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'''Holocaust in Estonia''' refers to the [[Nazi crime]]s during the [[Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany]]. There were, prior to the war, approximately 4,300 Estonian Jews. After the Soviet 1940 occupation many Jewish people were deported to Siberia along with other Estonians. It is estimated that 500 Jews suffered this fate. About 75% of [[Estonia|Estonia's]] Jewish community, aware of the fate that otherwise awaited them, managed to escape to the Soviet Union; virtually all the remainder (between 950 and 1,000 people) were killed by [[Einsatzgruppe A]] and local collaborators before the end of 1941.<ref name = CommissionReport>[http://www.historycommission.ee/temp/conclusions.htm#crimiger1 Estonian International Commission for the Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity, ''Conclusions of the commission'' 1998]</ref> [[Romani people|Roma]] people of Estonia were also murdered and enslaved by the Nazi occupiers.
'''Holocaust in Estonia''' refers to the [[Nazi crime]]s during the [[Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany]]. There were, prior to the war, approximately 4,300 Estonian Jews. After the Soviet 1940 occupation many Jewish people were deported to Siberia along with other Estonians. It is estimated that 500 Jews suffered this fate. About 75% of [[Estonia|Estonia's]] Jewish community, aware of the fate that otherwise awaited them, managed to escape to the Soviet Union; virtually all the remainder (between 950 and 1,000 people) were killed by [[Einsatzgruppe A]] and local collaborators before the end of 1941.<ref name = CommissionReport>[http://www.historycommission.ee/temp/conclusions.htm#crimiger1 Estonian International Commission for the Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity, ''Conclusions of the commission'' 1998]</ref> [[Romani people|Roma]] people of Estonia were also murdered and enslaved by the Nazi occupiers.


==Complete murder of native Jewish population==
==Murder of remaining native Jewish population==
[[Round-up]]s and [[killing]]s of [[Jew]]s began immediately following the arrival of the first German troops in [[July 7]], [[1941]], who were closely followed by the extermination squad [[Einsatzkommando]] ([[Sonderkommando]]) 1A under [[Martin Sandberger]], part of [[Einsatzgruppe A]] led by [[Walter Stahlecker]]. [[Arrest]]s and [[execution]]s continued as the Germans, with the assistance of local [[collaborator]]s, advanced through [[Estonia]]. Unlike German forces, some support apparently existed among an undefined segment of the Estonian population for [[anti-Jewish]] actions on the political level. The standard excuse used for the cleansing operations was arrest 'because of [[communist]] activity'. Estonia became a part of the [[Reichskommissariat Ostland]]. A [[Sicherheitspolizei]] (Estonian Security Police) was established for internal security under the leadership of [[Ain Mere]] in [[1942]]. Estonia was declared ''[[Judenfrei]]'' quite early by the German occupation regime at the [[Wannsee Conference]]. <ref name=autogenerated2>[http://motlc.learningcenter.wiesenthal.org/text/x07/xr0707.html Museum of Tolerance Multimedia Learning Center]</ref>
[[Round-up]]s and [[killing]]s of the remaining [[Jew]]s began immediately by the extermination squad [[Einsatzkommando]] ([[Sonderkommando]]) 1A under [[Martin Sandberger]], part of [[Einsatzgruppe A]] led by [[Walter Stahlecker]], who followed the arrival of the first German troops in [[July 7]], [[1941]]. [[Arrest]]s and [[execution]]s continued as the Germans, with the assistance of local [[collaborator]]s, advanced through [[Estonia]]. Estonia became a part of the [[Reichskommissariat Ostland]]. A [[Sicherheitspolizei]] (Estonian Security Police) was established for internal security under the leadership of [[Ain Mere]] in [[1942]]. Estonia was declared ''[[Judenfrei]]'' quite early by the German occupation regime at the [[Wannsee Conference]]. <ref name=autogenerated2>[http://motlc.learningcenter.wiesenthal.org/text/x07/xr0707.html Museum of Tolerance Multimedia Learning Center]</ref>
Jews that had remained in Estonia (921 according to Martin Sandberger, 929 according to Evgenia Goorin-Loov and 963 according to Walter Stahlecker) were killed. <ref name = Kueng>[http://www.rel.ee/eng/communism_crimes.htm#F6 Küng, Andres, Communism and Crimes against Humanity in the Baltic states, A Report to the Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation seminar on April 13, 1999]</ref> Fewer than a dozen Estonian Jews are known to have survived the war in Estonia.
Jews that had remained in Estonia (921 according to Martin Sandberger, 929 according to Evgenia Goorin-Loov and 963 according to Walter Stahlecker) were killed. <ref name = Kueng>[http://www.rel.ee/eng/communism_crimes.htm#F6 Küng, Andres, Communism and Crimes against Humanity in the Baltic states, A Report to the Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation seminar on April 13, 1999]</ref> Fewer than a dozen Estonian Jews are known to have survived the war in Estonia.
[[Image:Coffinmap.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Map titled "Jewish Executions Carried Out by [[Einsatzgruppe A]]" from the Stahlecker's report. Marked "Secret Reich Matter," the map shows the number of Jews shot in [[Reichskommissariat Ostland|Ostland]], and reads at the bottom: ''"the estimated number of Jews still on hand is 128,000"''. [[Estonia]] is marked as ''[[judenfrei]]''.]]
[[Image:Coffinmap.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Map titled "Jewish Executions Carried Out by [[Einsatzgruppe A]]" from the Stahlecker's report. Marked "Secret Reich Matter," the map shows the number of Jews shot in [[Reichskommissariat Ostland|Ostland]], and reads at the bottom: ''"the estimated number of Jews still on hand is 128,000"''. [[Estonia]] is marked as ''[[judenfrei]]''.]]
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==Sexual slavery==
==Sexual slavery==
Camp commandant Laak used the women as [[sex slave]]s, killing at least one who refused to comply.<ref>[http://iisrael.ee/js.php3?id=343 Omakaitse omakohus] - JERUUSALEMMA SÕNUMID {{et icon}}</ref>
Camp commandant Laak used the women as [[sex slave]]s, killing at least one who refused to comply.<ref>[http://iisrael.ee/js.php3?id=343 Omakaitse omakohus] - JERUUSALEMMA SÕNUMID {{et icon}}</ref>

