1 Killing site(s)
Daina Z., born in 1932: "Near Madona, in the Smecere Forest, there was a shooting range. One morning, early in the German occupation, I was in the yard with my father when we suddenly heard gunfire—then silence—then more shots. These weren’t the sounds of ordinary rifles. The next day, our family learned that the Jews had been killed. A sign was posted in town that read: “Madona, Judenfrei”—Madona, free of Jews." (Testimony N°YIU112LV, interviewed in Bauska, on September 15, 2021)
" […] The Germans set up a prison and two camps in the town for those who were arrested. Only communists and Soviet activists were imprisoned in the prison. One of the camps, known as "Kroumensh’s house," held Soviet citizens of Jewish origin. They were only held there for a month before being shot. […]
Witness Purita recounts:
"I saw it with my own eyes. One day, early in the morning—I believe it was August 8, 1941—people were forcibly removed from the Kroumensh camp. Some were loaded onto a truck, but most were taken away on foot. They were all brought to the forest, to the former shooting range. About 40 to 60 minutes later, we heard bursts of automatic gunfire and rifle shots. As I later learned, this was the execution of the people who had been taken there that morning. A few days later, I went to the site where the graves were. You could still see children’s shoes, torn adult clothing, and scattered papers. The graves where these people were shot were located on the grounds of the former shooting range. I found three graves. Each measured approximately 70 meters long by 6 meters wide […]" [Notice on the case concerning the establishment and investigation of particularly malicious crimes committed by German fascist invaders and their accomplices against citizens of the Soviet Union in the town of Madona, Madona District, Latvian SSR; drawn by State Extraordinary Soviet Commission (ChGK); pp. 185-187; GARF 7021-93-2429/Copy USHMM RG.22-002M]
Madona is located approximately 130 km (81 miles) east of Riga. Jewish settlement in the town began after the First World War. In 1921, there were 19 Jewish residents in Madona. Between 1926 and 1928, the population rose to 34, and by 1930, it had grown to 97. According to the 1935 Latvian census, the Jewish population had increased to 115, comprising nearly 5% of the town’s total population.
The Jewish community in Madona was primarily engaged in commerce and skilled crafts, operating a variety of stores and small businesses throughout the town. Hirsch Frischer ran a textile and ready-made clothing store, while Sonya Yakobson owned a shoe store. Bella Krasnik specialized in selling hats, and Nochum Bauda and Chaim Morein operated leather goods shops. Hirsh Weinstock sold kerosene, Chaim Frischer worked as a tinsmith, and Avsey Glazer owned a barbershop. Several Jewish residents worked as grocers, including Tovya Krumer, Iosif Kachin, Nochum Bauda, and Abram Aleksandrovitch.
The community’s religious life centered around the local prayer house, which was led by Rabbi Toviy Borchovik, who had come from Daugavpils.
In addition to those in Madona itself, a number of Jewish families lived in the surrounding areas, including Lubāna, Laudona, and Marciena. These families were primarily engaged in trade, contributing to the region’s commercial life.
Madona was occupied by German troops on July 2, 1941. During the occupation, which lasted until August 13, 1944, the town was administered as part of the Generalbezirk Lettland within the Reichskommissariat Ostland.
According to Soviet archives, a prison and two camps were established in Madona shortly after the occupation began. The prison was used exclusively for detaining communists and Soviet activists. One of the camps, known locally as "Kroumensh’s House," was located on the outskirts of the town, in a fenced-off block bordered by Rīga, Oskars Kalpaks, and Avotu Streets. In July 1941, the Jewish residents of Madona were forcibly relocated to this camp. That same month, Jews from the surrounding district—including Lubāna and Barkava—were also transferred there, bringing the total number of Jewish detainees to approximately 250.
On August 8, 1941, all Jews detained in Madona were taken to the former shooting range in the nearby Smecere Forest. There, they were executed in a mass killing (Aktion) carried out by the Latvian SD unit known as the Arājs Kommando, which had arrived from Riga, assisted by local Self-Defense units. Most of the victims were marched to the killing site on foot, though some were transported by truck.
In addition to the Jewish victims, the site was also used to execute non-Jewish detainees, including Soviet activists and members of the Komsomol. According to some archival sources, the executions in the Smecere Forest continued for about a week.
The victims—approximately 700 people in total, including around 250 Jews—were buried in four mass graves dug at the site.
After the war, surviving Jews marked the mass graves in the Smecere Forest with a simple pole fence. In 1960, a monument was erected at the killing site to commemorate "Soviet citizens killed by German occupiers and bourgeois nationalists." However, that monument has not survived to the present day.
In 1993, a new granite memorial—sculpted in the shape of a human skull by Latvian artist Gvido Buls—was installed at the site. In 2006, a smaller stone was added beside it, bearing an inscription in Latvian: “Memorial place for the residents of Madona and its vicinity who were killed following the invasion by the Nazi German army.”
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