Latvia Holocaust Issues's file / תיק – סוגיות השואה בלטביה

These sources document efforts to research and commemorate victims. The Holocaust in Latvia, focusing on collecting names and statistical data. The archive includes Official correspondence recommending a systematic classification of camps, ghettos, and deportations in order to estimate the extent of the killings. A significant portion of the material consists ofYad Vashem Testimony Pages, which detail biographical information about victims and survivors, along with instructions for submitting them. In addition, Computerized lists and scans of witness documents identifying victims by their place of residence and dates of birth. The sources also include Manual drawings The surveyors of various towns in Latvia are detailed, indicating the dates of the Aktions and the estimated number of people murdered in each community. These documents serve as essential historical evidence for reconstructing the fate of the Jews in cities and villages under the Nazi occupation.

The Holocaust of the Jews of Latvia was one of the most severe and thorough in Europe, with estimates suggesting that only about 1.6% of the Jews remaining in Latvia under the German occupation managed to survive (H84-2f). In view of the almost complete annihilation, the Holocaust Victims' Names Project in Latvia (The Latvian Holocaust Victims Names Project), which aims to reconstruct the identities of approximately 70,000 Jews who perished and preserve the memory of their contribution to life in Latvia (H84-1f). The project operates under the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Latvia and relies on academic research methods and cross-referencing data from archives in Latvia, Israel, the USA, and Russia (H84-1f, H84-2f).

Expansion of key research sources

The research to reconstruct the names relies on several core sources, some of which were only revealed after the collapse of the Soviet bloc (H84-4f):

• The August 1941 census: This is one of the most important sources, as it was conducted only two months after the beginning of the German occupation and documented about 85% of the remaining Jewish population in the country (H84-2f). The census includes precise demographic data such as names, dates of birth, addresses and professions, allowing for the creation of an initial database of the community before its destruction (H84-2f).
• Pages of Testimony: These forms, deposited in the Hall of Names at Yad Vashem, constitute "symbolic tombstones" for the perished (H84-2f, H84-5f). Despite their immense importance as personal testimony, researchers note that they sometimes include errors in names or dates due to the distance in time, and therefore must be verified against official records (H84-2f).
• "House Books": Detailed records of the occupants of buildings in cities such as Liepaja (Libau), which were updated in real time during the war years (H84-2f). These records provide critical information about the disappearance of occupants, with notes such as "whereabouts unknown" often signifying execution, while other notes indicated removal to ghettos (H84-2f).
• Concentration camp records (such as Stutthof): Registration diaries and prisoner cards from Stutthof and other camps provide information on Jews deported from Latvia in the later stages of the war, including details of their final fate (H84-2f). This is the main source detailing the methodology of the "Latvian Holocaust Victims' Names Project." It is particularly important because it demonstrates how dry Nazi bureaucratic records (such as population censuses and camp diaries) can be transformed into a powerful tool for reconstructing the personal identities and life stories of thousands of people (H84-2f). The source emphasizes the importance of the "indirect method" for identifying victims in communities where there are no survivors left to provide testimony (H84-1f, H84-2f).
• H84-1f (Project Objectives): This document defines the vision of the project – the creation of a “symbolic tomb” for the 70,000 Latvian Jews who perished (H84-1f). It explains the urgency of archival research due to the fact that Yad Vashem had very limited documentation on Latvian Jewry (H84-1f). The source details the academic structure of the project at the University of Latvia and international collaborations (H84-1f).
• Lists of localities and action data: Handwritten documents and statistical reports detail the extent of the murders in the various localities. For example, in Riga, about 40,000 Jews were murdered (starting in July 1941 in the Bikerniki Forest and later in Rumbula), in Daugavpils about 10,000, and in smaller localities such as Subate, about 350 Jews were murdered (H84-8f).

Key figures

This list includes victims and survivors mentioned in the sources, as well as those responsible for the extermination policy.

Victims and survivors:

• Ester Tabak: A resident of Riga who died in a bombing in 1944 (H84-5f).
• Debora Itrofs: Born in Kuldiga (1911), who was deported to Stutthof and Buchenwald (H84-2f).
• Salman Israel: A Jew who perished in the Stutthof concentration camp (H84-3f).
• Zusmanis Itrofs: A Holocaust survivor who lived in Riga after the war (H84-2f).
• Michael Libauer: Survivor who provided names of victims to the Special Committee (H84-2f).

Nazis and exterminationists:

• Adolf Hitler: The leader of the Nazi regime who established the extermination policy (H84-1f, H84-2f).
• Einsatzgruppe A: A mobile SS killing unit that carried out the mass murders of Latvian Jews (H84-2f).

List of sources

• H84-1f : A review of the Holocaust Victims' Names Project in Latvia, its goals and organizational structure.
• H84-2f : A detailed report on the reconstruction of names of victims from the 1941 census and the pilot project in Liepāja.
• H84-3f : Documents of the Jewish Cemetery Committee in Libau and plans for the construction of a memorial wall for the victims.
• H84-4f : Correspondence regarding the creation of a comprehensive list of camps, ghettos, and transports in Latvia.
• H84-5f : Examples of Yad Vashem witness pages (witness pages) and instructions for filling out memorial forms.
• H84-6f : Lists of names of Holocaust victims from Latvia from the "Hall of Names" database of Yad Vashem.
• H84-7f : Information card from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM).
• H84-8f : Handwritten lists detailing localities in Latvia, dates of actions, and estimated numbers of victims.

H84-1f

H84-2f

H84-3f

H84-4f

H84-5f

H84-6f

H84-7f

H84-8f

 

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