==Soviet prisoners of war==
15,000 Soviet POW died in Estonia because of harsh living conditions, or were executed.<ref name="historycommission"/>

=== POW camps ===
*[[Dulag 101]] [[Narva]] 8.1941-9.1941
*[[Dulag 102]] [[Rakvere]] Estland 8.1941-9.1941
*[[Dulag 110]] [[Tapa]] 4.1943-12.1943
*[[Dulag 110/N]] ("Reval-Süd") [[Tallinn]] 4.1943-12.1943 (?)
*[[Dulag 110]] [[Valga]] 12.1943-1944
*[[Dulag 154]] [[Viljandi]] 7.1941-10.1941
*[[Dulag 154/N]] [[Pärnu]] 7.1941-10.1941 (?)
*[[Dulag 154/N]] [[Tartu]] 7.1941-10.1941 (?)
*[[Dulag 200]] [[Narva]] 10.1941-6.1942
*[[Dulag 200/N]] [[Narva]] 6.1942-
*[[Dulag 375]] [[Viljandi]] 5.1943-8.1944
*[[Dulag 375/N]] [[Tapa]] 10.1943-4.1944
*[[Dulag 377]] [[Kiviõli]] 4.1943-8.1944
*[[Dulag 377/N]] [[Kohtla]] 4.1943-8.1944 (?)
*[[Dulag 377/N]] [[Kütte-Jõu]] 4.1943-8.1944 (?)
*[[Dulag 377/N]] [[Ahtme]] 4.1943-8.1944 (?)
*[[Dulag 377/N]] [[Käva]] 4.1943-8.1944 (?)
*[[Dulag 377/N]] [[Kukruse]] 4.1943-8.1944 (?)
*[[Frontstalag 347/N]] [[Valga]] 11.1941
*[[Stalag XXI B]] [[Tapa]] 10.1941-4.1942
*[[Stalag 332 ]] [[Viljandi]] 10.1941-5.1943
*[[Stalag 332/N]] [[Põltsamaa]] 10.1941-5.1943 (?)
*[[Stalag 351 ]] [[Valga]] 9.1941-12.1943
*[[Stalag 381 ]] [[Tapa]] 4.1942-5.1943
*[[Stalag 381/Z]] ("Reval-Süd") [[Tallinn]] 4.1942-5.1943 (?)

<ref>[http://www.km.ru/magazin/view.asp?id=E080AFEE626A49209854E6C6745527CC]</ref>

==Formation of Estonian military units by Germans==
Batallion Narwa was formed from the first 800 men of the Legion to have finished their training at [[Dębica]] (Heidelager in 1943), being sent in April 1943 to join the [[5th SS Panzergrenadier Division Wiking]] in [[Reichskommissariat Ukraine]]. On [[May 5]], 1943 the 3rd Estonian [[Waffen-SS]] brigade was formed and sent to front near [[Nevel]]. The [[Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany#Estonians in German Military Units in 1941-1944|Estonian military and police]] units made a significant war contribution fighting for the German Armed Forces.<ref name="allies">{{cite book |title=Germany's Eastern Front Allies |author=Carlos Jurado, Nigel Thomas, Darko Pavlovic |year=2002 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |location=Oxford |ISBN=9781841761930}}</ref> The [[Estonian Government in Exile]] and its precedent National Committee lead by [[Jüri Uluots]], the acting [[President of Estonia|Head of State]] pursuant to the [[Constitution of Estonia]] supported the illegal conscription of Estonian citizens to the German forces. [[Jüri Uluots]], the last constitutional prime minister of the Republic of [[Estonia]],<ref>[http://www.president.ee/en/estonia/heads.php?gid=81975 Jüri Uluots] at president.ee</ref> the leader of the Estonian [[underground government]] delivered a radio address on February 7 that implored all able-bodied men born from 1904 through 1923 to report for military service.


==Modern memorials==
==Modern memorials==
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Ain Mere founded the ''[[Eesti Vabadusliit]]'' together with SS-[[Obersturmbannführer]] [[Harald Riipalu]].<ref>[http://www.hot.ee/vaikal/tana_02.htm Veebruari sündmused] {{et icon}}</ref> He was sentenced to the capital punishment during the [[Holocaust trials in Soviet Estonia]] but was not extradited by [[Great Britain]] and died there in peace. As Estonian prosecutors have closed the case of WWII crime suspect [[Harry Männil]] now resident in Venezuela, on basis of insufficient evidence linking Männil to crimes against humanity. Estonia's security police had opened a criminal case in March [[2001]] on the basis of [[Efraim Zuroff]]'s petition to investigate whether Männil was connected with the persecution and killing of civilians in 1941-42 when he worked as an assistant with the wartime political police in Tallinn.<ref>[http://www.estemb.se/estonian_review/aid-403 Estonian prosecutors close case of WWII crime suspect at] estemb.se</ref> In [[2002]] the [[Government of the Republic of Estonia]] decided to officially commemorate the [[Holocaust]]. In the same year, the [[Simon Wiesenthal Center]] had provided the Estonian government with information on alleged Estonian war criminals, all former members of the [[36th Estonian Police Battalion]].
Ain Mere founded the ''[[Eesti Vabadusliit]]'' together with SS-[[Obersturmbannführer]] [[Harald Riipalu]].<ref>[http://www.hot.ee/vaikal/tana_02.htm Veebruari sündmused] {{et icon}}</ref> He was sentenced to the capital punishment during the [[Holocaust trials in Soviet Estonia]] but was not extradited by [[Great Britain]] and died there in peace. As Estonian prosecutors have closed the case of WWII crime suspect [[Harry Männil]] now resident in Venezuela, on basis of insufficient evidence linking Männil to crimes against humanity. Estonia's security police had opened a criminal case in March [[2001]] on the basis of [[Efraim Zuroff]]'s petition to investigate whether Männil was connected with the persecution and killing of civilians in 1941-42 when he worked as an assistant with the wartime political police in Tallinn.<ref>[http://www.estemb.se/estonian_review/aid-403 Estonian prosecutors close case of WWII crime suspect at] estemb.se</ref> In [[2002]] the [[Government of the Republic of Estonia]] decided to officially commemorate the [[Holocaust]]. In the same year, the [[Simon Wiesenthal Center]] had provided the Estonian government with information on alleged Estonian war criminals, all former members of the [[36th Estonian Police Battalion]].


