Salaspils's file / תיק – סלאספילס

The sources focus on the Salaspils concentration camp in Latvia, which operated under Nazi occupation during the Second World War, and serve to document the history and commemoration of the site. The texts and images describe the brutal conditions that prevailed in the camp, where more than 100,000 people were murdered, and detail the establishment of an impressive memorial site in 1967. The site includes giant concrete sculptures symbolizing the suffering, resistance, and resilience of the prisoners, alongside an entrance wall that symbolically separates life from death. In addition, the sources present maps of extermination and concentration camps in Europe and tourist information emphasizing the importance of preserving memory for future generations. The collection of materials highlights the atrocities committed under fascism and the moral commitment to ensure that such tragedies never occur again.

The information emerging from the sources outlines a comprehensive picture of the Salaspils concentration camp (Salaspils), its history, the Nazi crimes committed there, and the establishment of the impressive memorial complex at the site. Below is a detailed description of the sources, events, places, and central figures:

Main Sources

• Memorial booklet "Salaspils" (1985): A booklet published in Riga including text by Miervaldis Birze and photographs by Jānis Eglītis. The booklet describes the history of the site, the living conditions there, and the memorial monuments erected (H5-1f).
• Informational materials and guides: Information detailing the characteristics of the site, its geographical location, and its importance as a heritage site in Latvia (H5-3f).
• Map of concentration and extermination camps: A German map presenting the distribution of the main camps in the Third Reich, including Salaspils (H5-4f).

Major Events

• Establishment of the "Kurtenhof" camp: The camp was established in October 1941 during the Nazi occupation of Latvia in the Second World War (H5-1f, H5-3f).
• Operation of the "conveyor belt of death": The camp operated for three years as a concentration camp. Transports ("shipments") of people arrived from many places, including Latvia, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, and Belarus (H5-1f, H5-3f).
• Camp crimes and living conditions: The sources describe a brutal reality of extreme hunger, forced labor in stone quarries, medical experiments including poison injections, and the violent separation of children from their mothers (H5-1f).
• Destruction of evidence and liberation: In the summer and autumn of 1944, with the advance of the Red Army, the Nazis burned the barracks and attempted to conceal the traces of their crimes by burning the bodies of the victims (H5-1f). The camp was liberated in October 1944 (H5-1f, H5-3f).
• Construction of the memorial complex: In 1967 a monumental memorial complex was inaugurated by the Soviet authorities to commemorate the victims (H5-1f, H5-3f).

Key Locations

• Salaspils (Salaspils): A town in Latvia located near the Daugava River, about 500 meters from the railway line between the stations Dole and Dārziņi (H5-3f).
• Salaspils Memorial Ensemble: A site covering 25 hectares (H5-3f). It includes a massive concrete wall shaped like a hollow beam symbolizing the boundary between life and death, through which visitors can pass and overlook the grounds (H5-1f, H5-3f).
• Memorial sculptures: The complex includes seven giant concrete sculptures symbolizing suffering and resistance, among them: "The Unbroken" (Nesalauztais), "The Humiliated" (Pazemotā), "Mother" (Māte), and the sculptural groups "Solidarity" and "The Oath" (H5-1f, H5-3f).
• Other murder sites in Latvia: The sources mention additional mass murder sites in the region, such as the Biķernieki forest, Rumbula, Šķēde near Liepāja, and the Ančupāni hills (H5-1f).
• Wider European context: Salaspils appears on the camp map alongside infamous names such as Auschwitz, Treblinka, Sobibor, Majdanek, and Buchenwald (H5-4f).

Key Figures

• The victims: More than 100,000 people were murdered in the camp, including men, women, and approximately 7,000 children (H5-1f, H5-3f).
• The Nazis: German SS and SD units that operated the camp and carried out the killings (H5-1f).
• The memorial designers: A team of sculptors and architects who designed the complex in 1967, including the sculptors L. Bukovskis, A. Skraainis, and J. Zariņš, and the architects G. Asaris, A. Ostenbergs, A. Strautmanis, and A. Zakmanis (H5-1f).
• Miervaldis Birze (Miervaldis Birze): Author of the historical text in the 1985 memorial booklet (H5-1f).

The Salaspils complex today serves as an international memorial site attracting many visitors from around the world (H5-3f).

• H5-1f : A photo album and detailed historical overview of the Salaspils concentration camp, its victims, and the memorial site established there.
• H5-3f : Brief tourist and historical information about the Salaspils memorial, the structure of the site, and the scale of murder at the "Kurtenhof" camp.
• H5-4f : A map presenting the distribution of the main concentration and extermination camps throughout the Third Reich.

H5-1f

H5-3f

H5-4f

** end of Salaspils files **

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