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LibGuide: Holocaust Studies

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A total of 826 testimonies have content about Latvia in several different languages. Only one interview, with a Sinti and Roma survivor, was conducted in Latvian (and Russian).

Some 149 Jewish survivors in the archive were born in Latvia. Growing up in Latvia between the wars, they describe the prewar Jewish communities in Riga, Daugavpils (Dvinsk), Liepaja (Libau), and other locations. They talk about their education, cultural activities, national identity and Jewish identity, involvement in Zionist groups, and relations between Jews and non-Jews, among other topics. Some testimonies discuss Karlis Ulmanis, the interwar president of Latvia, or the nationalist groups, Aizsargi and Përkonkrusts. The Soviet annexation of Latvia in summer 1940 and the changes that brought is also a significant subject.

The Riga, Daugavpils, and Liepaja ghettos are extensively described in the archive. These are not only the experiences of Latvian-born Jews: Jews were deported from the Reich to ghetto and camps in the East. For example, the archive contains 144 testimonies of people from Germany and 7 from Austria who survived the Riga ghetto.

A significant interview in connection to Latvia is that of Ella Mendal'e (Russian language), one of only two survivors of the Rumbula Forest massacre.

Camps such as Riga-Kaiserwald and others in Riga, Dondangen, Dunaburg (Daugavpils/Dvinsk), Jungfernhof (Jumpravmiuza), Krottingen (Kretinga), Libau, and Salaspils are talked about in many interviews. A number of testimonies discuss the role of Latvian police and irregulars in the extermination of the Jewish community, including figures such as Viktors Bernhards Arajs, head of the Arajs Commando, and Herberts Cukurs, a famous prewar pilot and Arajs Commando member.

Among the testimonies of Jewish survivors are discussions of aid provided by Latvian civilians, such as Janis Lipke, a dockworker who rescued Jews in Riga.

A total of 80 interviews were conducted in Latvia, including 69 Jewish survivors, 6 Sinti and Roma survivors, and 4 Rescuers and Aid Providers.