== Executors ==
== Collaborators ==
*[[Oskar Angelus]]
*[[Hans Aumeier]]
*[[Hans Aumeier]]
*[[Heinrich Bergmann]]
*[[Julius Geese]]
*[[Ralf Gerrets]]
*[[Ralf Gerrets]]
*[[Juhan Jüriste]]
*[[Aleksander Koolmeister]]
*[[Friedrich Kurg]]<ref>[http://lood.wordpress.com/1941-aasta-suvesoda/ Alo Lõhmus, 1941. aasta suvesõda]</ref><ref>[http://paber.ekspress.ee/viewdoc/F756A36DCA717BB0C22571760047DC7C Andrei Hvostov, Jakobsoni komisjon Augeiase tallis]</ref>
*[[Friedrich Kurg]]<ref>[http://lood.wordpress.com/1941-aasta-suvesoda/ Alo Lõhmus, 1941. aasta suvesõda]</ref><ref>[http://paber.ekspress.ee/viewdoc/F756A36DCA717BB0C22571760047DC7C Andrei Hvostov, Jakobsoni komisjon Augeiase tallis]</ref>
*[[Aleksander Laak]]
*[[Ernst Laigo]]
*[[Roland Lepik]]
*[[Karl Linnas]]
*[[Karl Linnas]]
*[[Ain Mere]]
*[[Ain Mere]]
*[[Hjalmar Mäe]]
*[[Hjalmar Mäe]]
*[[Hinrich Möller]]
*[[Artur Paal]]
*[[Vladimir Purka]]
*[[Villem Raid]]

[[Image:Martin Sandberger.jpg||thumb|200px|[[SS-Standartenführer]] [[Martin Sandberger]].]]

*[[Martin Sandberger]]
*[[Walter Stahlecker]]
*[[Karl Tagasaar]]
*[[Arkadi Valdin]]
*[[Jaan Viik]]
*[[Jaan Viik]]
*[[Ervin Viks]]
*[[Arkadi Visnapuu]]
*[[Wilhelm Werle]]


=== Organizations ===
=== Organizations ===
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*[[Sicherheitspolizei]] und des [[Sicherheitsdienst|SD]]
*[[Sicherheitspolizei]] und des [[Sicherheitsdienst|SD]]
*[[Sonderkommando 1a]]
*[[Sonderkommando 1a]]

== Victims ==
=== Jews ===
==== Pärnu children murdered in the [[Pärnu synagogue]] on [[November 2]], 1941 ====
*[[Nossan Bell]], 13 years old
*[[Blume Birnik]], 17 years old
*[[Leie Bloch]], 12
*[[Mirjam Bloch]], 8
*[[Feige Bub]], 16
*[[Sara Bub]], 17
*[[Josi Goldberg]], 2
*[[Liia Goldberg]], 6
*[[Rena Goldberg]], 3
*[[Hirsch Gorfinkel]], 6
*[[Esther Haitov]], 7
*[[Rahel Haitov]], 8
*[[David Hirschfeldt]], 11
*[[Irene Hirschfeldt]], 5
*[[Renate Hirschfeldt]], 3
*[[Etel Klein]], 10
*[[Peisach Klein]], 8
*[[Dvoina Kuschner]], 18
*[[Taube Kuschner]], born [[April 11]], [[1941]]
*[[Desi Levin]], 11
*[[Joseff Levin]], 13
*[[Lea Margolius]], 9
*[[Meri Margolius]], 12
*[[Riva Margolius]], 5
*[[Zilla Margolius]], 6
*[[Abram Pavlovski]], 7
*[[Aron Pavlovski]], 5
*[[Shjene Permand]], 8
*[[Riva Permand]], 3
*[[Daniel Salkind]], 11
*[[Rosa Salkind]], 4
*[[Ette Smiloi]], 7
*[[Jakob Smiloi]], 7
*[[Sara Zalkind]], 13

==== Other children ====
*[[Beile Rahut]] (of [[Pärnu-Jaagupi]])

==== Women murdered in the Jägala concentration camp ====
*[[Anka Dubova]]
*[[Grete Freind]]
*[[Irma Freind]]
*[[Hanka Ganova]]
*[[Iruda Geikorn]] (of [[Olomouc]])
*[[Lili Peniškova]]

== Survivors ==
*[[Jarmila Adamova]]
*[[Gisela Herzel]]
*[[Elisa Kohane]]
*[[Ruth Kopeckova]]
*[[Marketa Mashova]] ([[Gita Mašova]])
*[[Arnotshka Meisnerova]] ([[Erna Meisner]])
*[[Eliška Munkova]]
*[[Ruth Neiman]]
*[[Suzanne Spalter]]
*[[Frieda Valheis]]
*[[Margarete Zarkover]]
*[[Emmy Zhampachova]]

== Witnesses ==
*[[Hilda Jalakas]]
*[[Ilmar Laherand]]
*[[Lilli Looke]]
*[[Salme Rull]]
*[[Helene Vankov]]


== Bibliography ==
== Bibliography ==
Line 473: Line 346:


