1 Killing site(s)
Lidija, born in 1930: "Before the war, Latvians, Lithuanians, and Jews lived together in Auce. I used to visit a Jewish doctor named Rezniks, and one of my classmates was a Jewish girl, Luba Gutman. During the German occupation, the local Jewish population was murdered. It happened in the summer. I still remember how my classmate Luba was taken away during one of our lessons. She was taken directly from the classroom, straight from her seat. Our teacher told us that once Luba stepped outside, she was made to get into a vehicle waiting for her near the school. The local Jews were then shot in the nearby Putnu Forest. As far as I know, one person survived the Holocaust. It was a woman who later became a well-known writer, Ingrid Sokolova." (Testimony N°YIU1LV, interviewed in Vecauce, on October 8, 2018)
"On July 10 or 11, 1941, the German occupation authorities issued and posted an order on fences throughout the town of Auce, declaring that the entire Jewish population was to report, with their belongings, by 12 noon to the area beyond the railroad tracks on Viten-Farstadt Street. In addition to the posted notices, signs were affixed to every house inhabited by Jews, bearing the inscription:
“The Jew living in this house and his family must report to the Vitteni area with their belongings.”
In accordance with the order, the Jewish population of Auce gathered at the designated assembly point.
Even before the Jews had left their apartments, German soldiers and Latvian Schutzmänner had begun looting their homes, seizing valuables and personal belongings. The assembled people were kept under guard overnight and then taken to a barn in Vecauce parish. After two days of confinement, the physically able men were selected and transported by truck to the Putnu Forest, located about 4 kilometers from Auce. There, they were forced to dig a pit approximately 15 meters long and 2–2.5 meters wide. Once the work was completed, all those who had dug the pit were immediately shot.
Subsequently, the remaining Jews who had been held in the barn were also brought by truck to the same site and executed. On the same day, the Jewish synagogue in Auce was set on fire, and the belongings of the murdered victims were divided among the perpetrators.
According to later testimony, and by the order of the arrested Schutzmann E*, a total of 103 Jews were shot in Auce in July 1941. Of these, E* personally killed 23 individuals." [Act drawn by State Extraordinary Soviet Commission (ChGK), on June 30, 1945, p. 270; GARF 7021-93-2410/Copy USHMM RG.22-002M]
Auce is located approximately 109 km (67.7 mi) southwest of Riga. The Jewish community in the town was formally established in 1899. In the early 20th century, Auce was home to a Jewish cemetery and a wooden prayer house (synagogue).
Before the FirstWorld War, Jews made up around 6% of the town’s population. However, this number declined following the 1905 Revolution and the forced relocation of Jews to the interior of the Russian Empire during the war. Although the community was disrupted in 1915, it was reestablished in 1920. According to the 1935 census, Auce had 147 Jewish residents, accounting for 4.43% of the total population.
The Jewish community of Auce was primarily engaged in commerce and skilled trades. The town was home to several Jewish-owned businesses, including a steam mill, a wool-dyeing workshop, a lime kiln, and a mortgage society. Among the Jewish residents were also two physicians, a dentist, and a pharmacist.
The town was annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940. On the eve of the German invasion in 1941, it is believed that a few Jews managed to flee; however, the majority of the Jewish population remained.
Auce was occupied by German troops in late June 1941. Shortly afterward, a new administration was established, including the formation of a Latvian Self-Defense squad. On July 5–6, 1941, the Jewish residents of Auce were ordered to leave the town center and move to the outskirts. A few days later, acting on instructions from German officers from Jelgava, they were gathered by members of the Self-Defense unit, loaded onto vehicles, and taken to a barn near Vecauce Castle, where 99 Jewish residents were assembled.
Lidija, a local witness born in 1930 and interviewed by Yahad –In Unum, recalled her Jewish classmate, Luba Gutman, being taken directly from school during a lesson, forced to board a vehicle waiting near the school, and driven away.
After a brief period of confinement in the barn, on July 11, 1941, the Jewish community of Auce was murdered in the nearby Putnu Forest. The Aktion was carried out by a German SD unit from Jelgava, assisted by local Self-Defense men. The first group of victims—8 to 10 Jewish men—were forced to strip down to their underwear and transported by vehicle to the forest. Upon arrival, they were ordered to dig a pit and were subsequently shot by the Germans, who also demonstrated the shooting procedure to the Latvian auxiliaries, who then carried out the remainder of the massacre.
Subsequent groups of 6 to 8 individuals were taken from the barn, driven to the killing site, and stripped of their valuables, as well as their better clothing and shoes. These victims were then shot into the same pit. The Aktion in Auce was among the earliest instances in Latvia of the complete annihilation of a Jewish community, including women and children.
Dr. M. Salimann (also known as Zaliman), along with his wife and daughter, had sought refuge at the Kritumi farm in Sniķere parish. However, they were soon discovered, arrested, and taken to the Mazēnu Forest, where they were shot by three members of the Auce Self-Defense unit.
In 2003, a memorial was erected in the Putnu Forest to honor the victims. It bears an inscription in Hebrew, Latvian, and English that reads:
"Here on July 11th, 1941 Nazi occupants and their accomplices murdered around one hundred people from Auce only because they were Jews. Remember to never let such a crime happen again!"
In 2008, an additional memorial stone was placed beside the original monument. It commemorates the family of Dr. M. Salimann, whose remains are buried in an unknown location in the Mazēnu Forest.
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