The Keys ep28 The Holocaust in Latvia
The mass murder of Jews and Roma people during the Nazi occupation is called the worst crime in contemporary Latvian history. The Holocaust all but wiped out the Latvian Jewish community and reduced the Roma population by half. The Jews living in small towns and villages were slaughtered within the first weeks of the occupation in the summer of 1941. But who were the perpetrators?
On this episode, we look at how four centuries of Jewish presence in Valdemārs was erased in two nights. No German names come up in the story about the Jewish genocide in Valdemārpils. No doubt, the orders to kill the Jews came from the Nazi command. However, the offices could be taken voluntarily; there was the option to refuse. Why did nobody oppose? Why did people actively take part in all of this?
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