Archive/File: places/latvia/riga-shootings.1241
Last-Modified: 1996/03/07

"The Mass Shootings Outside Riga, 30 November and December 1941
                                
The  actual site of execution lay about five miles outside  Riga
in  the direction of Duenaburg [Daugavpils], between the highway
and  the railroad, both of which connect Riga and Duenaburg. The
railroad  tracks and the road there run a near-parallel  course,
with  the railroad tracks running to the north of the road.  The
site  lies in the vicinity of the  railroad station at  Rumbuli;
its  terrain  is sandy and slightly hilly, sparsely wooded,  and
forms part of the Rumbuli Forest.

In the center of this site was a densely forested area; this was
the  location  of the actual execution site, with prepared  pits
designed  to  accommodate  about  thirty  thousand  bodies.  The
approaching  columns of Jews coming from Riga along the  highway
between  Riga  and Duenaburg had to turn left from  the  highway
onto  a dirt track which led up to the small patch of woods.  In
the  process they were funneled into a narrow cordon, which  was
formed by SS units, a contingent of the Special Task Unit  Riga,
and Latvian units.

The  columns of Jews advancing from Riga, comprising  about  one
thousand  persons each, were herded into the cordon,  which  was
formed  in  such a way that it narrowed greatly as it  continued
into the woods, where the pits lay. The Jews first of all had to
deposit  their luggage before they entered the copse; permission
to  carry these articles had only been granted to give the  Jews
the impression that they were taking part in a resettlement.  As
they  progressed, they had to deposit their valuables in  wooden
boxes,  and, little by little, their clothing - first overcoats,
then suits, dresses, and shoes, down to their under clothes, all
placed in distinct piles according to the type of clothing.

On  this  particular day (30 November 1941), the air temperature
in  Riga, measured at two meters above ground, was-7.5øC at 7:00
a.m. -1.1 degree C  at 1:00 p.m. and 1.9 degree C at 9:00 RM. On  
the previous evening, 29 November 1941, there had been an average 
snowfall of seven centimeters. On 30 November between 7:00  A.M.  
and  9:00 p.m. it did not snow.

Stripped  down  to  their underclothes, the  Jews  had  to  move
forward along the narrow path in a steady flow toward the  pits,
which  they entered by a ramp, in single file and in  groups  of
ten.  Occasionally  the flow would come  to  a  standstill  when
someone tarried at one of the undressing points; or else, if the
undressing went faster than expected, or if the columns advanced
too  quickly  from the city, too many Jews would arrive  at  the
pits  at  once.  In such cases, the supervisors  stepped  in  to
ensure a steady and moderate flow, since it was feared that  the
Jews  would  grow  edgy if they had to linger in  the  immediate
vicinity of the pits....

In  the pits the Jews had to lie flat, side by side, face  down.
They  were killed with a single bullet in the neck, the marksmen
standing  at close range-at the smaller pits, on the  perimeter;
at  the  large  pit, inside the pit itself-their  semi-automatic
pistols  set  for  single fire. To make the  best  of  available
space,  and particularly of the gaps between bodies, the victims
next  in line had to lie down on top of those who had been  shot
immediately  before them. The handicapped,  the  aged,  and  the
young  were helped into the pits by the sturdier Jews,  laid  by
them on top of the bodies, and then shot by marksmen who in  the
large  pit  actually stood on the dead. In  this  way  the  pits
gradually filled. [1]" (Fleming, 78-79)

1. Riga  Trial (50) 9/72, verdict of 23 February 1973, pp.  69-73.

                         Work Cited

Fleming, Gerald. Hitler and the Final Solution. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1984

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