Memories of Ghetto Riga's file / תיק – זיכרונות מגטו ריגה

This source shows A personal and moving handwritten diary, which documents the memories of Bar (Boris) Friedman (Ber/Boris Friedman). who survived the The Holocaust in Latvia. BorisDescribes the The Nazi invasion In the summer of 1941, focusing on the atmosphere of anxiety, helplessness, and the drastic change in the daily life of the community inRigaThe text combines descriptions of The retreat of the Red Army alongside the entry of German soldiers, and emphasizes the sense of deprivation and immediate danger felt by the Jews. The purpose of the text is to serve as Historical evidence For the sake of future generations, out of a moral obligation to remember the many victims. Through the eyes of the author, it is revealed The Destruction of European Jewry As experienced on a personal and communal level under Nazi rule.

• Last name: The author notes that the official surname appearing on his brother's passport, Yan (Ян), is Friedman.
• Personal details: The author was a Jewish resident of Riga, Latvia. He was a student at the university (LSU), and during the German occupation he was employed as a glazier and painter (маляр/стекольщик).
• family: The sources mention his close family members, including his younger brother. Jan And his sister Zila (Tsilya).
• Jobs: He describes in detail his forced labor in the "Reimer" garage and later in the "Lenta" camp.

Friedman's memoirs, written in Russian, in which he documents his experiences in the Riga ghetto and in labor camps under Nazi rule.

A collection of fascinating personal memoirs handwritten in Russian. by Bar (Boris) FriedmanThis document constitutes a detailed and painful testimony to the fate of the Jews of Riga, Latvia, during the Holocaust, and was written out of a deep sense of duty to leave written testimony to the atrocities to which the author witnessed.

The following are the key aspects that appear in the manuscript:

1. The background and motivation for writing

The author begins his remarks by explaining that he sees writing as "The Command of Conscience"He felt a duty to tell the story of the millions of Jews who were murdered, including his own family and friends, so that their last cry would not be forgotten. He notes that he wrote these words some 45 years after the events, with the understanding that there might be no other living witnesses left to tell the story.

2. Timeline and historical events

The source covers a long period, from the entry of the Red Army into Latvia in 1940 to the later years of the German occupation:

• Soviet period (1940–1941): Friedman describes the entry of Soviet tanks into Riga, an event that was welcomed by most Jews who saw it as a deliverance from local anti-Semitism. He notes that at the time it was University student (LSU).
• The German invasion (June 1941): The author describes the panic that gripped the community with the Soviet retreat, the bombings by German planes, and the failed attempts by Jews to escape eastward.
• The beginning of the occupation and disturbances: He describes in detail the seizure of power by the Germans and the role of The Latvian collaborators (the "Eissergs") in persecuting and murdering Jews from the very first days.

3. Personal experiences of persecution and torture

Friedman documents difficult and shocking events that he experienced himself or saw with his own eyes:

• Arrest and torture in police basements: He describes how he was taken from his home and taken to a basement where Jews were forced to perform humiliating acts, such as sucking blood from a pillow soaked in the blood of wounded Latvians. He describes brutal beatings he suffered along with other Jews, including the Ardov brothers.
• The destruction of the "Great Ghetto": The source includes a chilling description of the "Aktions" (massacres) of November and December 1941, in which tens of thousands of Riga Jews were murdered in the Rumbula Forest. It describes the transformation of the ghetto into a "small ghetto" intended only for workers.

4. Forced Labor and Key Figures

The author survived thanks to his professional work asGlaze and paint (маляр/стекольщик). He indicates several work centers:

• "Reimer" Garage: There he worked under the command of Germans such as Wigman and Mikelson.
• "Lenta" camp: A labor camp where he stayed during the later stages of the war.
• Characters: He mentions cruel German characters like Lange andKrause, responsible for mass murder in the ghetto.

5. Family and friends

Throughout the text, Friedman weaves the fate of his relatives:

• His younger brother Jan (Xian), who was taken to work and never returned.
• His sister Zila, her husband David and their son.
• His aunt Frania, who took care of him during difficult times.
• His close friend Ziama Rodin, with whom he studied at university and tried to survive the first days of the war.

6. The importance of the source

The text is written in a very personal style, full of emotion but also in an attempt to rationally analyze human behavior in extreme situations. The author incorporates information he learned later (for example, from the Nuremberg Trials or the Eichmann Trial) into his memoirs in order to give a broader context to his personal experiences.

The document is a comprehensive and extraordinary collection of memoirs, handwritten in Russian some 45 years after the end of the war, and constitutes first-rate historical evidence of the fate of Riga Jewry and the logistical and military arrangements of the Nazi occupation of Latvia.

