German soldiers advance; Jewish forced to dig a pit
Creator(s)
- Bundesarchiv (Germany). Filmarchiv
Scope and Content
The German military enters Riga, Latvia: jeeps (some full of soldiers, some pulling ammunition) drive through cobblestoned city streets. Views of destruction all around: bodies and dead horses, rubble, shattered buildings. A sense of grim, utter destruction pervades. Pan of the bombed-out facades ending at an artist sitting in the street, sketching the sight. 03:28:15 At Kužiai forest (15km from Siauliai, Lithuania) rounded-up Jews, many in suits, some bearded and in religious garb, jump off the back of an open truck, shovels in hand. They are made to dig in field/orchard, then move large rocks, under supervision of German soldier, who struts and shouts commands. Medium CU of men taking off their shirts. Strong sense of fear, intimidation. (the Jews from Siauliai are later murdered and buried in this pit on June 28, 1941)
Note(s)
This footage is also available at John E. Allen, Inc. See Story 110, Film ID 145 and Story 81, Film ID 140 for duplicate footage.
One of the Jewish men killed in the Kužiai forest was Abraham Shwarts, a lawyer. He had a wife, Bluma, and two children (Yaakov and Grisha). Grisha (8 years old) was killed in the children's aktion in Siauliai ghetto. Yaakov survived the Holocaust.
Subjects
- MILITARY ADVANCES
- LABOR
- RUINS
- BOMBINGS
- USHMM (PERMANENT EXHIBITION)
- LATVIA
- CORPSES
- JEWS
- JEEPS
- RUBBLE
- SOLDIERS/MILITARY (GERMAN)
- TRUCKS
- DESTITUTION
- ROUNDUPS
- HORSES
- SHOVELS
- PITS
- SOVIET UNION
- BUILDINGS
- DESTRUCTION
- STREETS
- LITHUANIA
- WEAPONS/ARMS
- INVASION OF THE SOVIET UNION
Places
- Riga, Latvia
- , Soviet Union
- Siauliai, Lithuania
Genre
- Film
- Newsreels.
Copies
-
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum holds copies of Holocaust-relevant archives from Bundesarchiv, Berlin-Lichterfelde (Abteilung Filmarchiv)