1 Killing site(s)
Anfisa S., born in 1932: "I was standing next to the fence of our house when I saw Jews being led toward the Jewish cemetery. It must have been around 8 o’clock in the morning. In the column were men, women, and children, crying and screaming. They were lightly dressed, as if they had been taken from their homes in a hurry. They were then shot on a small hill near the cemetery. Even though the site was some distance from our house, I could hear the gunshots. The day after the massacre, my mother wanted to go to a Jewish shop to buy bread—but there were no more Jews left in town. Their houses stood empty." (Testimony N°YIU172LV, interviewed in Subate, on October 4, 2022)
"One morning in July 1941—I don’t remember the exact date—around 8 a.m., I ran into policeman K*** in the market square. He ordered me to go back home and get a shovel. After breakfast, he came to our house and told me to take the shovel and go “repair the well near the ouprava” (the local administration office). When I arrived in front of the ouprava, I saw a group of about 45 Russian men, all carrying shovels. We were taken behind the Jewish cemetery and ordered to dig pits. The first pit was about 15 meters long and 2 meters wide, though we couldn’t dig deeper than 1.5 meters due to groundwater. The second pit had roughly the same dimensions but was somewhat deeper.
Once the first pit was ready, the first group of Jews was brought in—about 100 to 150 people, including women, the elderly, and children. When they were led toward the pit and realized what was about to happen, they began to scream and beg for mercy. But their pleas were ignored. They were pushed into the pit and lined up. The executioners, standing on a raised mound above them, opened fire with rifles and machine guns.
As a so-called "gesture of mercy," families were allowed to descend into the pit together. During the shooting, we were pushed aside, but we could still see and hear everything. After the bursts of gunfire, isolated shots continued as the wounded were finished off.
When we were ordered to fill in the pit, I saw a boy—about six or seven years old—still moving among the bodies. Policeman Aleksandr K*** approached and shot him with a rifle.
After the first pit was filled, a second group of around 150 Jews—many of them elderly, sick, women, and infants—was brought and executed in the same way. We filled in the second pit afterward.
Then we were forced to dig two additional pits a bit farther away, because of the high groundwater level. These two were longer and deeper than the first. Once they were ready, two larger groups—around 200 to 250 people each—were brought in. The last group was the largest. Most of them had already been stripped of their clothing. Their clothes, jewelry, and shoes were taken to a nearby village.
These final executions were carried out just like the earlier ones. In the fourth and final pit, three elderly sick women and a woman who had just given birth were brought—how, I don’t know—and thrown in alive. There were so many bodies in the last pit that we had to arrange them in layers to be able to fill it. The shooting ended around 4 p.m.
Although the operation was likely led by Germans—a German officer gave us instructions on where and how to dig the pits—once the work was done, he stepped aside and photographed the Aizsargi (Latvian paramilitary) and policemen as they carried out the executions.
I know that, beyond Aleksandr K***, other Latvians also participated in shootings between 1941 and 1944." [Deposition of Matvey Ivanovich Butchanov given to the State Extraordinary Soviet Commission (ChGK) on March 11, 1945; GARF 7021-93-111/Copy USHMM RG.22-002M; pp.124-125]
Subate is located approximately 44 km (27.3 miles) south of Jēkabpils. The town has been mentioned in historical sources since the 16th century, but its Jewish community dates back to the early 19th century. According to the 1897 Russian Empire census, Subate had 978 Jewish residents, making up 49% of the town’s total population. However, this number declined significantly over the following decades due to the First World War, the Russian Revolution, civil war, and economic hardship. By 1910, the Jewish population had decreased to 772; in 1915, only 533 Jews were recorded as residing in the town. By 1935, the number had dropped to 387, representing 26% of Subate’s population.
During the interwar period, Subate was a multinational town, home to Jews, ethnic Latvians, Russians, Lithuanians, Belarusians, and Poles. The various communities maintained generally peaceful interethnic relations and ran their own institutions. The town had a Jewish cemetery, established in the 1820s, four synagogues, and a Jewish school. The school closed in the second half of the 1930s, after which Jewish students were transferred to the Latvian school. The first known rabbi of Subate was Eliahu Shmuel Ioffe; the last, appointed in 1920, was Yankel Epstein.
The Jewish population was primarily engaged in commerce and artisanal trades. Jews operated 33 out of the town’s 80 stores and maintained a mortgage and savings society. Some families were involved in agriculture and livestock farming. Among the notable residents was Dr. Benyamin Landa, a respected and dedicated physician. Several Jewish families, such as the Gringut, Rubanenko, Getz, Blyacher, and Rosenberg families, were known for their prosperity and influence.
In 1940, the Soviet annexation of Latvia marked a turning point for Subate’s Jewish population. Private businesses were nationalized, and community institutions were closed.
The exact number of Jews still residing in Subate on the eve of the German invasion in 1941 is unknown. However, according to local witnesses interviewed by Yahad - In Unum, numerous Jewish families remained in the town. Only a few managed to escape before the German occupation.
Subate was occupied by German troops on June 28, 1941. Shortly afterward, a new administrative structure was established in the town, including a German military command post and a Latvian Self-Defense squad, which referred to themselves as the Latvian Partisans. This unit was composed of former policemen and members of the paramilitary organization Aizsargi.
In the weeks following the occupation, numerous Jewish refugees from Lithuania arrived in the area, significantly increasing the Jewish population of Subate.
On July 20, 1941, during a meeting held at the Baltmuiza manor house, representatives of the self-defense squads from the volosts of Subate, Prode, Asare, and Aknīste received an order to carry out the mass arrest of Subate’s Jews. That same day, members of the Latvian self-defense squad rounded up the town’s Jewish residents, along with their valuables. Under the false pretense of resettlement to Palestine, the victims were locked inside two barns on Lauku Street, which belonged to the Jewish families Getz and Zilberman.
On the morning of July 21, 1941, a group of Russian men was requisitioned to dig mass graves in the forest located between the Jewish and Lutheran cemeteries in Subate. Once the first two pits were ready, the first group of Jews—comprising women, children, and the elderly—was brought to the site, under guard, both on foot and in carts. Upon arrival, the victims were forced to undress, surrender their valuables, and, in some cases, even had their gold teeth removed.
The victims were then led in groups into the pit, where they were executed by members of the Death Battalion from Ilūkste. The Aktion was supervised by the commandant of the Ilūkste district and the chief of the Subate auxiliary police.
Once the first group was murdered, others were gradually brought in and shot in the same manner. The bodies were buried in four mass graves, dug on site by requisitioned local men. The entire operation lasted until approximately 4 p.m.
It is estimated that around 300 Jews were killed during this Aktion, including roughly 200 from Subate and an unknown number of Lithuanian Jewish refugees. However, Soviet archival sources mention approximately 700 victims, a figure which appears to be an overestimate.
Dr. Benyamin Landa and his wife Hannah were spared during the Aktion, allegedly due to a ransom paid by Robert Kanins, whose daughter had previously been treated by Dr. Landa. The couple survived the war.
Following the destruction of Subate’s Jewish community, the victims’ belongings were looted.
Today, a monument stands at the mass grave site, bearing the inscription: "To genocide victims."
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