SS un vietējās policijas priekšnieks Liepājā

  • The SS and Police Leader of Libau
  • Der SS–und Polizeistandartenführer Libau
Identifier
P-83
Language of Description
English
Dates
1941 - 1943
Level of Description
Fonds
Languages
  • German
Scripts
  • Latin
Source
EHRI

Extent and Medium

262 files

Biographical History

The SS and Police Leader of Libau was a special institution of the German police in Courland (Kurzeme). According to the order of Himmler dated September 8, 1941, Otto Dietrich was appointed as SS and Police Leader of Libau and was directly subordinate to Walter Schroeder, the SS and Police Leader in Latvia. On November 16, 1943, the position was closed. The main goal of the institution was to repress the resistance against the Nazi occupation.

Archival History

The records were received at the archives as captured materials and the inventory was compiled at the archives in 1946. The documents contain extensive information about the activities of the SS and Police Leader of Libau and about the structure of the police and its main tasks, as well as personal documents and information about measures against partisans and sabotage.

Scope and Content

Guideline for treatment of Jews, including information about interdiction against communication with Jews, mixed marriages, forms to be completed for declarations of Jewish property, record keeping of Jewish property used in barracks, belongings left after executions. Attitude of German soldiers to Jews; the mood of Libau inhabitants after executions of Jews. Arrests of Jews because of violations of the restriction rules; black trade; escaped Jews from ghetto and camps; hidden Jews; arrests of Latvians who helped Jews to hide and issued false papers. Arresting of group of Jews intending to flee to Sweden by boat. Assaults to Jews on the streets; search of Jews and establishing their whereabouts; Jews who committed suicide. Execution of elderly Jews in Libau; shooting of Jews who fled from the prison; number of executed Jews in Libau and Windau and number of prison inmates killed, arrests of Jews and communists. Measures of Schutzpolizei for “evacuation” of 2749 Jews; number of executed Jews in Libau in December (2749). Execution of 30 Jews in the district; execution of 386 Jews in Hasenpoth, and 712 in the district in total (November 1941). Diary of the SS and Police Standortfuehrer Libau (September 20, 1941- November 30, 1943), with entries about shooting of Jews, Roma, and communists in Libau and Windau, looting of Jewish apartments in Talsi, shooting of Jews in Priekule and Vainode, relocation of concentration camp from Libau to Frauenburg (1941 December), shootings of Roma in Hasenpoth (May 21, 1942). Information about establishment of ghetto, its guarding, map of Libau ghetto. Information about forced labour, use of Jews for unskilled work only (August 26, 1942); information about the number of auxiliary Jewish workers, return of Jews working outside ghettos, including interdiction against using vehicles to bring Jews to work and back to ghetto; submission of lists of Jewish workers at Wehrmachsteinheiten und Dienststelle to Seekommandant Libau (June 3, 1943). Newspaper clippings from the “Kurzemes Vārds” with information about using of Jewish property and forced labour. List with addresses of Jews handing in metal. Issuance of identification cards to Jews and registration. Lists of Roma population in Libau in December of 1941; arrests and evacuation of Roma from Libau 1941; prohibition barring Roma from living by the sea or moving to Hasenpoth and Goldingen; execution of Roma in Hasenpoth district; shooting of Roma in Goldingen in May 1942 and in Hasenpoth in June 1942 (135 Roma executed).

Appraisal

Records of permanent keeping.

Accruals

No other records expected.

System of Arrangement

Files are arranged according to the inventories.

Conditions Governing Access

Free access.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

The physical condition of documents is satisfactory. Some documents are difficult to read because of text fading.

Finding Aids

  • 1 printed finding aid is available at the reading room.

Existence and Location of Originals

  • Original documents are in the custody of The National Archives of Latvia State Historical Archives of Latvia

Existence and Location of Copies

  • USHMM RG-18.002M (Latvian Central State Historical Archive (Rīga) records)

Publication Note

A. Ezergailis. The Holocaust in Latvia, 1941-1944: the Missing Center. Riga The Historical institute of Latvia [in association with The United State Holocaust Memorial Museum], 1996, 465 p.

Anita Kugler. Scherwitz: Der jüdische SS-Offizier Cologne, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, 2004), 758 p.

A. Angrik, P. Klein. The Final Solution in Riga: Exploitation and Annihilation, 1941-1944. New-York, Berghahn Books, 2009, 515 p.

Katrin Reichelt. Lettland unter deutscher Besatzung 1941–1944. Der lettische Anteil am Holocaust. Metropol-Verlag Verlag, Berlin, 2011, 428 p.

Archivist Note

Entry added on May 27, 2014 by Rita Bogdanova based on finding aids available at the repository.

Rules and Conventions

EHRI Guidelines for Description v.1.0

Dates of Descriptions

February-June of 2014