Oral history interview with Marianna Ostrovskaja

Oral history interview with Anna Garklāva

Oral History

Anna Garklāva, born in 1928 in Limbazi, Latvia, describes her prewar family life; the beginning of the war; the Jewish population of Limbazi; the arrest of the Jews of Limbazi following the German invasion; the relocation of the town’s Jews to an old post office building; Jews being subjected to forced manual labor; recognizing Jewish classmates as they were made to clean the streets; finding a mass grave where Jews and Soviet activists had been killed in 1941; and the difficulties of living under the German occupation.

Oral history interview with Nikolajs Neilands

Oral History

Oral history interview with Aleksandrs Pastors

Oral History

Oral history interview with Marjans Barščevskis

Oral History

Marjans Barščevskis, born in 1923 in Višķi, Latvia, describes his Polish ancestry; the prewar Jewish community of Višķi; life under Soviet occupation; the invasion of German forces, including a roundup of Jewish men; the arrest of Communists by German forces; the roundup and deportation of local Jews; and hearing a mass shooting of Jews.

Oral history interview with Antons Pirožoks

Oral History

Antons Pirožoks, born in 1928 in Daugavpils, Latvia, describes the Jewish population of Daugavpils; German soldiers employing local men to dig trenches; the murder of local Jews by German soldiers and their collaborators in 1941; columns of Jews led in the direction of Zolotaya Gora; watching the mass shooting from a distance; details of the execution; how local townspeople took the victims’ clothing; his arrest and forced labor in a village and then a prisoner of war camp; a beating he received from a German soldier for giving a prisoner of war a pair of trousers; refugees in Daugavpils; and Jews who returned to Daugavpils after the war.

Oral history interview with Valentīna Rasnača

Oral History

Oral history interview with Olga Plotnieka

Oral History

Oral history interview with Jadviga Arcihovska

Oral History

Jadviga Arcihovska (Matuseviča), born on March 16, 1924 in Latvia, describes her prewar life with her mother and brother; living amongst mostly Jewish neighbors in Rēzekne, Latvia; being banned from school for being Polish and going to work; the roundup and murder of Jews and Poles, often by locals; the theft of Jewish gold and clothing after deportations; one of her neighbors who continually boasted about killing Jews; the terror and difficulty of helping to hide Jewish neighbors for nearly three years; information from the front that came to the town; being threatened after war; visiting victims’ graves to pay homage; the memory of World War II and its lack of commemoration in Latvia; receiving honors from Latvia and Israel for her bravery during the war; and her life after the war.

Oral history interview with Jāzeps Palčevskis

Oral History

Jāzeps Palčevskis, born in 1933 in Daugavpils, Latvia, describes the German invasion of Daugavpils, including a bomb dropped in the town; the Jewish population of Daugavpils; the treatment of the Jewish population under the German occupation; the arrest of his neighbors; the round up and mass shooting of local Jews and communists; traveling to a mass grave site at Zolotaya Gora; local policemen burying the bodies of the victims; local women digging for gold at the shooting site; piles of bodies of prisoners of war near the railroad station; two young Jewish boys who escaped a shooting; and the reburial of the victims after German forces retreated from the city.

Oral history interview with Eleonora Prodiška

Oral History

Oral history interview with Vladislav Leonovič

Oral History

Vladislav Leonovic, born in Latvia, describes his family; attending school in Višķi; the Jewish population in Višķi; the round up of the Višķi Jews; a group of Aizsargi transporting Jews; hearing machine gunfire in Gorka; seeing newly dug graves in Gorka; and the relocation of Jews from surrounding villages.

Oral history interview with Simha Fiss

Oral History

Simha Fiss, born in 1927 in Daugavpils, Latvia, describes his attendance at a Jewish school; the beginning of the war; his family’s flight after local policemen broke into their house and demanded valuables; attacks on the Jewish population of Daugavpils; the mass departure of many of the town’s Jews who feared persecution; the journey from Daugavpils to the Soviet Union; a bombing during which his family was separated; receiving help from strangers; the reunion of his family in the Soviet Union on a collective farm; his military service in the Soviet Army; his return to Daugavpils in 1951; the return of Jews to Daugavpils after the war; and his participation in the excavation and reburial of victims from the mass shooting in Daugavpils.

Oral history interview with Ivans Jančuks-Jasjuks

Oral History

Ivans Jančuks-Jasjuks, born in 1929 in Stariy Forshtadt, Latvia, describes his family and life before the war; his Jewish friends and the attitude of the town towards its many nationalities; life during occupation; Jews hiding at the beginning of the war; the forced relocation of Jews to a ghetto; arrests of Jews by local policemen; the sound of gunfire coming from the ghetto; local townspeople being forced to bury Jewish victims; local townspeople finding the personal belongings of the victims; the distribution of empty Jewish homes; the plundering of Jewish property; the demolition of synagogues; a Jewish woman who was hiding in a basement and was caught and arrested by local policemen; and the postwar return of Jews to Stariy Forshtadt.

