World Library  
  
Flag as Inappropriate
Email this Article
 

Wolfgang Kügler

Wolfgang Kügler was an Liepāja, Latvia. Kügler claimed he was absent on leave in Germany when these murders occurred.

Contents

  • The Einsatzgruppen and the SD 1
  • Activities in Latvia 2
  • The December massacre at Šķēde 3
  • Career after Latvia 4
  • Notes 5
  • References 6
  • External links 7

The Einsatzgruppen and the SD

The Nazi occupation regime planned to kill as many "undesirable" people as possible in the immediate wake of the invasion, Sicherheitsdienst or SD furnished most of the personnel for the Einsatzgruppen. The SD first established its power in Latvia through Einsatzgruppe A, which was subdivided into units called Einsatzkommandos 1a, 1b, 2 and 3.[4] As the front line moved further east, Einsatzgruppe A moved out of Latvia, remaining in the country only a few weeks, after which its functions were taken over by the "resident" SD,[4]

Activities in Latvia

Kügler arrived in Liepāja, Latvia on July 10 or 11, 1941 to take over command of the resident SD. From then until April 1943 he was responsible for the massacres in Liepāja and the vicinity.[5] Consistent with SD practice, orders for killings were not issued in writing but were given only orally. Kügler travelled to Riga every two weeks to receive instructions.[6] Kügler personally supervised at least one mass shooting.[1]

The December massacre at Šķēde

In December 1941, the Liepāja SD, together with their Latvian collaborators, carried out the execution of approximately 2,700 Jews on the beach at Šķēde.[7] Photographs were taken of the December killings and these survive today. They are some of the most well known images of the Holocaust in Latvia.[8] Whether Kügler was actually present at the December massacre is a matter of dispute. At post-war trials, several German SD witnesses said Kügler was absent on leave, while all the Latvian witnesses said he was present.[9]

Career after Latvia

In April 1943, Kügler was replaced by SS-Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) Kurt Jurgschait. According to a post-war trial in Germany, the grounds for his removal were his theft of property that had once belonged to the Jews whom he had murdered. He was also suspected of being too friendly with the Latvians, including his mistress and interpreter, Mrs. Kronbergs.[9] Professor Ezergailis reports that Kügler was sentenced to 8 months imprisonment and a fine.[9]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Klee, Gold Old Days, at page 297
  2. ^ Lewy, The Nazi Persecution of the Gypsies, at pages 122 to 126
  3. ^ Roseman, The Wannsee Conference, at pages 39 to 47
  4. ^ a b Ezergailis, The Holocaust in Latvia, at page 245
  5. ^ Ezergailis, The Holocaust in Latvia, at page 291.
  6. ^ Ezergailis, The Holocaust in Latvia, at page 231, n.7
  7. ^ Ezergailis, The Holocaust in Latvia, at pages 293 to 296
  8. ^ Ezergailis, The Holocaust in Latvia, at page 57, n.48
  9. ^ a b c Ezergailis, The Holocaust in Latvia, at page 307, nn.76 and 77

References

  • Ezergailis, Andrew, The Holocaust in Latvia 1941-1944 -- The Missing Center, Historical Institute of Latvia (in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) Riga 1996 ISBN 9984-9054-3-8
  • Klee, Ernst, Dressen, Willi, and Riess, Volker, eds. "The Good Old Days" -- The Holocaust as Seen by its Perpetrators and Bystanders, MacMillan, New York 1991 (translation by Deborah Burnstone) ISBN 0-02-917425-2
  • Lewy, Guenter, The Nazi Persecution of the Gypsies, Oxford University Press 2000 ISBN 0-19-512556-8
  • Roseman, Mark, The Wannsee Conference and the Final Solution -- A Reconsideration, Holt, New York, 2002 ISBN 0-8050-6810-4

External links

  • Liepajajews.org (modern aerial images of trench at shooting sight at Skede)
  • Film of mass shootings at Šķēde, archived at U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (This is a short film about 1.5 minutes long, taken of an August 1941 shooting at Šķēde by a German soldier.)
Director
SS insignia
Einsatzgruppe commanders
Einsatzkommando and
Sonderkommando commanders
Other members
Notable collaborators
Methods and
documentation
Involved
organizations
Crimes by country
Poland
Lithuania
Latvia
Estonia
Belarus
Ukraine
Russia

This article was sourced from Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. World Heritage Encyclopedia content is assembled from numerous content providers, Open Access Publishing, and in compliance with The Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR), Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Public Library of Science, The Encyclopedia of Life, Open Book Publishers (OBP), PubMed, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and USA.gov, which sources content from all federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government publication portals (.gov, .mil, .edu). Funding for USA.gov and content contributors is made possible from the U.S. Congress, E-Government Act of 2002.
 
Crowd sourced content that is contributed to World Heritage Encyclopedia is peer reviewed and edited by our editorial staff to ensure quality scholarly research articles.
 
By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. World Heritage Encyclopedia™ is a registered trademark of the World Public Library Association, a non-profit organization.
 


Copyright © World Library Foundation. All rights reserved. eBooks from Project Gutenberg are sponsored by the World Library Foundation,
a 501c(4) Member's Support Non-Profit Organization, and is NOT affiliated with any governmental agency or department.