== External links ==
== External links ==
{{cleanupsection}}
*Birn, Ruth Bettina (2001), [http://journals.cambridge.org/production/action/cjoGetFulltext?fulltextid=81766 Collaboration with Nazi Germany in Eastern Europe: the Case of the Estonian Security Police]. ''[[Contemporary European History]]'' 10.2, 181-198.
*Birn, Ruth Bettina (2001), [http://journals.cambridge.org/production/action/cjoGetFulltext?fulltextid=81766 Collaboration with Nazi Germany in Eastern Europe: the Case of the Estonian Security Police]. ''[[Contemporary European History]]'' 10.2, 181-198.
*[http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/beyond-the-pale/eng_captions/55-5.html Estonian volunteers to the Waffen SS]
*[http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/beyond-the-pale/eng_captions/55-5.html Estonian volunteers to the Waffen SS]
*[http://wehrmacht.pri.ee/fotod/waffenss/waffenss.html Estonian SS-Legion (photographs)]
*[http://wehrmacht.pri.ee/fotod/waffenss/waffenss.html Estonian SS-Legion (photographs)]
*[http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=35868 Estonian SS-Legion (photographs)]
*[http://www.eesti.ca/forum/board_entry.php?id=393&page=0&category=all&order=subject&descasc=ASC Estonian SS volunteers, Russia 1944]
*[http://www.eesti.ca/forum/board_entry.php?id=393&page=0&category=all&order=subject&descasc=ASC Estonian SS volunteers, Russia 1944]
*[http://www.postimees.ee/150405/esileht/162956_foto.php Hjalmar Mäe]
*[http://www.postimees.ee/150405/esileht/162956_foto.php Hjalmar Mäe]
Line 483: Line 356:
*Weiss-Wendt, Anton (2003). [http://hgs.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/17/1/31 Extermination of the Gypsies in Estonia during World War II: Popular Images and Official Policies]. ''[[Holocaust and Genocide Studies]]'' 17.1, 31-61.
*Weiss-Wendt, Anton (2003). [http://hgs.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/17/1/31 Extermination of the Gypsies in Estonia during World War II: Popular Images and Official Policies]. ''[[Holocaust and Genocide Studies]]'' 17.1, 31-61.
*[http://www.destfor.de/defor_root/defor_deutsch/aktuelles_und_presse/2005_01_06/2005_05/holocaust_estland/holocaust_estland.htm The Holocaust and the concentration camps in Estonia] {{de icon}} - ''[http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=de_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.destfor.de%2fdefor_root%2fdefor_deutsch%2faktuelles_und_presse%2f2005_01_06%2f2005_05%2fholocaust_estland%2fholocaust_estland.htm English translation]
*[http://www.destfor.de/defor_root/defor_deutsch/aktuelles_und_presse/2005_01_06/2005_05/holocaust_estland/holocaust_estland.htm The Holocaust and the concentration camps in Estonia] {{de icon}} - ''[http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=de_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.destfor.de%2fdefor_root%2fdefor_deutsch%2faktuelles_und_presse%2f2005_01_06%2f2005_05%2fholocaust_estland%2fholocaust_estland.htm English translation]
*[[:de:Kalevi-Liiva|Kalevi-Liiva]] on German Wikipedia {{de icon}} - ''[http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=de_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fde.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fKalevi-Liiva English translation]''
*[http://patsaskirja.blogspot.com/2009/01/judenfrei.html JUDENFREI]
*[http://kaymala.blogspot.com/2008/10/viroilmannaamiota.html VIRO ILMAN NAAMIOTA]
*[http://paber.ekspress.ee/viewdoc/F756A36DCA717BB0C22571760047DC7C Andrei Hvostov, Jakobsoni komisjon Augeiase tallis]
*[http://paber.ekspress.ee/viewdoc/F756A36DCA717BB0C22571760047DC7C Andrei Hvostov, Jakobsoni komisjon Augeiase tallis]
*[http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/holocaust_and_genocide_studies/v017/17.1weiss-wendt.html#FOOT3, Extermination of the Gypsies in Estonia during World War II]
*[http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/holocaust_and_genocide_studies/v017/17.1weiss-wendt.html#FOOT3, Extermination of the Gypsies in Estonia during World War II]

Revision as of 00:36, 15 March 2009

Holocaust in Reichskommissariat Ostland (which included Estonia): a map

Holocaust in Estonia refers to the Nazi crimes during the Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany. There were, prior to the war, approximately 4,300 Estonian Jews. After the Soviet 1940 occupation many Jewish people were deported to Siberia along with other Estonians. It is estimated that 500 Jews suffered this fate. About 75% of Estonia's Jewish community, aware of the fate that otherwise awaited them, managed to escape to the Soviet Union; virtually all the remainder (between 950 and 1,000 people) were killed by Einsatzgruppe A and local collaborators before the end of 1941.[1] Roma people of Estonia were also murdered and enslaved by the Nazi occupiers.

Murder of remaining native Jewish population

Round-ups and killings of the remaining Jews began immediately by the extermination squad Einsatzkommando (Sonderkommando) 1A under Martin Sandberger, part of Einsatzgruppe A led by Walter Stahlecker, who followed the arrival of the first German troops in July 7, 1941. Arrests and executions continued as the Germans, with the assistance of local collaborators, advanced through Estonia. Estonia became a part of the Reichskommissariat Ostland. A Sicherheitspolizei (Estonian Security Police) was established for internal security under the leadership of Ain Mere in 1942. Estonia was declared Judenfrei quite early by the German occupation regime at the Wannsee Conference. [2] Jews that had remained in Estonia (921 according to Martin Sandberger, 929 according to Evgenia Goorin-Loov and 963 according to Walter Stahlecker) were killed. [3] Fewer than a dozen Estonian Jews are known to have survived the war in Estonia.

Map titled "Jewish Executions Carried Out by Einsatzgruppe A" from the Stahlecker's report. Marked "Secret Reich Matter," the map shows the number of Jews shot in Ostland, and reads at the bottom: "the estimated number of Jews still on hand is 128,000". Estonia is marked as judenfrei.