Oral history interview with Irina Kuklihina

Oral History

Irina Kuklihina, born in 1926 in Daugavpils, Latvia, discusses her childhood; her general isolation from events of the war; witnessing a forced march of 30 to 40 Jewish women, children, and older men in Višķi, Latvia in July 1941; the presence of many local citizens who watched from the side of the street; an attempt by one of her school teachers, Yelena Lyalina, to give bread and milk to some of the prisoners, which was thwarted by a guard who knocked her to the ground; later reports that the prisoners were Jews from Aglona, Latvia and were being marched to a mass shooting site; hearing about atrocities in other villages; the arrest and imprisonment of her father for political reasons; and her father’s release.

Oral history interview with Antonina Kukšinova

Oral History

Antonina Kukšinova, born in 1931 in Rezekne, Latvia, describes her family and the beginning of the war; the arrest and murder of her father; the efforts of her policeman neighbor to help her family during the war; processions of Jews; hearing sounds from mass shootings of Jews; and visiting a mass grave.

Oral history interview with Neonila Grigorjeva

Oral History

Neonila Grigorjeva, born in 1926, describes a mass shooting she witnessed at the beginning of the war in her neighborhood, on the outskirts of the Latvian city of Daugavpils; how she was ten at the time and playing with her friends outside; how one of the neighborhood kids ran up to them and said that Jews were being escorted to the Krasavka pond to be shot; how they were curious and ran to watch; seeing the Jews being escorted; those who were present at the shooting site; how drunk policemen excitedly snatched little children from their mothers and threw them in the pit alive and how mothers jumped right on top of their children trying to protect them; how the policemen hit these mothers on the head with rifles; how they also beat up the elderly and threw them in the pit alive; how earrings were ripped off women's ears; how the ground vibrated and moaned days after the shooting; knowing that if she could go back in time she would have never have gone there; and how her memories of the event still haunt her.

Oral history interview with Georgij Panfilov

Oral History

Georgij Panfilov, born in 1927 in Lotsugo, Latvia, describes the Jewish population of Kalnat; the German invasion; German soldiers destroying posters of Lenin and Stalin and searching for communists; a roundup of local Jews, who were locked in the synagogue and in the cellar of a house; German soldiers killing civilians, including children; sexual assault; German policemen plundering shops; a mass shooting of Jews at the cemetery; Jews who went into hiding; a neighbor who gathered information about townspeople; a German base in the area; going into hiding with his brother; an incident in which he and a companion were turned in to the police by a man who had given them food; his escape from the police; the arrest of his brother after a townsperson turned him in to the police; his own arrest and imprisonment in Rezekne, Latvia; meeting Jewish inmates in 1944; German soldiers shooting Jewish prisoners in their cells; brutal treatment by Ukrainian guards; the shooting of sick prisoners; and escape attempts by prisoners.

Oral history interview with Valentina Panfilova

Oral History

Valentina Panfilovna (née Mikucanova), born 1935 in Dzalmani, Latvia (an area in Ludza municipality), describes her life before the war; growing up in a Christian family; living very poorly; her Jewish neighbors who lived and worked on an estate owned by a wealthy individual; how locals including her family would earn money from the apple business on the estate; her aunts adopting an orphan girl; receiving a letter from the orphan girl who recalled walking past mass graves thinking they were potato storage; a roundup of local Jewish families and the escape of one of the sons; the return of the son to the town after the war to honor the dead; hiding with her family from the police; hearing gunshots and screams during executions; seeing locals loading up various objects from graves; how locals would dig up graves searching for gold; how burial ditches still remain; and her view about how the killers could not be sued again since the Soviet Union had already instilled justice.

Oral history interview with Bronislava Batnja

Oral History

Bronislava Batnja, born in 1929 in Latvia, describes her family and life before the war; the German invasion; the behavior and actions of soldiers in occupied villages, which included sexual assault; the roundup of Jews from local villages and imprisonment in a synagogue; her future mother-in-law bringing food to a Jewish prisoner; her family’s arrest; hearing that the villages’ Jews were shot; her relocation to Salaspils concentration camp; the transport to and living conditions in Salaspils; Jewish labor in the camp; deaths in the camp; the starvation of prisoners; camp doctors taking blood from children; her relocation with her family to Germany; their release by American soldiers; their return to Latvia; and the homes of Jewish neighbors which were occupied by local citizens.

