Riga Trial

The Riga Trial was a war crimes trial held in front of a Soviet military tribunal between 26 January and 3 February 1946 in Riga, Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union against 6 high ranking Wehrmacht officers, Höheren SS- und Polizeiführer Friedrich Jeckeln and SA-Standartenführer Alexander Boecking.
All 8 defendants were found guitly for war crimes during the German–Soviet War of 1941–45 and 7 of them were publically hanged immediately after the sentence. Only Wolfgang von Ditfurth escaped execution because of bad health, but died in prison from heart failure shortly after on 22 March 1946.[1]

Riga Trial
Friedrich Jeckeln on the dock (standing, far left)
CourtSoviet military tribunal
Riga, Soviet Union
IndictmentWar crimes
Decided3 February 1946

Proceedings

Unlike other trials of the first wave, the prosecutors wanted and were able to prove concrete responsibilities to the main defendant, Jeckeln. Thus Jeckeln, a race warrior par exellance, whose name is mainly associated with the Rumbula massacre, could be proven guilty on the basis of his own statements, as well as testimonies of other participants and survivors of the massacres as well as on the basis of German documents. Not only had he given the orders, but he was also partially present in person, and had made his own shootings and boasted about them. Prosecutors were able to trace Jeckeln's "blood trail" through Ukraine and the Baltics and determine his responsibility for the murder of many Jews. Jeckeln defended his actions by acting on a higher order from Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler.

Boecking, the area commissioner of the Tallin district, was accused of germanization policy in Estonia with the looting and extermination of the Estonian people and the settlement of Germans. Concrete accusations such as forced labour, forced relocation and looting were also made and concretely identified as those affected. [9]

Boecking, the area commissioner of the Tallin district, was accused of germanization policy in Estonia with the looting and extermination of the Estonian people and the settlement of Germans. Concrete accusations such as forced labour, forced relocation and looting were also made and concretely identified.

Defendants
Angeklagte[2]
Name Born Rank Functions
Friedrich Werther1890Generalmajor1943/44 several Feldkommandanturen in the East;
1944 Commander of Riga's coastal defence
Bronislav Pavel1890Generalmajor1942 Commander of 2 POW camps and later responsible for all POW camps in Reichskommissariat Ostland;
1943/1944 Oberfeldkommandant 392 (Minsk) and Korück in the 4th Army
Friedrich Jeckeln1895General der Waffen-SSHigher SS and Police Leader in Southern Russia and Ostland;
1944 Commander V. SS-Gebirgskorps
Wolfgang von Ditfurth1879Generalleutnant1939–1942 Commander 403rd Security Division;
Military Commander of Kursk
Siegfried Ruff1895Generalleutnant1942 Commander Division Nr. 401;
1944 Military Commander of Riga
Hans Küpper1891Generalmajor1942–1944 Commander several Feldkommandanturen in Ukraine and the Baltics
Albrecht Baron Digeon von Monteton1887Generalleutnant1944 Commander 52nd Security Division;
1944 Commander of Libau
Alexander Boecking1897SA-StandartenführerBezirkskommissar Tallinn

References
  1. Todesurteile sowjetischer Militärtribunale gegen Deutsche (1944-1947)
  2. Manfred Zeidler:Stalinjustiz contra NS-Verbrechen. Hannah-Arendt-Institut 1996, Berichte und Studien Nr. 9, Page. 28.

Sources
  • Mike Schmeitzer: Konsequente Abrechnung? – NS-Eliten im Visier sowjetischer Gerichte 1945–1947. In: Todesurteile sowjetischer Militärtribunale gegen Deutsche (1944–1947): eine historisch-biographische Studie. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015, ISBN 978-3-5253-6968-5, Page 63 and following.
  • Jewish virtual library

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