The author, who was a student at the University of Riga (LSU) on the eve of the war, combines deeply emotional descriptions with rational analysis of the events in the text. The importance of the source lies in the technical and everyday detail of life under forced labor, especially in the "Reimer" garage and the "Lenta" camp, and in the precise description of the characters of the Nazi criminals alongside the fate of their victims.

Key figures in the original

Jewish victims and survivors:

• Bar (Boris) Friedman: The author of the memoirs, a survivor of the ghetto and concentration camps, who worked as a glazier and painter.
• Jan (Yasha/Xian) Friedman: The author's younger brother, who was murdered during the war.
• Cilia (cilia): The author's sister.
• Ziama Rodin: The author's close friend and university student, who accompanied him in the first days of the occupation.
• The Ardov Brothers (Lazar and Dodik/Zodik): The author's friends were severely tortured in police cellars and the ghetto; Dodik was seriously wounded in the head by a Nazi officer.
• Professor Mintz: A famous Jewish doctor and surgeon, who was tortured and forced to work in humiliating conditions.
• Dr. Haikelson: A prominent Jewish surgeon who treated the wounded inside the ghetto under minimal conditions.
• Arthur Kyleman: Head of the "Altstenrat" (Council of Elders) in the Riga ghetto.
• Frania: The author's aunt, who helped him survive during the famine.
• Pavel Forman: The author's neighbor and friend.
• Honey Treasure: A young Jewish man who tried to escape the camp in a Nazi uniform but was caught and executed.

Nazis, officers and collaborators:

• Krause: The notorious ghetto commander, directly responsible for murders and daily brutality.
• Lange: A senior SS commander (Obersturmbannführer) in Latvia, one of the main planners of the "Final Solution" in the region.
• Wigman: A Nazi officer at the "Reimer" garage who commanded the forced laborers.
• Mikelson: A cruel German officer at the "Reimer" garage.
• Schulz: An SS officer (Oberscharführer) who commanded labor departments.
• Dauber: An SS officer from the EC-2 unit, who was described as an especially cruel person.
• Picard: A Nazi officer who was involved in managing transportation and garages.
• Zakhar: A Latvian collaborator who served in Nazi auxiliary units.
• Jacobson: A Jew who served as a supervisor (Capo) on behalf of the Germans and was described as someone who collaborated with the invaders.

Working in the garage "Reimer" Described in Bar Friedman's memoirs as a period of Hard forced labor (каторжная работа), characterized by arbitrary, cruel and humiliating treatment by the Nazi officers who manned the place. Below is a breakdown of the treatment received by the author and the other Jewish workers in this garage:

Physical violence and daily humiliation

The attitude in the garage was characterized byYelling, cursing and hitting which were a matter of routine. The author describes several specific incidents that illustrate the cruelty:

• The Dauber Slap Incident: SS officer Dauber, who belonged to the nearby EC-2 unit, slapped the author hard and shouted at him "Cursed Jew" (Проклятый жид) simply because at that moment his yellow star was not visible enough for his liking.
• Picard's kick: While Friedman was painting a car, Officer Picard approached him and kicked him violently for no reason, causing him to fall forward onto the car and get smeared with paint.
• Use of weapons and death threats: The author notes that in the garage they were common Gunfights, kicks, and threats of shooting.

The figures of the Germans and the cook in the garage

Discipline in the garage was entrusted to several German officers, each of whom instilled terror in his own way:

• Wigman: The department commander who beat workers for what he considered poor work. He would send "unruly" workers to Michelson's brutal treatment.
• Mikelson: Degree asPathological sadist who used to beat Jews with Iron rod Until he lost consciousness. Friedman describes a night of terror when Wigman threatened to send him to Michelson the next day, an event that caused him deep anxiety, although ultimately on that particular day Michelson ignored him.
• Professional defense: The author estimates that the fact that there was Skilled Painter and Glazier It saved him more than once from worse treatment, as the Germans needed his quality work to repair their private vehicles and paint their apartments.

Comparison with the treatment of Soviet prisoners of war

Friedman notes that the garage also had workers Soviet prisoners of war, and the attitude towards them was sometimes Even more cruel The treatment of the Jews. The prisoners were starved to the point of being skeletons, and the German guards would beat them mercilessly with rifle butts for any attempt to get a little food from the kitchen scraps.

List of sources

• H60-1f : The handwritten memoirs of Bar (Boris) Friedman, which include a detailed description of Jewish life in Riga, the ghetto, forced labor in the Reimer garage and the Lanta camp, and descriptions of the horrors of the Nazi occupation.

 

– H60-1f

 

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