Oral history interview with Stanislav Girdo

Oral History

Stanislav Girdo, born in 1929 in Kraslava, Latvia, describes life in Kraslava before the occupation; the prewar Jewish population of Kraslava; the occupation of Kraslava by Soviet forces in 1940, including the soldiers of the Red Army; the murder of Catholic clergy by Soviet forces; occupation by Nazi forces; the looting of abandoned shops; the recruitment of local men by Nazis to work as policemen; early anti-Jewish measures; preparations for the mass execution of the Jewish population; local citizens who collaboratored with the Nazis; visiting the mass murder site; the public execution of a man accused of hiding a Soviet spy; Nazi propaganda; attempts by Nazis forces to hide evidence; and a Nazi collaborator still living in Kraslava after the war.

Oral history interview with Jevdokija Odineca-Gavrilika

Oral History

Jevdokija Odineca-Gavrilika, born in 1928 in Daugavpils, Latvia, discusses having many Jewish neighbors before the war; Jewish children attending a separate school; her overwhelming feeling of danger when the war started; how the Jewish population already knew the Germans were coming; the good relations between the non-Jews and the town’s Jewish neighbors and their businesses; the disappearance of her Jewish neighbors with the German occupation; her interaction with a German soldier while running home from errands; her parents’ reaction to this interaction; locals robbing a local Jewish-owned store and the fighting that broke out inside the store while German soldiers outside did nothing; how she unsuccessfully tried to rob the store for chocolate but was hit in the eye in the process; her father who beat her when she returned home, forbidding her from trying to loot again; a synagogue that was accidentally burned down by a Soviet grenade; how no one knew when or how the Jewish population was rounded up; listening with her father from her balcony, about a mile away, to mass executions; visiting the graves with the other children with the hope of finding gold or anything else; one child who found a wooden leg with gold inside; seeing some articles of clothing while digging around the graves; how the Germans gave victims’ clothing to poor locals; the Germans prohibiting “fun activities,” such as dancing at a club; their assumption that the Germans were losing the war by 1944; and the arrival of the Red Army in July 1944.

Oral history interview with Vladimir Glagolev

Oral History

Vladimir Glagolev, born in 1926 in Daugavpils, Latvia, describes his family and background; the first bombings of Daugavpils; the retreat of the Soviet forces and transfer of power from the Soviet Union to Germany; the Jewish population of Daugavpils; the order for Jews to assemble at the marketplace; reactions of Jews to the order; his family accompanying their Jewish neighbors to the marketplace; relocation of the Jewish community to the ghetto; anti-Jewish measures; a ban on contact between Jews and non-Jews; the exploitation of Jews in German and Latvian enterprises; the mass execution of the Jewish population; his work for a German organization delivering livestock to the battlefront; camps for Soviet prisoners; the establishment of a camp of Vlasov forces; his work in chemical plant built on the execution site; departing to the Western Front in 1944; returning to Daugavpils in 1951; and the takeover of Jewish apartments by local townspeople.

Oral history interview with Sergei Domašova

Oral History

Sergei Domašova, born in 1914 in Daugavpils, Latvia, describes prewar life in the village of Dagda; living in the village of Vishki when the war began; the Jewish population of the villages of Vishki and Dagda; positive relations between Jews and non-Jews before the war; relations between Latvians and Russians before the war; his Jewish friends; joining the Soviet Army; the German occupation of Daugavpils; how some local townspeople sympathized with the Germans; the persecution of the Jews during the occupation; Jews going into hiding at the beginning of the war; arrests of Jews by Aizsargis in Vishki; his acquaintances who were members of the Aizsargi; the looting of Jewish homes by local townspeople; the relocation of Jews from surrounding villages to Daugavpils; details of the execution of the Jewish population; the reaction of local townspeople during the killings; and German soldiers burning the bodies of the victims.

Oral history interview with Jelena Domašova

Oral History

Jelena Domašova, born in 1920 in Vyhskovskaya Volost, Latvia, describes the living conditions in Višķi during the war; the looted and abandoned buildings in the early war period; the Jewish population of Višķi; seeing the shooting of a Jewish man at the Jewish cemetery; her house being raided by German soldiers looking for partisans; the mass execution of Jews in Višķi; the mass grave; the looting of Jewish belongings by local townspeople; Germans and local collaborators burning the bodies during the retreat of German forces; and the flight of local collaborators from Višķi after the war.

Oral history interview with Heronīms Lapkovskis

Oral History

Heronīms Lapkovskis, born in 1925 in Ilūkste, Latvia, describes his family and life before the war; the first time he saw German soldiers; Jewish refugees in Ilūkste; attempts of the Jews to escape the country through Daugavpils; growing fear among the Jewish population in Ilūkste; the relocation of Jews to Eglaine, Latvia, where they were executed; an episode in which men in uniform came to look for gold among the belongings left behind by the Jewish community; a Jewish family living in hiding with his family; his fear of being punished for helping Jews; the Jewish population being guarded by local townspeople; local collaborators searching his house after the Jewish family departed; a burial site where a Jewish doctor and his family had been murdered; and the postwar trials of local collaborators.