German policy towards the Jews in Estonia

The Estonian state archives contain death certificates and lists of Jews shot dated July, August, and early September 1941. For example the official death certificate of Ruvin Teitelbaum, born in Tapa pn January 17, 1907, states laconically in a form with item 7 already printed with only the date left blank: "7. By a decision of the Sicherheitspolizei on September 4, 1941, condemned to death, with the decision being carried out the same day in Tallinn." Teitelbaum's crime was "being a Jew" and thus constituting a "threat to the public order". On September 11, 1941 an article entitled "Juuditäht seljal" - "A Jewish Star on the Back" appeared in the Estonian mass-circulation newspaper "Postimees". It stated that Dr. Otto-Heinrich Drechsler, the High Commissioner of Ostland, had proclaimed ordinances in accordance with which all Jewish residents of Ostland from that day onward had to wear visible yellow six-pointed Star of David at least 10 cm. in diameter on the left side of their chest and back. On the same day Regulations [4] issued by the Sicherheitspolizei were delivered to all local police departments proclaiming that the Nuremberg Laws were in force in Ostland, defining who is a Jew, and what Jews could and could not do. Jews were prohibited from changing their place of residence, walking along the sidewalk, using any means of transportation, going to theatres, museums, cinema, or school. The professions of lawyer, physician, notary, banker, or real estate agent were declared closed to Jews, as was the occupation of street hawker. The regulations also declared that the property and homes of Jewish residents were to be confiscated. The regulations emphasized that work to this ends was to be begun as soon as possible, and that lists of Jews, their addresses, and their property were to be completed by the police by September 20, 1941. These regulations also provided for the establishment of a concentration camp near the south-eastern Estonian city of Tartu. A later decisions provided for the construction of a Jewish ghetto near the town of Harku, but this was never built, a small concentration camp being built there instead. The Estonian State Archives contain material pertinent to the cases of about 450 Estonian Jews. They were typically arrested either at home or in the street, taken to the local police station, and charged with the 'crime' of being Jews. They were either shot outright or sent to concentration camp and shot later. An Estonian woman, E. S. describes the arrest of her Jewish husband as follows[5]:

As my husband did not go out of the house, I was the one to go to town every day to see what was going on. I was very frighteend when I saw a poster at the corner of Vabaduse Square and Harju Street calling for people to show where the apartments of Jews were located. On that fatal day of September 13, I went out again because the weather was fine but I remember being very worried. I rushed home and when I got there and heard some voices in our apartment I had a foreboding that something bad had happened. There were two men in our apartment from the Selbstschutz who said they were taking my husband to the police station. I ran after them and went to the chief officer and asked for permission to see my husband. The chief officer said that he could not give me permission but added, in a low voice, that I should come the next morning when the prisoners would be taken to prison and perhaps I could see my husband in the corridor. I returned the next morning as I had been advised, and it was the last time I saw my husband. On September 15 I went to the German Sicherheitspolizei on Tõnismägi in an attempt to get information about my husband. I was told he had been shot. I asked the reason since he had not been a communist but a businessman, The answer was: "Aber er war doch ein Jude." [But he was a Jew.].

The murder of Pliner children on March 27, 1942

Mr. Jüri Pliner (born May 23, 1898) was arrested and executed by the Germans on September 16, 1941. His three children, Mirjam (born August 15, 1927), David, and Sima (twins born on November 11, 1934), remained in Tallinn with Elisabet Litzenko (Letinkov), their stepmother, in Nõmme, a fashionable suburb to the south of Tallinn, living at 39 Nurme Street, apartment 7. The Estonian State Archives contains correspondence between the German authorities covering the months between the death of their father and disappearance of their mother, and the execution of the children in late March, 1942. Some of the documents are here, the ones in Estonian translated, and the ones in German in the original language (Note that Litzenko is the Ukrainian, and Letinkov the Russian form of the same name):


1. A report to the head of the Political Police of Tallinn-Harju Prefecture that three Jewish children are living in Nõmme at 39 Nurme St., apartment 7.[6]

Tallinn-Harju Perfecture To the Director of the Political Police Division, agent J. Pinka

Report

Pliner, Jüri, married to Sofie Pliner, both Jews by nationality. Their three children - David, born 1934, Mirjam 1927, Siima, 1934. Parents' whereabouts unknown, children now living at Nurme St. 39-7, Nõmme.

Information: Elisabet Litzenko, Nurme 39-7, Nõmme.

Nõmme, 20 Dec. 1941

R. Pinka


2. Correspondence in the investigating file of the three Pliner children between the Political Police of Tallinn-Harju Prefecture and the inspector of police at Nõmme.[7]


a. A request to clarify the ethnicity and religion of the children:

[STAMP: Delivered Tallinn 9th division Police Inspectorate chancellery, 2 January, 1942 Nr. 2063]

To the Police Inspectorate of Nõmme

I request that you clarify the ethnicity and religion of the suspects Taavet, Siima and Miljam Pliner, as well as the ethnicity and religion of their parents. Tallinn 30 December, 1941, Nr. 5880

[Signed. EsM] Tallinn-Harju Prefecture Director of the Poilitical Police


b. The answer to the above:

Senior assistant E. Ott

Accoding to information taken from our files the childrenn of Jüri Pliner, Taavet, Siimam and Mirjam (not Miljan) are Jews by ethnicity and Jews by religion. Their parents are also Jews and of Jewish religion. 15 I, 1942

[signed: A. Hane]
Nõmme police division
3rd district office


c. The response to the above:

Tallinn-Harju Political Police
Implemented
In Nömme, 17 Jan. 1942, case nr. 2063
[signed: illegible]
Nõmme Div. Police inspectorate
[signed: J. Laanest]
Secretary

URGENT III M

To the Nômme Police Inspectorate I request that you verify the ethnicity and religion of the already-mentioned suspects Taavet, Siima, and Miljam Pliner, as well as those of their parents with documentary evidence so that it can be proven.

