Kuritzki's Diary from Ghetto Dvinsk's file / תיק – יומנו של קוריצקי מהגטו דוינסק

The document presents the Lao Mai's personal testimony, a Holocaust survivor who experienced the political and military upheavals in Latvia starting in 1939. The author describes in detail the Conquest of the Baltic States by the Soviet Union, the deportation of his family to Siberia, and the atrocities that took place under The Nazi occupation and the Riga ghetto. The memoirs review his difficult experiences within Various concentration camps, including Stutthof and Buchenwald, with an emphasis on forced labor and deplorable living conditions. In addition, the text deals with his activities inThe resistance movement underground and his daring attempts to survive and save others towards the end of the war. The later chapters describe the His release in Germany, the encounter with the Allied forces, and his dealings with the Soviet system after the war. Finally, the author criticizes the Distortion of history in official publications and seeks to immortalize the truth about the fate of Latvian Jews as he experienced it himself.

The documents before us recount the story of Leo Mai, a Latvian Jew, from the Soviet and Nazi occupation of Riga, through a series of concentration camps, to his survival and return to his city. Below is an overview of the key figures, events, and important sources.

Key figures

Victims, Survivors, and Righteous Among the Nations:

• Leo May: The author of the testimony, a chemistry student in Riga who survived the ghetto and the Kaiserwald, Stuhoff and Magdeburg concentration camps (H53-1-1f, H53-1f).
• Bruno May: Leo's brother, who accompanied him throughout most of the war in the camps, was seriously injured on the death march and perished at the end (H53-1f).
• Professor Mintz: A prominent Jewish doctor in Riga, who demonstrated courage and continued to treat patients in the ghetto and camps until his deportation (H53-1-12f, H53-1f).
• Irena May-Weiss: Leo's brother's wife, a communist who was deported to Siberia by the Soviet authorities in June 1941 (H53-1f).
• Constance Austrinus: The underground company "Vesriga" that supplied medicine and equipment to the partisans; it was tortured by the Gestapo but did not turn anyone in (H53-1-9f, H53-1f).
• Janice Lipka: Righteous Among the Nations who saved dozens of Jews from the Riga ghetto (H53-1-15f, H53-1f).
• Yechiel Kahn and Dr. Jaworkowski: Friends who survived with Leo in the Magdeburg camp and helped each other in the last days of the war (H53-1f).
• Elfriede-Alain Meyer: An assistant in the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) who assisted Leo in providing medical care to his sick friend in hiding in Löwborg (H53-1f).

Nazis and collaborators:

• Walter von Schulte-Mezum: A German officer who ran the "laboratory" where Leo worked; portrayed as a complex figure who helped certain Jews but was part of the Nazi apparatus (H53-1-9f, H53-1-15f, H53-1f).
• Gustav Sorge ("Iron Gustav"): The commander of the HKP concentration camp, who was known for his cruelty (H53-1-12f, H53-1f).
• Himmler: Mentioned as having given special instructions for the suppression of the underground in Latvia in 1943 (H53-1-9f, H53-1f).
• Stutthof commanders (Hoppe and Pauli): Those responsible for the murderous regime in the Stutthof camp (H53-1f).
• Wittrock (Gebietskommissar): A senior Nazi official who issued the orders to humiliate the Jews and require them to wear the yellow patch in Riga (H53-1f).

Key events and expansion on sources

The testimony begins with a description The Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the forced "Sovietization" process, and the mass deportations to Siberia in June 1941 (H53-1-1f, H53-1f). Source H53-1-1f Particularly important for understanding the political atmosphere and the initial hope of a part of the population that was quickly replaced by repression.

With the German invasion in 1941, pogroms and mass murders began in Latvia. Source H53-1-4f Describes in detail the first days of the Nazi occupation, the establishment of the Riga ghetto and the large-scale aktions in the Rumbola and Bikraniki forests (H53-1-4f, H53-1f).

The camp period is described in sources H53-1-12f and-H53-1-18fLeo and his brother were transferred to the Kaiserwald camp and from there to the HKP. In August 1944, as the front approached, they were evacuated to the camp. Stuhoff (H53-1-18f, H53-1f). Source H53-1-18f Provides a chilling description of Stutthof as a de facto "extermination camp", where prisoners suffered extreme hunger, abuse and daily danger of death in the gas chambers.

The latter part of the story appears mainly in the comprehensive source H53-1fHe describes their transfer to the camp. Magdeburg For forced labor at the "Polta" ammunition factory, the Death march April 1945, during which Bruno May was wounded and contact with Leo was lost, and Leo's days in hiding in the town of Løvborg until his liberation by the Americans and the Soviets (H53-1f).

List of sources

• H53-1f : A comprehensive document that unites all phases of the war, including the deportation to Siberia, the Magdeburg camp, the death march, and the return to Riga.
• H53-1-1f : Testimony about the Soviet occupation of Latvia, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and the Sovietization process in Riga.
• H53-1-4f : Description of the beginning of the Nazi occupation, the first pogroms, and the establishment of the Riga ghetto.
• H53-1-9f : Information about the activities of the "Vesriga" underground, the connection with the partisans, and the laboratory where the author worked.
• H53-1-12f : Details about the Kaiserwald concentration camp, its branches, and working conditions at the HKP.
• H53-1-15f : Testimony about figures who helped the Jews in Riga, including Righteous Among the Nations and exceptional German officers.
• H53-1-18f : Description of the Stutthof concentration camp, its murderous regime, and the living conditions of the prisoners.

 

– H53-1f

– H53-1-1f

– H53-1-4f

– H53-1-9f

– H53-1-12f

– H53-1-15f

– H53-1-18f

 

** end of Kuritzki's Diary from Ghetto Dvinsk files **

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