Oral history interview with Vasilijs Cikunovs

Oral History

Vasilijs Chikunovs, born in 1924 in Daugavpils, Latvia, describes the entry of German forces in Daugavpils, including how there was little fighting in the city; the Jewish shops near his family’s home; the shooting of Jewish citizens during the German occupation; local townspeople who looted Jewish stores and then were punished by German soldiers; details of several mass shootings of the Jewish population at Zolotaya Gora; the behavior of policemen who assisted in the killings; the looting of Jewish belongings following the executions; the establishment of a warehouse in town for the storage and sorting of the victims’ clothing; and his opinion that Latvian authorities need to admit that Latvian citizens participated in the events of Holocaust.

Oral history interview with Jāzeps Barčs

Oral History

Jazeps [Joseph] Barcs (Jazeps Victorovich Barčs), born July 14, 1928, describes being a native of Chervonka in the Bebren region of Latvia (now Cervonka, Jēkabpils rajons); his family; the retreat of the Red Army; Germans arriving and seeing the German tank troops; the evacuation of some Communist Party officials and Jews; witnessing a group of Jews escaping on horse-driven carts and a low-flying German plane shooting at them killing a horse and wounding a man; his family hosting armed locals who told them of their experiences shooting Jews; the local Roma, Communists, and POWs were also persecuted and killed during the war; the murder of a group of Jews in Silene as witnessed by his father; the local collaborators and how some were sent to prison; and the current situation in Latvia.

Oral history interview with Boris Skorohodov

Oral History

Boris Skorohodov, born January 19, 1929 (and a lifelong resident of Bragin, Gomel Oblast) discusses the beginning of World War II and the evacuation of the local Jews and Communists; an order from the government for locals to take food and supplies from stores and warehouses; his trips to the stores with his mother a few times; the Germans’ invasion and his family being displaced from their home for the German troops; the treatment of the local Jews by the Germans; the mass shooting of Jews in a local school; one of his distant Jewish relatives, Rosa, surviving the mass shooting but was later murdered; German propaganda, which reported that Moscow and Leningrad had been conquered; how Germans found and destroyed a Communist base in the forest; and how this is the first time he has shared these stories as he has not even told close relatives.

Oral history interview with Vladimir Izvestnyi

Oral History

Vladimir Izvestnyi, born in 1928 in Dekšis, Latvia, describes the German capture of Riga in 1941; the treatment of local townspeople under German occupation; the murder of his brother; restrictions placed on the Jewish community under the German occupation; the mass murder of the Jews of Balvi; his participation in the partisan movement in 1943 and 1944; his work as a KGB investigator, including his work on cases regarding Latvian collaborators with Nazis; and his knowledge of Salaspils concentration camp.

Oral history interview with Jevgenia Hrapan

Oral History

Jevgenia Hrapan, born in 1915 in Silene, Latvia, describes the prewar Jewish community of Silene and the surrounding areas; conditions for the Jewish population under the German occupation; the imprisonment of Jews in the local synagogue; a mass shooting of Jews; German soldiers forcing local townspeople to bury the corpses and clean the area of the mass killing; her aunt's attempt to save two Jewish children; local collaborators who assisted in the mass shooting; and the effect of the Holocaust on her family.

Oral history interview with Helena Purvinska

Oral History

Helena Purvinska, born in 1926 in Latvia, describes the mass murder of Jews from Subate, including local collaborators who participated in the killing.

Oral history interview with Vladislavs Novickis

Oral History

Vladislavs Novickis, born in 1929 in Daugavpils, Latvia, describes the prewar Jewish community of Daugavpils; the deportations of local Jews; his employment; hearing gunfire from a mass shooting of Jews; the treatment of the Jewish population by local townspeople during the war; and his Jewish friend who went into hiding and survived the war.

Oral history interview with Lifjeris Jevstafjevs

Oral History

Lifjeris Jevstafjevs, born in 1928 in Daugavpils, Latvia, describes the prewar Jewish community of Daugavpils; the beginning of German occupation of his hometown; the treatment of the Jewish community under German occupation, including incidents of torture; the Jewish ghetto; the mass murder of Jews; the looting of victims' corpses; battles between German and Soviet forces; a local policeman who hid a Jewish woman during the war; local townspeople looting Jewish owned property; and Jewish Holocaust survivors testifying in court after the war.

Oral history interview with Afanasii Ivanov

Oral History

Afanasii Ivanov, born in 1934 in Krivani, Latvia, describes the prewar Jewish community of the area surrounding his hometown; the arrival of German forces; the murder of a Jewish family; his father burying the bodies of murdered Jews; a nearby camp for military prisoners, including his interactions with the prisoners; the escape and execution of prisoners; his family hiding Jews; and the exhumation and reburial of Jewish victims after the war.