Tallinn, 21 January, 1942, Nr. 5880 [Signed. EsM] Tallinn-Harju Prefecture Director of the Poilitical Police

Senior assistant E. Ott


3. A lengthy report dated March 8, 1942 in Estonian by agent L. Ranne on the Pliner family proving their Jewish origin.[8] The report goes through the date and circumstances of birth of Jüri Pliner and concludes that: "Jüri PLINER as well as his spouse SOPHIE are of Jewish ethnicity according to various documents at the Ministry of Internal Affairs." It also notes that the children are from his first marriage, which dates from July 31, 1923. That marriage ended on January 31, 1941, and on August 20, 1941 he remarried, this time to Elisabeth Letnikov, born in Poland and ethnically a Russian. The children are determined to be Jews, but Elisabeth Letnikov is not.


4. A request from Ervin Viks, chief of the political police at Tallinn-Harju Perfecture to SS-Hauptscharführer Dörsam concerning actions to be taken with respect to the Pliner children.[9]

Die Politische Polizei der Präfektur Tallinn-Harju 29 Dezember 1941.

Nr. 5880 An den

SS-Hauptscharführer Dörsam,
Reval
Mit u/Heutigen teilen wir Ihnen mit, dass 3 Kinder des Juden P i l n e r, Jüri (exekutiert) und seiner Ehefrau Sofie (Befinden unbekannt):
David geb. 1934
Siima " 1934
Mirjam " 1927

gegenwärtig sich bei Elisabeth Litzenko, Nõmme, Nurme 39-7, befinden. Wir bitten Sie um Ihre Stellungnahme in dieser Abgelegenheit.

[signed: E. Viks]
Chef der politischen Polizei
der Präfektus Tallinn-Harju


5. SS-Sturmbannführer Seyler's decision of March 21, 1942 concerning the fate of the Pliner children.[10]

Reval, den 21.3.1942

Der SS- und Polizeiführer Der Kommandeur der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD. Tgb. IV - Pä/A. Nr. 9/42.

An die Politische Abteilung z Hd. von Herrn W i c k s . R e v a l

Betrifft: Kinder des Juden P l i n e r . Vorgang; Dort. Schr. v. 10.3.42/Nr. 5880. Anlagen: Ohne.

Die Kinder des Obengenannten mit Namen David, Siima und Mirjam sind zu exekutieren. Frau E. Letinkov ist unter Polizei-Aufsicht zu stellen.

I. V.
S e y l e r


6. A letter in Estonian to assistant Leopold Jügensson of the Directorate of the Tallinn-Harju Perecture dated March 27, 1942 announcing that the property of the children has been registered and confiscated by the German occupation government, and that the children have been brought to the Political Police of Tallinn-Harju Prefecture.[11]


7. An extract from the dossier on the Pliner children reporting that they have been executed.[12]

Politische Abteiling Reval, den 28.3.1942 der Pol. Präfejtur Reval-Harrien. Nr......

An den Kommandeur der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD beim SS- und Polizeiführer, R e v a l .

Betrifft: Kinder des Juden P l i n e r Vorgang: I/Schr.v. 21.3.1942, Tgb.Nr. 9. Anlagen: 1

In Erledigung Ihres obigen Schreibens berichte ich:

P.1 - Ist befolgt
P.2 - Frau E. L e t i n k o v, ist unter polit.

Polizei-Aufsicht gestellt.

Leiter der Politschen Abteiling
der Polizei Präfektur Reval-Harrien


8. An extract in Estonian containing an inventory of the the personal property confiscated from the three Pilner children in conjunction with their arrest and delivery to the Political Police on March 27, 1942. The list notes that the children's property was in two cardboard suitcases, one beige and one brown, and that, including the suitcases, it consists of 43 items, including [8] 12 pairs of children socks, [17] nine skirts of various colors, [23] 5 pairs of white gloves, and [35] a dark blue winter coat with a gray fur collar. It is signed by constable Artur Braun and dated May 5, 1942.[13]


9. The Pilner children disappear from history with this final document from the Estonian Security Police to the inspector of police in Nõmme.[14]

Estonian Security Police IV Division 14 May, 1942

To the Police Inspector at Nõmme

Concerns: Mirjam, Siima and David P l i n e r's moveable property. Reference: German Security Police, correspondence April 20, 1942 Tgb. IV Bu/A Nr. 9/42 2592

Appendices: 1 page

I request the property of Mirjam, Siima, and David P l i n e r which is located in Tallin-Nõmme, Nurm St. 39-7 in Elisabeth Letinkov's apartment and which was inventoried by constable Artur Braun on March 28, 1942, in accordance with the list in the dossier of the German Security Police April 20, 1942, Tgb. IV - Bu/nr. 9/42, 2592, of which a copy is included.

[signed: EsM]
Director of the Division
Fa. M
Senior assistant

Concentration camps established for foreign Jews

With the invasion of the Baltic States, it was the intention of the Nazi government to use the Baltics countries as their main area of mass genocide. Consequently, Jews from countries outside the Baltics were shipped there to be killed. [15] and an estimated 10,000 Jews were killed in Estonia after having been deported to camps there from elsewhere in Eastern Europe. The Nazi regime also established 22 concentration and labor camps on occupied Estonian territory for foreign Jews. The largest, Vaivara concentration camp housed 1,300 prisoners at a time. These prisoners were mainly Jews, with smaller groups of Russians, Dutch, and Estonians.[16] Several thousand foreign Jews were killed at the Kalevi-Liiva camp. [2] Units of Estonian auxiliary police participated in the extermination of the Jews in Estonia and Pskov region of Russia and provided guards for concentration camps for Jews and Soviet POWs (Jägala, Vaivara, Klooga, Lagedi), where the prisoners were killed - despite the criminal activities in which numbers of policemen were engaged.[17] All members of Police Department B-IV did participate in such crimes.

From 1941 to 1943 Karl Linnas had commanded a Nazi concentration camp at Tartu, Estonia, where he directed and personally took part in the murder of thousands of men, women, and children who were herded into anti-tank ditches.

File:Map auschwitz deportation 4499.jpg
The "spider's web" of Auschwitz.

Concentration camps

KZ-Stammlager

KZ-Außenlager

File:Klooga.jpg
Corpses of inmates from Klooga concentration camp stacked for burning.
KZ Lodensee, Klooga.

