Austrian, Czech, and German Jews in Riga (Latvia)

Unpublished Manuscript
Transcribed by Peter W. Landé

INTRODUCTION

After the war, some survivors, wandering around what had been the Riga ghetto, found parts of a notebook and some sheets and scraps of paper. These turned out to be work detail and sick call lists for forced Jewish laborers. Although they were water damaged, weathered and wrinkled, the lists were generally legible. The pages were brought to Israel and are held in the archives of the Association of Latvian and Estonian Jews in Israel, located in Kibbutz Shefayim. They were found there by an amateur genealogist, Martha Levinson Lev-Zion, who recognized their historical significance and forwarded them to me for computerization.

Up to now, while much had been written as to what happened to the thousands of Jews deported to Riga, virtually no name lists had been found other than partial transport lists. These lists, all from 1942-43, fall into two categories-- work details and sick call lists -- i.e., lists of persons who were either totally or partially excused from work details. The 867 names which appear on these lists consist of Jewish men and women from Austria, Czechoslovakia and Germany, ages 14 to 72. The information on each person varies widely. In some cases only the name appears. In some, the date of birth is given and in others, age. In some cases a town is listed by a name. While I originally thought that this indicated the place of birth or deportation, after checking with other lists I found that this was not the case, and the city name may indicate little other than the work group to which an individual was assigned. In a few cases a name was crossed out (as indicated in the Notes columns). In no case is the ultimate fate of these persons given.

However, researchers interested in the fate of German Jews sent to Riga may wish to compare these names with the lists of German Jews at Stutthof Concentration Camp.

As noted above, the material is in poor condition. All the information contained in these lists has been entered, but if any researcher feels a particular need to have a copy of a page referring to his/her relative, he/she may write to me to request a copy.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This information is accessible to you today thanks to the efforts of Peter W. Landé.

JewishGen Holocaust Database
Last updated February 3, 2003 by RdR