Oral history interview with Anna Petrova

Oral History

Anna Petrova, born in 1930 in Latvia, describes hearing gunfire from the mass shootings of the Jews of Ribini village and Preili.

Oral history interview with Grigorijs Petrovs

Oral History

Grigorijs Petrovs, born in 1927 in Latvia, describes witnessing the arrest of a Jewish family by local policemen; a roundup of Jews into the synagogue; hearing the sound of a mass shooting of Jews; the looting of the local synagogue; his arrest in 1942; and his time in Germany until 1945.

Oral history interview with Anastasija Grigorjeva

Oral History

Anastasija Grigorjeva, born in 1927 in Korolevšina, Latvia, describes the mass shooting of the Jewish community; her father's refussal to assist in the mass burial of the victims; the threat of her father's deportation; and her time in Germany as a forced laborer, including her work, the conditions of the labor, and the other inmates.

Oral history interview with Ivan Polovinkin

Oral History

Ivan Polovinkin, born in 1934 in Daugavpils, Latvia, describes the beginning of the war; seeing groups of Jews being led into the forest; hearing gunfire from mass shootings of Jews; the distribution of looted Jewish owned belongings to local townspeople; the roles of German Nazis, Vlasov's soldiers, and Aizsargi; a concentration camp for Jews located near his home; trading food for carved toys; the aid his family provided to Jews who escaped from the concentration camp; and the arrest of local collaborators by Soviet forces after the war.

Oral history interview with Janina Narbute

Oral History

Janina Narbute, born in 1929 in Latvia, describes a mass shooting of Jews on the Golden Mountain; visiting the execution site; local townspeople searching for gold; witnessing the beating of a group of Jews by local townspeople and policemen; and a Jewish woman who had been baptized but was imprisoned in the ghetto.

Oral history interview with Arnolds Alksnis

Oral History

Oral history interview with Heonia Skrinda

Oral History

Heonia Skrinda, born in 1929 in Latvia, describes witnessing the forced labor of Jews, guarded by policemen and local townspeople; witnessing a group of Jews being taken to be executed; hearing gunfire from the mass shooting; and local collaborators who assisted in the persecution of the Jews.

Oral history interview with Vasili Hrapunov

Oral History

Vasili Hrapunov, born in 1925 in Preili, Latvia, describes the prewar Jewish community of Preili; the arrival of German forces in Preili; a roundup of local Jews in the synagogue; the mass shooting of Jews by local policemen; the looting and distribution Jewish owned belongings; local collaborators who participated in the persecution of the Jews; his arrest and torture by local policemen; his release from prison; his imprisonment in Magadan, Russia after the war for his work for the German forces; and the construction of a monument for the murder victims.

Oral history interview with Stepanida Jegorova

Oral History

Stepanida Jegorova, born in 1923 in Vaivodi, Latvia, describes living in Berezovka during the war; mass shootings of the Jewish population; the exhumation and burning of corpses in 1943 by local townspeople under German orders; the arrival of the Soviet Army in 1944; the reburial of Jewish remains; and local collaborators who participated in the mass shooting of Jews.

Oral history interview with Ieremii Ivanov

Oral History

Ieremii Ivanov, born in 1922 in Latvia, describes details of mass shootings of Jews by local policemen.

Oral history interview with Ivan Trofimov

Oral History

Ivan Trofimov, born in 1919 in Opogi, Latvia, describes changing his birthdate to 1921 to avoid conscription into the army; the prewar Jewish community of Opogi; restrictions placed upon the Jewish community under German occupation; a roundup of Jews in the synagogue by local policemen; his forced labor burying murdered Jews; the looting of Jewish owned belongings; his deportation to Germany in 1942 for forced labor; the conditions of his forced labor; and the punishment of local collaborators after the war.

Oral history interview with Antons Gribusts

Oral History

Antons Gribusts, born in 1928 in Lipuski, Latvia, describes the mass murder of the Jews of Kaunata by local townspeople; the sight of the mass grave; and local townspeople who looted the discarded items of the victims.

Oral history interview with Antonina Borovskaja

Oral History

Antonina Borovskaja, born in 1926 in Latvia, describes mass shootings of the Jewish population by German guards and local townspeople and the distribution of looted Jewish owned belongings.

