Shofar FTP Archive File: places/latvia/riga-shootings.1241
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
© The Nizkor Project, 1991-2008
