Arajs Commando
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The Arajs Commando, lead by SS-Sturmbannf%C3%BChrer Viktors Arājs, was a unit of Latvian Auxiliary Police (Hilfspolizei) subordinated to SD, and was established by the commander of Einsatzgruppe A and Höhere SS- und Polizeiführer (HSSPF: Higher SS and Police Leader) of Reichskommissariat Ostland, Walter Stahlecker. The unit actively participated in the killing of Jews during the Holocaust as well as punitive actions and Nazi crimes along the Latvia's eastern border in Russia and Belarus. The unit numbered about 300 men during the phase it participated in killing of Jewish population in Latvia, reaching between 500 – 1,200 members at the height of its involvement in anti-partisan operations. The Commando killed around 26,000 Jews, according to “The Holocaust in Latvia” by Andrievs Ezergailis, and took part in the mass killing of the Jews of the Riga Ghetto on November 30 and December 8, 1941.
References
- [Andrew Ezergailis. The Holocaust in Latvia: Preface]
- [Foreign Ministry of Latvia: The Holocaust in German-Occupied Latvia]
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