Oral history interview with Neonila Silionova

Oral History

Neonila Silionova, born in 1929 in Moskvina, Latvia, discusses the mass panic at the start of the German occupation; her parents wanting to leave, but her grandfather did not allow it; Latvian neighbors who called her family communists; having many Jewish neighbors; her grandfather who did business with his Jewish friend; her grandfather giving his Jewish friend candles to sell in return for sugar, matches, and other essentials; how a Jewish neighbor was not able to escape from Latvia; the threats from German soldiers towards locals; how a Jewish friend gave her family his belongings then fled and returned two weeks later with his family, all of whom had stars sewn onto their clothing; the Jewish friend’s explanation that the Germans promised that he and his family would be sent to a ghetto in Germany where they would be safe; her grandfather’s skepticism at this news; the roundup and shooting of the Jewish neighbors a few days later; some Jewish locals hiding from death squads; speaking with a Jewish neighbor who survived; hearing gunshots and screams from almost two and a half miles away for one entire day; reports from witnesses that the Germans disrobed and brutalized the Jews; hearing that children were being thrown into the ditches as well; how Preiļi was primarily a Jewish city until the German occupation; how after the war, one of the few escapees returned to Preiļi to pay respect at the Jewish memorial built there; Germans blaming the communists and subsequently arresting her father and uncle; walking by mass graves on her way to school; hearing stories of Jewish bodies being exhumed and burned each night; how Preiļi was surrounded by German soldiers during the day of the murders; how when her relatives were arrested, they too were rounded up along with other alleged communists to be shot, but were spared; the Germans interrogating her and other neighbors about what they witnessed following the killing of a neighbor; one of the local women writing a letter to the authority in charge that prevented their execution; her father feeding Latvian and Russian soldiers coming through the town; a group of partisans murdering an entire family of 12 sons, a pregnant wife, and a husband; stories of the violence and disarray of post-war life; and how a peace with the partisans was eventually reached.

Oral history interview with Vera Soldatenkova

Oral History

Vera Soldatenkova, born in 1937 in Braslav, Belarus, describes moving to Druisk; a mass shooting of Jews by soldiers; the looting of Jewish belongings by soldiers; the arrest of her father and her mother; securing their release; and the work of her mother with a local partisan group to save a Jewish girl.

Oral history interview with Savēlijs Ivanovs

Oral History

Savēlijs Ivanovs, born in 1932 in Latvia, describes the prewar Jewish community of Derkali; a hearing gunfire from a mass shooting of Jews by Aizsargi; and visiting the mass murder site.

Oral history interview with Aleksandrs Šklars

Oral History

Aleksandrs Šklars, born in 1933 in Daugavpils, Latvia, describes the prewar Jewish community of Daugavpils; the roundups and mass shootings of Jews, including his Jewish neighbors; and the looting of Jewish owned belongings by local townspeople.

Oral history interview with Norberta Sultanova

Oral History

Norberta Sultanova, born in 1931 in Daugavpils, Latvia, describes restrictions placed upon the Jewish community under the German occupation; columns of Jews being led towards a mass shooting site; her neighbor looting Jewish owned belongings at the execution site and then selling them to local townspeople; bringing food to the inmates in a nearby prisoner of war camp; the sight of the corpses of prisoners from transport trains; the sight of murdered people in the street; actions taken by local townspeople to save Jews; and the arrest and imprisonment of local collaborators after the war.

Oral history interview with Bronislav Sinevič

Oral History

Bronislav Sinevič, born in 1930 in Dileviči, Latvia, describes the prewar Jewish community of his hometown; the invasion of German forces, including the bombing of Daugavpils; the arrest of his father and brother and their deportation to Germany; the persecution of his family by local collaborators; the mass murder of the Jewish population; the looting of Jewish owned belongings; the return of his father and brother after the war; and the fates of local collaborators after the war.

Oral history interview with Anatolijs Zubovičs

Oral History

Anatolijs Zubovičs, born in 1931 in Skrudaliena, Latvia, describes the prewar Jewish community of Skrudaliena and a mass shooting of local Jews in 1941.

Oral history interview with Vladislavs Zepps

Oral History

Vladislavs Zepps, born in 1920 in Latvia, describes the prewar Jewish community of Vilani; the establishment of Jewish ghettos; the looting of Jewish owned homes and shops by local townspeople; hearing gunfire from a mass shooting of Jews; the mass grave for the victims; the shooting of local Roma, including his role in digging the mass grave; and joining the German Army in 1944.

Oral history interview with Jadviga Autenberga

Oral History

Jadviga Autenberga, born in 1915 in Malta village, Latvia, describes her marriage and her work before the war; the arrest of local Jews and her visit to them; the mass murder of the Jewish population, including the sight of the corpses; local collaborators who participated in the mass murder; and the looting of Jewish owned belongings by local townspeople.

Oral history interview with Nikolai Paškevič

Oral History

Nikolai Paškevič, born in 1928 in Latvia, describes the beginning of the war; receiving a notice for him to report to dig trenches; the destruction of his village; the roundup and relocation of the Jewish population to the Daugavpils ghetto; an exhibition of photographs depicting the atrocities of the Soviet regime towards prisoners, intended as German propaganda; the attitude of local townspeople upon the return of Soviet forces; and Jewish survivors who returned to Latvia after the war.

