 12,000 Russians lived in the suburb. (There was no longer a German popilation in Riga as a result of Hitler's Home to the Reich decree.) The NAZIs selected 12 blocks for the Ghetto. About 7,000 Gentiles had to be moved out of the 12 block area selected for the Jews.

First Arrivals (August 1941)

Small numbers of Jews began moving into the area selected for the Ghetto within weeks of the NAZIs seizing the city (mid-August 1941).

Fence

The NAZIs errected a barbed wire fence (October 10). The NAZIs eventually strngthen the basic fence. They errected a double barbed wire fence. Guards shot anyone foind between the two fences.

Fnal Notice (October 1941)

The NAZIs posted notices with a deadline for Jews to move into the Ghetto. The date was October 25, 194. The notices were oprinted in German, Russian and Latvian. All Jews living within the boundaries of Riga City who as yet have not moved to the ghetto must do so before October 25, 6:00 p.m. Those who do not observe this directive will be most severely punished."

Moving In

Jews moving into the Ghetto had to find accomodations on their own. As more people were crammed into the Ghetto than moved out, conditions were very cra,ped. Families had to share homes and apartments, even rooms. The Jews were prohibited from brining most of their possessions into the Ghetto. Only personal possesions they could cary were allowed (clothes and basic household utensils and furniture). The Riga Jews wre eventually cramed into a Ghetto offering them only 4 square meters per person. Eventually 29,602 people were squeezed into the 16 blocks of the Maskavas suburb. The population had previously been about 13,000 people.

Latvian Police

The NAZIs gave the Latvian police the responsible for overseeing the move into the Ghetto. They carried out the registration process. They were assigned to registering Riga Jews even before the Ghetto was establidhed. They began searching for Jewish families. The police began killing Jews at this time even before the NAZIs ordered them to do so. and counting of Jews within the city. They as well started killing the Jews before the German's command. Latvian police arriving at an apartment building would not only register the Jews, but some (mostly men) were arrested at this time. They arrested Jews were driven into nearby forests and shot.

Property

The heart of the Holocaust was of course murder--physically elininating the Jewish people. A subsiduary motivation was the opporunity to steal the properyty of the targeted victims. The Security Police (SD), a branch of the SS, collected the f valuable possessiins of the Jews forced to leavre their homes. The seized goods were transported back to the Reich and distributed or sold by the SS. German occupation officials took over the better homes and apartments.

Ghetto Facilities

The Jews set up a hospital. Medical supplies were virtually unavailable. They also opened schools for the children. schools were opened. Soup kitchens were opened for the indigent.were instituted.

Murder (November-December 1941)

NAZI authorities informed the Riga Jews that were tp be transported east (November 27). They were informed that the evacuation of the Ghetto would commence the following day. Ghetto residents on certain streets were ordered to be ready for a lengthy journey. The next day, 15,000 people were marched out of the Ghetto under armed guard. The people of Riga watched the process. A long line of Jews were led into the Rumbuli Forest. Most of the Latvian Jews in the Riga Ghetto were killed during a Winter Aktion (November-December 1941). For the killing actions, the men were separated from the women and children and killed first. Then the women and small children were killed. They were forced to undress first and then marched off to the execution point (figure 1). This way the clothing and any valuables could be easily collected. A smaller Ghetto was established for the remaining 10,000 Jews, mostly young men. Some NAZIs wanted to use them for slave labor, but it was soon decided to kill them as well. They were also matrched into the Rumbuli Forest and shot (December 8).

Small Ghetto

The small number surviving Latvian Jews were concentrated in a smaller area within the original ghetto, which became known as the "Small Ghetto". The small ghetto was divided into men's and women's sections. This was done to prevent sexual relations and the birth of any Jewish babies. Any babied born were put to death.

Reich Jews (1941-43)

The SS once most of the Latvian Jews were eliminated began transporting Reich Jews to Riga. The first Reich Jews arrived (November 29, 1941). They continued during the Winter. The Ghetto authorities carefully searched the buildings vacated by the Latvian Jews for valuables before the Reich Jews were allowed to move in. The last transport arrived (February 6, 1942). The area of the Ghetto not made part of the Small Ghetto was used for the arriving Reich Jews. This was called the German ghetto. Unlike the Small Ghetto, men and women were not separated and families were left in tact when they arrived. As in the Small Ghetto, sexual relations were banned, but unlike the Small Ghetto, the sexes were not divided into separate areas of the Ghetto. Some of the Reich Jews were used for forced labor. Most like the Latvian Jews that preceeded them were killed in nearby forests soon after their arrival (January-July 1942). An estimated 14,000 were shot. There were only about 5,000 Jews left alive in remained in Latvia (early 1943). They were in the ghettos or in a Forced Labor Camps, including Kaiserwald. The last surviving Jews in tghe Riga Ghetto were moved to Kaiserwald (fall 1943).

Evacuation West

The Red Army Operation Bagration offensive destroyed Army Group Center (June-August 1944). Part of Army Group North cut off in the Kurland Pocket and the rest was desintegrating in a retreat west. As the Red Army entered Latvia, the few surviving Jews were moved to camps in the Reich. The conditions of the movement were horendous. Many were move by ship out of the Kurland Pocket. Many died in transit.

Individuals

Erich Rosenberg

Sources

Dobroszycki, Lucjan and Jefferey Gurak. The Holocaust in the Soviet Union (New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1993).

Ezergalis, Andrew. The Holocaust in Latvia (Washington D.C.: The U.S. Holocaust Museum, 1996).

Created: 7:21 PM 9/12/2008
Last updated: 9:13 PM 10/10/2011