[18]

Arbeits- und Erziehungslager

(Nazi terminology about 'extermination camp')

Prisons

Other concentration camps

The list is not complete.

War crimes trials

Four Estonians most responsible for the murders at Kalevi-Liiva were accused at war crimes trials in 1961. Two were later executed, while the Soviet occupation authorities were unable to press charges against two who lived in exile. [25] There have been several known 7 ethnic Estonians: Ralf Gerrets, Ain-Ervin Mere, Jaan Viik, Juhan Jüriste, Karl Linnas, Aleksander Laak and Ervin Viks who have faced trials for crimes against humanity committed during the Nazi occupation in Estonia. The accused were charged with murdering up to 5000 German and Czechoslovakian Jews and Romani people near the Kalevi-Liiva concentration camp in 1942-1943. Ain-Ervin Mere, commander of the Estonian Security Police (Group B of the Sicherheitspolizei) under the Estonian Self-Administration, was tried in absentia.

Before the trial Mere was an active member of the Estonian community in England, contributing to Estonian language publications.[26] At the time of the trial he was however held in captivity, accused of murder. He was never deported[27] and died a free man in England in 1969. Ralf Gerrets, the deputy commandant at the Jägala camp. Jaan Viik, (Jan Wijk, Ian Viik), a guard at the Jägala labor camp was singled out for prosecution out of the hundreds of Estonian camp guards and police for his particular brutality.[28] He was testified as throwing small children into the air and shooting them. He did not deny the charge.[29] A fourth accused, camp commandant, Aleksander Laak (Alexander Laak) was discovered in Canada but committed suicide.

Transport of Jews to Estonia

According to testimony of the survivors, at least two transports with about 2,100-2,150 people[30], arrived at the railway station at Raasiku, one from Theresienstadt (Terezin) with Czechoslovakian Jews and one from Berlin with German citizens. Around 1,700-1,750 people, mainly Jews, not selected for work at the Jägala camp were taken to Kalevi-Liiva and shot.[30] Transport Be 1.9.1942 from Theresienstadt arrived at the Raasiku station on September 5, 1942, after a five day trip.[31][32] According to testimony by one of the accused, Gerrets, eight busloads of Estonian auxiliary police had arrived from Tallinn[32].

Murder or slave labor for transported persons determined upon arrival

A selection process was supervised by Ain Mere, chief of Sicherheitspolizei in Estonia; those not selected for slave labor were sent by bus to an execution site near the camp. Usually able bodied men were selected to work on the oil shale mines in northeastern Estonia. Women, children, and old people would be executed on arrival. In the case Be 1.9.1942 however, the only ones chosen for labor and to survive the war were a small group of young women who were taken through concentration camps in Estonia, Poland and Germany to Bergen-Belsen, where they were liberated.[33] Later the police[32] in teams of 6 to 8 men[30] would execute the Jews by machine gun fire, on other hand, during later investigation some guards of camp denied participation of police and said that execution was done by camp personnel[30]. On the first day a total of 900 people were murdered in this way.[32][30] Gerrets told that he had fired a pistol at a victim who was still making noises in the pile of bodies.[32][29] The whole operation was directed by Obersturmführer Heinrich Bergmann and Oberscharführer J. Geese.[30][32] According to an article published by the journal "Contemporary European History" in 2001,

"In 1942, transports of Jews from other countries arrived, and their murder and incarceration in slave labour camps was organised and supervised by German and Estonian officials (including Mere and the German head of A-IV). The final act of liquidating the Klooga concentration camp, which involved the mass-shooting of roughly 2,000 prisoners, were committed by Estonians under German command, that is by units of the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian) and (presumably) the Schutzmannschaftsbataillon of the KdS. Survivors report that, during this period when Jewish slave labourers were visible, the Estonian population in part attempted to help the Jews by providing food and so on."[34][35]

A number of foreign witnesses were heard at the Holocaust trials in Soviet Estonia, including five women, who had been transported on Be 1.9.1942 from Theresienstadt.[32]

"The accused Mere, Gerrets and Viik actively participated in crimes and mass killings that were perpetrated by the Nazi invaders on the territory of the Estonian SSR. In accordance with the Nazi racial theory, the Sicherheitspolizei and Sicherheitsdienst were instructed to exterminate the Jews and Gypsies. For that end in August-September 1941 Mere and his collaborators set up a death camp at Jägala, 30 km from Tallinn. Mere put Aleksander Laak in charge of the camp; Ralf Gerrets was appointed his deputy. On 5 September 1942 a train with approximately 1,500 Czechoslovak citizens arrived to the Raasiku railway station. Mere, Laak and Gerrets personally selected who of them should be executed and who should be moved to the Jägala death camp. More than 1,000 people, mostly children, the old, and the infirm, were translocated to a wasteland at Kalevi-Liiva where they were monstrously executed in a special pit. In mid-September the second troop train with 1,500 prisoners arrived to the railway station from Germany. Mere, Laak, and Gerrets selected another thousand victims that were condemned by them to extermination. This group of prisoners, which included nursing women and their new-born babies, were transported to Kalevi-Liiva where they were killed. In March 1943 the personnel of the Kalevi-Liiva camp executed about fifty Gypsies, half of which were under 5 years of age. Also were executed 60 Gypsy children of school age..."[28]

Eesti Omakaitse (Estonian Selbstschutz; approximately between 1000 and 1200 men) were directly involved in criminal acts, taking part in the round-up (and possibly killing) of 200 Roma people and 950 Jews.[17]

Roma people murdered

Few witnesses pointed out Heinrich Bergmann as the key figure behind the extermination of Estonian Roma people.