Oral history interview with Eduards Smelters

Oral History

Eduards Smelters, born in 1925 in Daugavpils, Latvia, describes the town’s prewar Jewish population; the beginning of German occupation in 1941; German propaganda against Jews; his friendly relations with Jewish neighbors who rented an apartment from his parents; the arrest of his Jewish neighbors by a local policeman named Viden'; the Jewish family’s relocation to the ghetto; the arrests of other Jewish families; the appropriation of his neighbor's apartment by Viden'; the policeman’s boasts about the number of Jews he had killed and the methods he used; hearing gunfire from the execution of the Jewish population; his family living in fear during the war; the purge of local collaborators along with German forces by the Soviet Army; working with his brother to have Viden' arrested; his draft into the Soviet Army in 1944; and being threatened by the son of Viden' due to the arrest of his father.

Oral history interview with Vanda Kukule

Oral History

Vanda Kukule, born in Latvia, describes the prewar Jewish population in Dagda; the arrival of German forces in her town; the arrest of Jews by Aizsargi; hearing gunfire at night and seeing the bodies of Jewish victims near her home the next day; details of the mass grave in which some victims were buried alive; the looting of Jewish shops; the shooting of a Jewish neighbor in his home by a policeman; corpses being taken to the riverbank; the destruction of the local synagogue; seeing German soldiers in 1944 take bodies out of burial pits and then set fire to them; the arrest of her family and transfer to the Daugavpils ghetto; her sister’s transfer to work in Germany; and her family’s return home.

Oral history interview with Ignat Šimkeen

Oral History

Ignat Šimkeen, born in 1933 in Daugavpils, Latvia, describes the Jewish families who lived in his neighborhood before the war; German soldiers sending Jews to the ghetto and appropriating their apartments; restrictions placed on the Jews, including the wearing of yellow star badges and not being allowed to walk on pedestrian sidewalks; a mass shooting of Jews in 1942, including the panic displayed once the Jews realized they were going to be killed, the mass burial site, and seeing a policeman with a bundle of gold items taken from murdered Jews; local townspeople staying inside of their homes during the mass shooting; German soldiers spraying the mass murder site with chemicals in 1943; local townspeople refusing to help two Soviet prisoners of war who had escaped from the German forces; and the punishment after the war for those who took clothes from the murdered Jews.

Oral history interview with Vladislav Bogdanovič

Oral History

Vladislav Bogdanovič, born in 1932 in Latvia, describes seeing a group of Jews being taken to a mass execution site at the Golden Mountain; the prayers and cries of the victims; hearing gunfire as they were being executed; seeing a woman digging in a mass grave; and the corpses of Soviet soldiers taken off a train.

Oral history interview with Oleg Jegorov

Oral History

Oleg Jegorov, born in 1931 in Dagda, Latvia, describes living in Vishki during the war; seeing a group of Jews and Romani people from Dagda in Vishki with policemen from Dagda; hearing gun shots from Kalnavishki; and seeing German soldier burning corpses in 1944.

Oral history interview with Helēna Lobza

Oral History

Helēna Lobza, born in 1929 in Daugavpils, Latvia, describes her Jewish neighbors; seeing three actions in which large groups of Jews were taken to the Golden Mountain to be executed; hearing gunfire from the mass shootings; going to the execution site and finding a doll, which her father prohibited her from keeping at home; giving bread to Jews on the street; empty Jewish apartments; and a Jewish girl who was hidden in the attic of her brother’s home during the war.

Oral history interview with Nina Matjušenko

Oral History

Nina Matjušenko, born in 1926 in Latvia, describes a Jewish friend; the arrest of the town’s Jews and their transportation in trucks; hearing the cries of prisoners when the guards abused them; the attempted escape of her Jewish friend; and hearing gunfire from a mass shooting.

Oral history interview with Bronislava Plepe

Oral History

Bronislava Plepe, born in 1919 in Lautsese, Latvia, describes her family, background, and work; the prewar Jewish population of Daugavpils; the wartime destruction of Jewish businesses and homes; hiding and watching a group of Jews being taken to an execution site at Poguljanka in 1942, details of the victims’ behavior and the presence of Latvian security guards; hearing gunfire from the shooting site; rumors that some Jews escaped with the help of those covering the burial pits; German measures against the Polish population; the execution of a family who hid Jews; the relocation of her Jewish employers to the ghetto; bringing food to her Jewish employers and discovering that they were no longer in the ghetto; a Jewish plumber who survived with a false identity; a man who denounced her as a communist to the Gestapo; securing her release after convincing the head of the Gestapo that she was not a communist; seeing dead bodies in the streets of her town; visiting a hospital in 1944 in which there were many deaths from illness or starvation; her Jewish landlady who survived the war and afterwards demanded half of her belongings to be returned; an attempted sexual assault by a German soldier; and getting caught in the crossfire between partisans and Soviet soldiers.

