Documents of Ghetto Riga's file / תיק – מסמכים של גטו ריגה

This collection of documents documents the Persecution of Latvian Jews and life under Nazi and Soviet occupation during the 20th century. Sources include Work permits from the ghetto, lists detailing demographic data of Jewish communities in various cities, and personal correspondence dealing with immigration attempts and economic hardship. Alongside these, appear Antisemitic propaganda materials in Latvian and official decrees of the Third Reich directed against the Jews. The collection also contains Maps of the Riga Ghetto and testimonies of massacres committed by the NKVD and the Germans in the area. In addition, documents confirming Awarding military decorations and literature dealing with historical memory of the period. The combination of materials presents a broad picture of Discriminatory policies, the struggle for survival and the destruction experienced by the Jewish people in the Baltics.

The documents provide a broad and detailed picture of Holocaust of Latvian Jews, starting from the anti-Semitic propaganda that preceded it, through the establishment of the Riga ghetto and forced labor, to its extermination and the attempts at resistance by the Jews (H44-1f, H44-2f, H44-16f).

Riga Ghetto: Life, Work, and Extermination

The Riga Ghetto was established in the Moscow suburb of the city and was enclosed by a double barbed wire fence (H44-3f, H44-8f). At its peak, it was home to tens of thousands of Jews who were forced to perform Forced labor for the German war effort. Official documents indicate that Jews were assigned to various work units, such as repairing trains, working for a cable company, and repairing thousands of pairs of gloves for the army (H44-18f, H44-20f, H44-21f, H44-22f). Special work permits were issued to Jews to allow them to travel the city streets for their work, sometimes even on Sundays (H44-24f).

In addition to the hard work, the Jews suffered from severe food and clothing shortages. There are records of official requests for basic clothing for children and adults in the ghetto (H44-23f). Despite the suffering, sparks of humanity remained, as can be seen in the memorial songs and birthday greetings written within the ghetto walls (H44-27f, H44-30f).

The mass extermination operations, primarily Rombola Massacre The end of 1941 is mentioned in the writings as a terrible turning point where tens of thousands were murdered (H44-14f). Survivor testimonies describe how thousands of Jews were taken from the ghetto to the firing pits in Rumbula and Bikerniki (H44-2f, H44-74). Statistical lists detail the extent of the murders in dozens of towns across Latvia, where entire communities were wiped out (H44-13f).

Resistance and underground activity

Within the ghetto, a Jewish-communist underground organization (H44-9f). German intelligence reports detail the underground's attempts to contact partisans outside, obtain weapons (including submachine guns), and organize mass escapes from the ghetto by truck (H44-9f). Members of the organization bribed Jewish police to allow escapees to leave, but some of these attempts were thwarted by the SD (H44-9f).

Historical background and research

The Holocaust in Latvia occurred against a backdrop of widespread anti-Semitic propaganda by local organizations such as the "Perkonkrustas", which portrayed Jews as enemies of the Latvian nation (H44-16f). After the war, survivors and historians worked to collect the names of victims and document the events to ensure that the tragedy would not be forgotten (H44-10f, H44-12f).

Key figures

Victims and survivors:

• Marger (Mayer-Westermann): Historian and Holocaust survivor who dedicated his life to researching the "anatomy of mass crime" in Latvia (H44-10f).
• Eliezer Kershtat: A survivor who testified about the extermination of the Jews of Riga and their stay in the Stutthof camp (H44-2f).
• Dov Krupkin: A resident of Riga who wrote a detailed diary in Russian about the days of the occupation (H44-12f).
• Borka (Boris) Pismanov: A leader in the Jewish underground in the Riga ghetto who worked to establish contact with the partisans (H44-9f).
• Mordechai Abramovich Glazer: A Jewish soldier who was decorated with a Soviet decoration for his bravery in the war (H44-17f).
• Benjamin Yaffe, Baruch Duskin, Giga Koukla, Levinas Clemens: Jewish residents of the ghetto who were documented in forced labor documents (H44-18f, H44-19f, H44-20f, H44-24f).

Nazis and collaborators:

• Edward Rushman: The infamous Riga Ghetto Commander (H44-1f).
• Dr. Rudolf Lange: A senior commander in the S.I.P.O. and the SD in Latvia, one of the main planners of the extermination (H44-1f).
• Alka Schrewitz: Commander of the "Lanta" forced labor camp in Riga (H44-1f).
• Krause (Ubersturmführer): A Nazi officer who was involved in the suppression of the Jewish underground and the arrest of its members (H44-9f).

Testimonial documents and historical research

• Protocol of Eliezer Kershtat's testimony: This is a key document that describes in detail the sequence of events in Riga (H44-2f). Kerstedt testifies to the German entry on July 1, 1941, the immediate arrests of thousands of Jewish men, the establishment of the ghetto on October 23, 1941, and the separation of families (H44-2f). His testimony includes details of the large-scale "Aktionen" in late 1941 and the difficult living conditions in the ghetto, such as the meager food ration of 125 grams of bread per day (H44-2f).
• Historian Marger's program letter: This document details a monumental research project called "Anatomy of a Mass Crime," which deals with the murder of 80,000 Latvian Jews (H44-10f). Marger notes that he collected lists of names of thousands of victims from various communities in Latvia and sought to memorialize them so that they would not fall "victim to oblivion" (H44-10f).
• Statistical lists of victims: A handwritten document that compiles numerical data on the extermination of Jews in dozens of towns in Latvia (H44-13f). For example, it states that 43,800 Jews were murdered in Riga, 11,585 in Dvinsk, and 1,630 in Lucin (H44-13f).

