Riga 1946: 7 Nazi War Criminals Publicly Executed Before 4,000 People
Recently Added
•
13m
In January 1946, eight senior German occupation officials and military commanders were brought before a Soviet military tribunal in Riga for crimes committed across the Nazi-occupied Baltic territories. The most notorious defendant was SS commander Friedrich Jeckeln, held responsible for the deaths of more than 100,000 Jews, Roma and other victims, including those murdered in the Rumbula massacre. The defendants faced evidence of mass shootings, the killing of civilians, forced labour, persecution of Soviet prisoners of war and the destruction of entire communities. On 3 February 1946, all eight were sentenced to death. One died in prison before his sentence could be carried out, while Jeckeln and six others were publicly hanged in Riga before around 4,000 spectators.
Up Next in Recently Added
-
Banker Who Secretly Financed the Dutc...
Walraven van Hall was a Dutch banker who became one of the most important financiers of the resistance during the Second World War. Known as the “Banker of the Resistance,” he helped establish the National Support Fund, which financed people in hiding, supported hundreds of Jews, aided resistance...
-
Former Soviets Who Joined Nazi SS and...
The Kaminski Brigade was one of the most notorious collaborationist formations created from Soviet citizens during the Second World War. Emerging in German-occupied Soviet territory, RONA grew from a local militia into a force of thousands, including former Soviet prisoners of war.
The brigade f...
-
Nazi Gestapo Chief Known as the Butch...
Klaus Barbie became one of the most notorious Nazi war criminals in occupied France. As Gestapo chief in Lyon, he earned the name “Butcher of Lyon” for his brutal persecution and torture of members of the French Resistance and the deportation of thousands of Jews.
Among his victims was legendary...
