Einsatzgruppen shooting of Jews, Latvia

Film | Digitized | Accession Number: 2011.413.1 | RG Number: RG-60.1310 | Film ID: 2931

Overview

Description: An Einsatzgruppe execution between late July and mid-August 1941. Jewish men being shot by Germans, in dugout pit. 01:00:38 Two brief shots of German Kriegsmarine standing along the bank near the bushes (screen left) washing himself. Footage includes executions of three groups of men. Soldiers and others, including Kriegsmarine personnel and civilians, stand around. Also visible are many people watching from an embankment above. Jews jump out of open truck and are herded, running, towards open pit. They wear "yellow badges" on their chests and backs. SS men, local Latvian militia, and German police units are visible.

This amateur footage shot by German Kriegsmarine Reinhard Wiener, out for a walk in Libau [Liepaja], Latvia with his 8mm Kodak camera. His description of the circumstances, camera, and how the film footage reached Germany, as detailed at the Bundesarchiv and at Yad Vashem, are in the Film and Video subject files and attached to this record online.
Film Title: Juden Exekution in Libau 1941 [Execution of Jews in Liepaja]
Duration: 00:01:37
Date: Event: July-August 1941
Locale: Libau [Liepaja], Latvia
Credit: Accessed at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Henny Wiener
Contributor: Camera Operator: Reinhard Wiener
Biography: German Kriegsmarine

Language: Silent
Genre/Form: Amateur.
B&W / Color: Black & White
Image Quality: Good
Time Code: 01:00:37:00 to 01:02:14:00
Film Format: Master
Master 2931 Video: Digital Betacam - PAL - small
Master 2931 Video: Digital Betacam - PAL - small
Master 2931 Video: Digital Betacam - PAL - small
Master 2931 Video: Digital Betacam - PAL - small
Preservation
Preservation 2931 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - small
Preservation 2931 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - small
Preservation 2931 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - small
Preservation 2931 Video: Digital Betacam - NTSC - small
User
User 2931 Video: DVD
User 2931 Video: DVD
User 2931 Video: DVD
User 2931 Video: DVD

Conditions on Access: This archival media can only be accessed in a Museum reading room or other on-campus viewing stations.
Copyright: Frau Henny Wiener
Conditions on Use: Copyright belongs to Henny Wiener. Contact the Ms. Wiener's agent, Agentur Karl Hoeffkes (AKH), for permission to reproduce and use this footage at info@karlhoeffkes.de.
Copyright Holder: Frau Henny Wiener

Keyword: ATROCITIES CIVILIANS COLLABORATORS COLLABORATORS (LATVIAN) DOGS EINSATZGRUPPEN EXECUTIONS GERMANS JEWS LATVIA MASS GRAVES SHOOTINGS SINGING SOLDIERS/MILITARY (GERMAN) SPECTATORS TRUCKS USHMM (PERMANENT EXHIBITION)

Legal Status: Permanent Collection
Film Provenance: The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum purchased this correct, unreversed video transfer of this film from the Bundesarchiv in Berlin, Germany in May 2011.
Note: See RG-60.1767 on Film ID 4149 for a better transfer of this film created by AKH. See also RG-60.0346 on Film ID 203 for an earlier, reversed transfer.
Copied From: 8mm; b/w [transferred to 16mm at 16 fps acc. to BA files]
Film Source: Bundesarchiv (Germany). Filmarchiv
File Number: Legacy Database File: 5507
Source Archive Number: 2469
Special Collection: Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive

Transcript (English)