Operational Situation Report USSR No. 151
The Chief of the Security Police and the SD Berlin,
January
5, 1942
65copies
65th copy
Situation in Krasnogvardeisk and vicinity
The population's mood in the town and vicinity depends almost entirely on
the food situation. In the town, one is generally glad that the Germans are
here and, thus, at least the threat of war is over. Furthermore, the setting
up of a labor office has greatly contributed to calming down the atmosphere
since the work given out by the labor office has provided a part of the
population with the means to acquire food.
As for the general political and military situation, one keeps quiet.
Citizens of Marienburg, along with their Russian mayor in the lead, have
developed a plan for a uniformed "Russian Volunteer Unit" that is to lead an
armed struggle against Bolshevism.
In answer to the concrete question why some people reject Bolshevism, they
give three reasons:
1) Bolshevism has, they claim, destroyed their property and taken away all
their land. They claimed that they earned hardly enough for their essential
needs.
2) They said that Bolshevism had destroyed religion.
3) They said that the leading persons in Bolshevism were Jews.
Overview
All the Jews, without exception, in the General Kommissariats Lithuania and
Latvia, are now interned in ghettos. The Jews of the Riga Ghetto who are
employed by the German Army and civilian authorities, are no longer
permitted to go freely to their places of work. In the morning, they are
picked up in closed columns by authorized personnel who then escort them
from the ghetto to their work place., and returning them in the evening the
same way.
In Minsk, as well as in Riga, everything is prepared for the reception of
the Jewish transports from Germany. The first transport, composed of Jews
from Hamburg, arrived in Minsk on November 10, 1941. On the same day, the
Jews were assigned living quarters. It was observed that some of the Jews
had a totally mistaken picture about their future. They imagined, for
example, that they are pioneers and will be used to colonize the East. The
first three transports that were to come to Riga were sent to Kaunas. The
Riga camp that is to admit about 25,000 Jews is being built and will be
completed very soon.
In the meantime, the Higher SS Police in Riga, SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Jeckeln
started a [mass] shooting action on Sunday, November 30, 1941. He removed
about 4,000 Jews from the Riga ghetto and from an evacuation transport of
Jews from Germany. The action was originally intended to be carried out with
the forces of the Higher SS and Police Chief; however, after a few hours, 20
men of Ek 2 who were sent there for security purposes were also employed in
the shooting.
Sources: NARA Translations by Hermann Feuer Copyright: H.E.A.R.T 2008 |