Documents of the German underground and intelligence

• The SD report on the Jewish underground: An official German document (marked secret) detailing the activities of an illegal communist organization in the Riga ghetto (H44-9f). The report describes how the underground attempted to obtain weapons (including a submachine gun), contacted partisans, and planned a mass escape by truck (H44-9f). The document also reveals the efforts of German intelligence to thwart the activity and names key operatives such as Boris Pismanov (H44-9f).

Documenting daily life and forced labor

• Work and placement permits: A collection of official certificates attesting to the economic exploitation of Jews (H44-18f, H44-19f, H44-20f, H44-21f). These documents include permits to move to work in military units, in train repair, and in cable companies (H44-18f, H44-20f, H44-21f). One document even confirms the receipt of 2,000 pairs of gloves repaired by ghetto Jews for the German army (H44-22f).
• Requests for basic supplies: A personal request form for the boy Mendel, requesting basic clothing such as a shirt, pants, and socks from the ghetto warehouse in 1943, illustrates the severe shortage of basic equipment (H44-23f).

Propaganda and legal documents

• Nuremberg Laws and Propaganda Posters: An official copy of the 1935 Nuremberg Laws defining the status of Jews (H44-6f), alongside press clippings and anti-Semitic propaganda in Latvian depicting Jews as "terrorists" and inciting a boycott of their businesses (H44-16f).
• NKVD instructions: A document detailing the procedures for separating heads of families from their families during deportations, indicating the methods of operation of the Soviet government prior to the Nazi occupation (H44-7f).

List of sources

• H44-1f : An article in Yiddish from the newspaper "Fon Letzten Horvan" about the actions in the Riga ghetto in 1942.
• H44-2f : Protocol of Eliezer Kershtat's testimony about the extermination of the Jews of Riga and their deportation to the camps.
• H44-3f : Excerpts from Zanta Maurina's book describing the occupation in Latvia and the ghetto.
• H44-4-05f : Riga city map and tourist/historical site guide from 1942.
• H44-5f : Title page of a Jewish history book with a dedication in Russian from 1956.
• H44-6f : A copy of the Nuremberg Laws and a Nazi poster calling for the boycott of Jewish businesses.
• H44-7f : NKVD instructions regarding the procedure for separating families during divorces.
• H44-8f : Detailed map of the Riga Ghetto area with markings of the ghetto's borders and institutions.
• H44-9f : A detailed German intelligence report on a Jewish underground organization in the Riga ghetto and the foiling of an escape.
• H44-10f : Letter from the historian Marger describing his research on the extermination of Latvian Jews.
• H44-11f : An appeal in Latvian from a group of intellectuals to the Inspector General of the Latvian Legion in 1943.
• H44-12f : E-mail correspondence regarding the location and translation of Dov Krupkin's diary from the Riga Ghetto.
• H44-13f : A handwritten list of towns in Latvia and the numbers of Jewish victims murdered there.
• H44-14f : A page containing poems and texts in Yiddish about the Rumbola massacre and the deportation to Siberia.
• H44-15f : Personal letter from Max Honigbaum (San Francisco, 1940) on immigration and family assistance matters.
• H44-16f : Antisemitic press clippings and propaganda posters from extremist Latvian organizations.
• H44-17f : Certificate of the "Homeland War" decoration awarded to Mordechai Abramovich Glazer in 1944.
• H44-18f : Official work permit in the Riga ghetto issued for Benjamin Jaffe in April 1942.
• H44-19f : Work permits and permission to wear shoes for Jews in the Riga ghetto and in the Strasdenhof camp.
• H44-20f : Work permit for Baruch Duskin in a German military unit in Riga.
• H44-21f : Work assignment orders for groups of Jews in Riga in July 1943.
• H44-22f : Official confirmation of receipt of 2000 pairs of gloves repaired in the Riga ghetto for the army.
• H44-23f : Application form to receive clothes from the ghetto warehouse for a child named Mendel in 1943.
• H44-24f : Special travel permit for Levinas Clemens to work on Sundays in Riga in 1941.
• H44-25f : A note in Latvian indicating assistance provided by a family to a group of partisans in 1943.
• H44-26f : Latvian military service certificate from 1932 for soldier Abraham Weiler.
• H44-27f : A poem in German written in the Riga ghetto in 1943 on the occasion of a birthday.
• H44-28f : Letter in Yiddish with sender's details from Riga from 1964.
• H44-29f : Bibliographic list of newspapers and magazines published in Latvia and Germany.
• H44-30f : Draft pages of poems and personal texts in Yiddish from the Holocaust period and after.

– H44-1f

– H44-2f

– H44-3f

– H44-4-05f

– H44-5f

– H44-6f

– H44-7f

– H44-8f

– H44-9f

– H44-10f

– H44-11f

– H44-12f

– H44-13f

– H44-14f

– H44-15f

– H44-16f

– H44-17f

– H44-18f

– H44-19f

– H44-20f

– H44-21f

– H44-22f

– H44-23f

– H44-24f

– H44-25f

– H44-26f

– H44-27f

– H44-28f

– H44-29f

– H44-30f

 

** end of Documents of Ghetto Riga files **

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