Oral history interview with Anatoly Gunar

Oral History

Anatoly Gunar, born in 1929 in Pereljub, Ukraine, discusses his family and half-Jewish background; the withdrawal of Soviet forces; discussions among local workers of how German forces would kill Jews, Roma, and communists; his attempt to evacuate the town; the arrest and shooting of his mother, who was then left unburied on the order of German forces; a who neighbor buried his mother in the cemetery at night; staying with a neighbor; the killing of Jewish families; local townspeople betraying a Jewish woman to German soldiers for money; his arrest by the Gestapo and stay in a prison in the village of Homy; the brutality of German soldiers towards Jewish and Romani girls, which included rape and torture; his job cleaning rooms after torture sessions; his torture by German soldiers; the shooting of Jewish and partisan families in the Gestapo yard; helping policemen load corpses into trucks, which were taken into the forest to a mass burial site; the use of gas vans by German forces to kill Jews; and his liberation from the Gestapo by a partisan group.

Oral history interview with Maria Grushetskaja

Oral History

Maria Grushetskaja, born in 1931 in Mogilev, Belarus, describes Jewish people who lived in her house before the war; many Jews fleeing to Russia prior to the arrival of German forces; Jews being taken to houses on the Dubrovenka river; German soldiers diverting the river, which caused the area to flood and the houses to float away; the sight of Jews sitting on the roofs of the floating houses; a prisoner of war camp near her house; the burning of Mogilev and Zadneprovye; her relocation by German forces to Alitus (Alytus), Lithuania; the conditions of the concentration camp in Alitus; her transfer to Polotsk concentration camp in 1943; conditions of the Polotsk camp, including hunger and disease; her transfer to a labor camp near Abrene (Abrini), Latvia; working on a farm; and her decision to stay in Latvia after the war.

Oral history interview with Sofia Davidovich

Oral History

Sofia Davidovich, born in 1931 in Griva, Latvia, describes the evacuation and then return of her family at the beginning of the war; finding their home occupied by German soldiers and Czech doctors; German soldiers taking her father to work at a factory; bringing her father food; a mass shooting of Jews in 1941 in a park behind the prison; hearing machine gunfire; the mass burial pit; restrictions on Jewish citizens; the beating of a Jewish woman by a German soldier for taking a step onto the pavement; the relocation of Jews to the ghetto; empty Jewish houses; the destruction of the synagogues in 1941; German soldiers taking Jews and Roma in carriages in the direction of Niderkuny; Roma fleeing German soldiers; harsh living conditions for and treatment of prisoners of war, including freezing and starvation; local townspeople attempting to feed Jewish prisoners and the prisoners of war; and the experience of her uncle, who was taken to Salaspils concentration camp, tortured by German soldiers, and liberated by the American forces.

Oral history interview with Uljana Semjonova

Oral History

Uljana Semjonova, born in 1919 in Daugavpils, Latvia, describes the roundup of Jews in Ostrova village by Aizsargi; forced labor digging pits; Jews from Vishki escaping to the village of Korolevshina; the transfer of some villagers to Salaspils; the escape of a Jewish family from Salaspils; the closing of Jewish apartments and houses; Aizsargi members looting Jewish belongings and selling them; seeing a transfer of Jews from Dagda to Vishki; a mass shooting and burial of Jews by Aizsargi near a shed belonging to her father-in-law; Roma forced labor; German soldiers taking pictures of the shooting and burial; and the burning of the bodies by Aizsargi at a later date.

Oral history interview with Ivans Bižáns

Oral History

Ivans Bižáns, born November 11, 1929 in a village near Krāslava, Latvia, discusses growing up in a village where there were no Jews; seeing 100-200 Jews circa September 1941 being marched off the road (the number of Jews was later memorialized on a plaque as 85); how the Jews were lined up over a pit and then killed, their bodies falling into a pre-dug pit; one woman who was shot and her baby thrown into the pit with her; the killing which was done in groups; Bižáns’ uncertainty as to whether the perpetrators were German or Russian as the group was guarded by local policemen; his belief that gold teeth were extracted from the victims; and his service in the Soviet Army from 1952 to 1954. [This record includes an audio recording of an English translation of the orginal interview, which was conducted in Russian. The original recording of the interview is not available at this time.]

Oral history interview with Kárlis Aleksandrs Pavlovičs

Oral History

Research interview with Ivans Bižáns

Oral History

Research interview with Kárlis Aleksandrs Pavlovičs

Oral History

Research interview with Raisa Chaplya

Oral History

Research interview with Zofia Zuyeva

Oral History

Research interview with Marsaliy Ivanov

Oral History

Research interview with Vladislav Gaga

Oral History