Sexual slavery

Camp commandant Laak used the women as sex slaves, killing at least one who refused to comply.[36]

Modern memorials

Holocaust memorial at the site of the former Klooga concentration camp, opened on 24th July 2005

Since the reestablishment of the Estonian independence markers were put in place for the 60th anniversary of the mass executions that were carried out at the Lagedi, Vaivara and Klooga (Kalevi-Liiva) camps in September 1944. [37] On February 5 1945 in Berlin,

Ain Mere founded the Eesti Vabadusliit together with SS-Obersturmbannführer Harald Riipalu.[38] He was sentenced to the capital punishment during the Holocaust trials in Soviet Estonia but was not extradited by Great Britain and died there in peace. As Estonian prosecutors have closed the case of WWII crime suspect Harry Männil now resident in Venezuela, on basis of insufficient evidence linking Männil to crimes against humanity. Estonia's security police had opened a criminal case in March 2001 on the basis of Efraim Zuroff's petition to investigate whether Männil was connected with the persecution and killing of civilians in 1941-42 when he worked as an assistant with the wartime political police in Tallinn.[39] In 2002 the Government of the Republic of Estonia decided to officially commemorate the Holocaust. In the same year, the Simon Wiesenthal Center had provided the Estonian government with information on alleged Estonian war criminals, all former members of the 36th Estonian Police Battalion.

Collaborators

Organizations

Bibliography

  • 12 000. Tartus 16.-20. jaanuaril 1962 massimõrvarite Juhan Jüriste, Karl Linnase ja Ervin Viksi üle peetud kohtuprotsessi materjale. Koostanud Karl Lemmik ja Ervin Martinson. Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus 1962
  • Ants Saar, Vaikne suvi vaikses linnas. Kirjastus Eesti Raamat. 1971
  • Eesti vaimuhaigete saatus Saksa okupatsiooni aastail (1941–1944), Eesti Arst, nr. 3 Märts 2007
  • Ervin Martinson. Elukutse - reetmine. Eesti Raamat 1970
  • Ervin Martinson. Haakristi teenrid. Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus 1962
  • Inimesed olge valvsad. Koostanud Vladimir Raudsepp. Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus 1961
  • Pruun katk. Dokumentide kogumik fašistide kuritegude kohta okupeeritud Eesti NSV territooriumil. Koostanud Ervin Martinson ja A. Matsulevitš. Eesti Raamat 1969
  • SS tegutseb. Dokumentide kogumik SS-kuritegude kohta. Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus 1963

References

  1. ^ Estonian International Commission for the Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity, Conclusions of the commission 1998
  2. ^ a b Museum of Tolerance Multimedia Learning Center
  3. ^ Küng, Andres, Communism and Crimes against Humanity in the Baltic states, A Report to the Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation seminar on April 13, 1999
  4. ^ ERA.F.R-89.N.1.S.1.L.2
  5. ^ Quoted in Eugenia Gurin-Loov, Holocaust of Estonian Jews 1941, Eesti Juudi Kogukond, Tallinn 1994: pg. 224
  6. ^ ERA.F.R-64.N.4.S.615.L.1
  7. ^ ERA.F.R-64.N.4.S.615.L.4p.
  8. ^ ERA.F.R-64.N.4.S.615.L.13,13p,14,14p,15
  9. ^ ERA.F.R-64.N.4.S.615.L.18
  10. ^ ERA.F.R-64.N.4.S.615.L.16
  11. ^ ERA.F.R-64.N.4.S.615.L.17.17p
  12. ^ ERA.F.R-64.N.4.S.615.L.18
  13. ^ ERA.F.R-64.N.4.S.615.L.22,22p.
  14. ^ ERA.F.R-64.N.4.S.615.L.25
  15. ^ The Holocaust in the Baltics at University of Washington
  16. ^ Vaivara
  17. ^ a b Conclusions of the Estonian International Commission for the Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity
  18. ^ Quelle und weiterführende Hinweise. Siehe auch die Sechste Verordnung zur Durchführung des Bundesentschädigungsgesetzes (6. DV-BEG)
  19. ^ Mustlaste likvideerimine Tõrvas
  20. ^ Haakristi haardes.Tallinn 1979, lk 84
  21. ^ Haakristi haardes.Tallinn 1979, lk 68
  22. ^ Haakristi haardes.Tallinn 1979, lk 66
  23. ^ Haakristi haardes.Tallinn 1979, lk 64
  24. ^ Haakristi haardes.Tallinn 1979, lk 69
  25. ^ Estonia at Jewish Virtual Library
  26. ^ Estonian State Archives of the Former Estonian KGB (State Security Committee) records relating to war crime investigations and trials in Estonia, 1940-1987 (manuscript RG-06.026) - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - document available on-line through this query page using document id RG-06.026 - Also available at Axis History Forum - This list includes the evidence presented at the trial. It list as evidence several articles by Mere in Estonian language newspapers published in London
  27. ^ Masses and Mainstream, 1963
  28. ^ a b Weiss-Wendt, Anton (2003). Extermination of the Gypsies in Estonia during World War II: Popular Images and Official Policies. Holocaust and Genocide Studies 17.1, 31-61.
  29. ^ a b Estonian policemen stand trial for war crimes - Video footage at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
  30. ^ a b c d e f Jägala laager ja juutide hukkamine Kalevi-Liival - Eesti Päevaleht March 30, 2006 Template:Et icon
  31. ^ The Genocide of the Czech Jews
  32. ^ a b c d e f g De dödsdömda vittnar (Transport Be 1.9.1942) Template:Sv icon
  33. ^ From Ghetto Terezin to Lithuania and Estonia
  34. ^ Birn, Ruth Bettina (2001), Collaboration with Nazi Germany in Eastern Europe: the Case of the Estonian Security Police. Contemporary European History 10.2, 181-198. P. 190-191.
  35. ^ Conclusions of the Estonian International Commission for the Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity
  36. ^ Omakaitse omakohus - JERUUSALEMMA SÕNUMID Template:Et icon
  37. ^ Holocaust Markers, Estonia
  38. ^ Veebruari sündmused Template:Et icon
  39. ^ Estonian prosecutors close case of WWII crime suspect at estemb.se
  40. ^ Alo Lõhmus, 1941. aasta suvesõda
  41. ^ Andrei Hvostov, Jakobsoni komisjon Augeiase tallis

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