Documentation from archives in Latvia, 1918-1946

In the collection there are files selected from the Latvian State Historical Archives in Riga and other files received from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.

Description of the collection: Included in the documentation from the Latvian State Historical Archives in Riga is correspondence between the educational establishment in Latvia with various bodies regarding budget, salaries of the teachers and matriculation exams, 1921-1940. In the collection there is documentation of the Association of Latvian Jews for the Advancement of Settlement in Eretz Israel, correspondence, reports, warrants, orders, directives of the heads of the local occupation authorities, the Generalkommissariat (Regional Commission) of Riga, the Gebietskommissariat (District Commission), the Reichskommisariat Ostland (Reich Commission of the East), the SS police, the SD police, as well as the Wehrmacht (German Army) police in the East, documentation of the headquarters in the cities of Riga, Kaunas, Ludza, Liepaja, Cesis and more, the municipal administrations of cities in Latvia, reports of the Soviet Extraordinary State Commission for investigation of Nazi crimes (ChGK), including lists of those who perished in the Riga Ghetto and lists of those deported from Riga to Germany, protocols and reports regarding the activities of relief organizations. There are also newspaper clippings from the time of the German occupation in the collection.

Outstanding documentation in the collection Correspondence between the Arbeterheim Organization and the Organization for Support of the Folk Universities in Latvia regarding the opening of courses for Jewish laborers, correspondence with the administration of the Circle of Jewish Youth (Hathio-Ebreju Mācošās Jaunatnes Pulciņš) Group regarding the opening of courses for Jewish teachers in the summer, correspondence with Hamore, the Jewish Teachers Organization in Latvia, lists of Jewish teachers, reports regarding payments of people working within the Jewish education system and personal cards of Jews from the population census conducted in Latvia.In the collection there is documentation of the Association of Latvian Jews for the Advancement of Settlement in Eretz Israel including correspondence with Zionist organizations in Eretz Israel, surveys of activities of Zionist organizations in Europe and the United States, surveys of activities of public organizations in Eretz Israel, 1936-1940; surveys of Zionist agricultural activities in Eretz Israel, personal documentation of members of the Association of Latvian Jews for the Advancement of Settlement in Eretz Israel, lists of members of Zionist organizations in Latvia, documentation regarding the financial revenue of the National Jewish Fund in Latvia through the Hashomer Hatzair movement. Additionally, there is documentation containing correspondence between the Reichskommissariat of Ostland and the Generalkommissaren regarding the return of business enterprises and food industries, personnel, food supplies, gasoline and clothing, and pro-German newspapers. In the collection there is also documentation of the SIPO and SD Commander in the Ostland region, directives of the police commander in Ostland, including subordinate relations among ranking officers, the arrangements for special police units to protect the German citizens in Ostland, arrangements for flights between Riga and other cities in Ostland, and the transfer of internal police mail, directives from Reichsminister Alfred Rosenberg, the Reichskommisariat representative of Ostland and the commissionership of Ukraine and a directive from Hitler regarding the division of authority between the Foreign Office and the Ostministerium.