1 Killing site(s)
"I worked at the peat processing factory in Kūkas from 1937 to October 1941. In July 1941, 416 Jews were brought from Krustpils [today part of Jēkabpils] to our factory. They all worked at the factory and lived there with their families. About three weeks later, in August 1941, I don’t remember the exact date, about sixty Jewish men with shovels and axes were brought in during the evening. They worked the earth [...], digging the pit all night long. The next morning, we heard gunshots coming from the site. Then I saw the Jews arriving in groups: first the men, then the women. After that, the young children and adults who were unable to walk were brought there in two trucks. All of them were shot there. The children were killed with automatic weapons. Then the men from the surrounding area were gathered to fill in the pit. When I arrived to fill in the pit, I saw skulls, pieces of brain, hair, and a lot of blood. I saw that they [the perpetrators] had taken the Jews’ clothes and shoes and carried everything to the peat factory. All of these personal belongings were sorted there. Then they were transported in carts to Krustpils, where they were sold at auction. […] Among those who shot the Jews were German soldiers and policemen dressed in civilian clothes with white armbands or in the former uniforms of the Latvian aizsargs. […]" [Deposition of Alberts Avgustinch, born in 1905, given to the State Extraordinary Soviet Commission (ChGK) on September 11, 1944; GARF 7021-93-2402/Copy USHMM RG.22-002M; pp.74-75]
"I hereby inform you that, on your orders, a police commissioner from Krustpils volost and I prepared and carried out the opening of graves in the vicinity of the peat processing factory in Kūkas (15 km from Krustpils), in which Jewish families were buried after being brutally shot by the German-fascist invaders in August 1941. The exhumation was carried out by the local population on September 12 and 13, 1944. The commission’s examination and the taking of photographs took place on September 13, 1944. Only two people were able to testify about the executions. […] According to those questioned, between 416 and 418 people – entire Jewish families – were shot. Once the commission’s examination was complete and the facts of the shooting had been established, the grave was filled in again." [Report drawn by State Extraordinary Soviet Commission (ChGK), on September 13, 1944; GARF 7021-93-2402/Copy USHMM RG.22-002M; p. 72]
Kūkas is a small village located approximately 15 km (9.3 mi) east of Jēkabpils, the main town of Jēkabpils Municipality. There is no available information about Jewish residents living in Kūkas before the war. However, a significant Jewish community thrived in nearby Jēkabpils, where Jews began to settle in 1795. On the eve of the Second World War, the Jewish community of Jēkabpils numbered several hundred people.
At the beginning of July 1941, most of the Jews of Jēkabpils—including the elderly, women, and children—were confined in two of the town’s synagogues, where they were held under guard until the end of the month. In late July 1941, they were transported by members of the Self-Defense squads from Jēkabpils and Krustpils to the workers’ barracks of the Kūkas peat factory, located about 15 km away. The detainees remained under guard in the barracks for approximately two weeks, during which they were subjected to forced labor at the factory.
On August 10, 1941, all of the Jewish detainees were murdered in an Aktion carried out by members of the Latvian SD unit known as the Arājs Kommando, who had arrived from Riga. They were assisted by the Latvian Self-Defense squad and local policemen.
On the evening before the Aktion, about 60 Jewish workers were taken to the Kūkas peat bog (also known as the Kūkas swamp), located across from the Kozuri farm. There, they were forced to dig a pit measuring 36 by 2 meters. On the morning of August 10, they were shot and buried in the pit they had dug.
Later that day, the first large group of Jews was marched from the barracks to the killing site. Upon arrival, they were forced to undress about 50 meters from the pit before being led in groups of ten to its edge, where they were shot by members of the Arājs Kommando. At the same time, members of the Latvian Self-Defense squad and local policemen cordoned off the area to prevent escape. Once the first group had been executed, a second group was brought to the site and met the same fate.
Jewish men were killed first, followed by the women. Those unable to walk, along with children, were brought to the site in two trucks and then shot. In total, 418 Jews from Jēkabpils were murdered in the Kūkas peat bog. After the Aktion, Latvian men from the surrounding area were requisitioned to fill in the mass grave.
Following the massacre, the victims’ clothing and personal belongings were collected, sorted, and later auctioned in Krustpils.
In 1958, the remains of the Jewish victims were exhumed from the Kūkas peat bog and reburied in the Jēkabpils Old Jewish Cemetery, where a memorial was erected. In 1988, a memorial stone was also placed at the killing site in the Kūkas peat bog.
For more information about the killing of Jews in Jēkabpils please follow the corresponding profile.
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