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| Riga Trial | |
|---|---|
 Friedrich Jeckeln on the dock (standing, far left); Other defendants from left to right : 2. Generalmajor Hans Paul Kupper, 3. Generalleutnant Siegfried Ruff, 4. SA-Standartenführer Alexander Bocking, 5. Generalleutnant Wolfgang von Ditfurth, 6. Generalleutnant Albrecht Baron Digeon von Monteton, 7. Generalmajor Bronislav Pavel. | |
| Court | Sovietmilitary tribunal Riga,Soviet Union |
| Indictment | War crimes |
| Decided | 3 February 1946 |
TheRiga Trial was awar crimes trial held in front of a Sovietmilitary tribunal between 26 January and 3 February 1946 inRiga,Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic,Soviet Union against six high rankingWehrmacht officers, Höheren SS- und PolizeiführerFriedrich Jeckeln and SA-Standartenführer Alexander Boecking.
All eight defendants were found guilty of war crimes during theGerman–Soviet War of 1941–45 and sentenced to death. They were publicly hanged immediately after sentencing. Only Wolfgang von Ditfurth escaped execution due to bad health. He died in prison from heart failure on 22 March 1946.[1]
Unlike some previous trials, the prosecutors wanted to and were able to prove concretely that the main defendant, Jeckeln, was responsible for the crimes of which he was accused. Thus Jeckeln, aNazi "race warrior" who oversaw theRumbula massacre in Latvia, could be proven guilty on the basis of his own statements, as well as testimonies of other participants and survivors of the massacres as well as on the basis of German documents. Not only had he given the orders, but he was also present in person for some of the time, and had even participated personally in the shootings and boasted about it. Prosecutors were able to trace his "blood trail" through Ukraine and the Baltic states as a commander ofEinsatzgruppendeath squads and determine his responsibility for the murder of over 100,000Jews,Romani, and others. Jeckeln defended his actions on the grounds that he was acting on orders fromReichsführer SSHeinrich Himmler.
Boecking, the area commissioner of the Tallinn district, was accused of the "Germanisation policy" in Estonia with the looting and extermination of Estonian people and the settlement of Germans in their place. Concrete accusations such as forced labour, forced relocation and looting were also made and concretely identified.
| Name[2] | Born | Rank | Functions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friedrich Werther | 1890 | Generalmajor | 1943/44 several Feldkommandanturen in the East; 1944 Commander of Riga's coastal defence |
| Bronislav Pavel | 1890 | Generalmajor | 1942 Commander of 2 POW camps and later responsible for all POW camps inReichskommissariat Ostland; 1943/1944 Oberfeldkommandant 392 (Minsk) andKorück in the4th Army |
| Friedrich Jeckeln | 1895 | General der Waffen-SS | Higher SS and Police Leader in Southern Russia and Ostland; 1944 CommanderV. SS-Gebirgskorps |
| Wolfgang von Ditfurth | 1879 | Generalleutnant | 1939–1942 Commander403rd Security Division; Military Commander of Kursk |
| Siegfried Ruff | 1895 | Generalleutnant | 1942 Commander Division Nr. 401; 1944 Military Commander of Riga |
| Hans Küpper | 1891 | Generalmajor | 1942–1944 Commander several Feldkommandanturen in Ukraine and the Baltics |
| Albrecht Digeon von Monteton [de] | 1887 | Generalleutnant | 1944 Commander52nd Security Division; 1944 Commander ofLibau |
| Alexander Boecking | 1897 | SA-Standartenführer | BezirkskommissarTallinn |