Selected records from the Central State Archives of Lithuania RG-26.014M United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place SW Washington, DC 20024-2126 Tel. (202) 479-9717 e-mail: [email protected] Descriptive summary Title: Selected records from the Central State Archives of Lithuania Dates: 1941-1948 Accession number: 1998.A.0073 Extent: 65 microfilm reels Repository: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place SW, Washington, DC 20024-2126 Languages: Lithuanian Yiddish German Polish Russian Scope and content of collection Contains selected records of Fond R-973 (Jewish ghetto police in Kaunas, reels 1–51), including police daily reports, statistics, correspondence, investigations and the ghetto court cases relating to events in Kaunas ghetto, including activities of armed Lithuanian “partisans." Includes registration books of investigation cases, listing and personal files of ghetto police, various police officer lists, lists of deportees, hospital records, the Kaunas ghetto-plan with marked houses, and Josef Schlesinger drawings. Contains also selected records collected by the Vilnius Jewish Museum, Fond R-1390 (reels 52-65), with various documents of Lithuanian ghettos, concentration camps in Europe, Russian and Polish publications, diaries, songs, poems and photographs relating to WWII. Administrative Information Restrictions on access: No restrictions on access. Restrictions on reproduction and use: Reproduction and publication of documents require permission of the Lithuanian Central State Archives. Preferred citation: Preferred citation for USHMM archival collections; consult the USHMM website for guidance. Acquisition information: Source of acquisition is the Lietuvos centrinis valstybės archyvas (Lithuanian Central State Archives), Fonds R-973/1-3 Vilnius Jewish Ghetto Police, and Fond R- 1390, Documents of the Vilnius State Museum. After the war, these records were housed in the Vilnius Jewish Museum, then transferred to the Lithuanian Central State Archives. The Museum Archives received the microfilms via the International Archival Programs Division in May, 1998. Existence and location of originals: Lietuvos centrinis valstybės archyvas System of arrangement Arranged in two series: 1. Fond R-973, Jewish ghetto police in Kaunas (Kovno)-Vilijampole, 1941-1944; 2. Fond R-1390, Vilnius Jewish Museum records, 1941-1948 Indexing terms Jewish ghettos--Lithuania--Kaunas. Police--Lithuania--Kaunas--Registers. Concentration camps--Lithuania. Concentration camps--Poland. Concentration camps--Germany. Lithuania--History--1918-1945. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Lithuania. Reports. Correspondence. Registers. Photographs. Diaries. Songs. Poems. Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.) CONTAINER LIST DRAFT inventory; incomplete as of 22 November 2019. FOND R-973 KOVNO JEWISH GHETTO POLICE, INVENTORIES 1, 2 AND 3 *Note: This collection includes the documents discovered in 1964, buried in a wooden crate covered with tin, while bulldozing in an area of the former Jewish Ghetto in Viliampole Page 2 (Kovno). Since Soviet authorities did not allow publication of these (or any other) Jewish documents, they did not become available until after 1988. [See Forward by Esther Mayerowitch-Schwarz to The History of the Kovno Jewish Ghetto Police (Excerpts), in YIVO Bleter (New Series) 3 (1997): 206-207. Note: The "History" itself - a 253 page document, type-written in Yiddish in the ghetto – was included in the buried crate. It is excerpted in the above reference, but can be found in its entirety in this collection - see Reel 31, File 30 (Inventory 2).] File 233 in Reel 51 contains two Tables of Content for intended “Archive Nr. 1” and “Archive Nr. 2”; they reflect the material of Inventories 1 and 2 of this collection. Records of investigations by the Criminal Division of the Kovno Ghetto Jewish Police (1941– 1943). The following listing provides location and size information on 772 files containing 7,928 documents of case investigations by the Criminal Division of the Jewish Ghetto Police. These investigations typically deal with complaints, and requests for help, in the resolution of trade disputes, disputes over ownership of property of relatives or neighbors taken away in selections, as well as reports of thefts and burglaries (some perpetrated by Lithuanians in the ghetto – see Reel 47, Files 150 and 154 of burglary-murder cases), and of a variety of infractions of Elder Council and Nazi ordnances. Most Criminal Division investigations include detailed statements by the victim, the suspect(s) and witnesses, as well as policemen reports of associated inspections or searches, and case resolutions/decisions with recommendations to the Jewish Court, where applicable. The time span of investigations range from weeks to many months before a resolution is recorded. While Yiddish predominates, some deposition sets are in German. Many police reports and decision documents are in Lithuanian, particularly during the early part of 1942, when Michael Bramson - a former teacher of Lithuanian and former officer in the Lithuanian Army - was Chief of the Criminal Division. * Y-Yiddish, L-Lithuanian, G-German, P–Polish, H–Hebrew, R-Russian Reel File Description 1 FOND R-973 FOND R-973 INVENTORY 1 INVENTORY 1 1 625 L- Police and Arrest House reports, policemen listing, fines – listings, collections, receipts. Y – no’s 564-5, 621-2,624: Housekeeping Office (Wirtschaftamt) complaints, inspection reports. 2 318 L,Y – 1941, reports/instructions of Chief of Ghetto Police, (no. 8) complaint against police, listings of fines, Page 3 apartment relocation orders, names of people taken away (Nov. ’41) (no. 141) liquidation of property of the deported. 2 3 1,076 L,Y,G – Internal/inspection reports, complaint against policemen (no. 20), arrest orders, crime reports, Ghetto Police investigations, lists of ghetto inhabitants disobeying Elder Council ordinances, penalties for walking without Star of David. L,Y – Police and Ghetto Court documents/decisions 4 340 G – Elder Council Fast-Track Work Court (Arbeits- Schnellgericht) decisions. 3-4 5 615 Y,L – Requests from police to Elder Council for various supplies. Transmittal of documents from Elder Council to police. Elder Council orders, e.g. forbidding assembly in specified locations, police insignia (no. 559) 4 6 166 L,G – 1941 police report, orders; gate control documents; authorizations to go out from ghetto. 4-5 7 631 L,G,Y – 1941 police reports/investigations, requests to police and Elder Council, reports from Food and Transportation Section, work place and residence certifications, certifications of Swiss citizenship / aryan parents, property issues. 5 8 475 L,Y,G – 1942 internal police reports / records, Ghetto Court case listings and resolutions. 9 168 L,Y – 1941-42: Complaints to police, Ghetto Court documents, police reports, disposition of property of people “taken away”. 5-6 10 432 L,Y – 1941-42: Internal police reports / directives, disposition of property of people “taken away”, police posting schedules, resident listings, requests for food cards. 6 11 290 L,Y – Policemen reports, requests for police investigations. Page 4 12 419 L,Y,G – Police penalty decisions, fine listings, Ghetto Court decisions, (no. 403) Elder Council order of Sept. 25, 1941 to assemble for work at airport, (no. 407) order of March 27, 1942 to vacate residences, (no. 414) Elder Council reward announcement – theft from school. 7 13 50 L,Y – Police decisions, protocols. 14 17 L,Y – Loan Office regulations, loan documentations. 15 199 L,G – Names and addresses of persons required to report for transport to Riga; (no. 51) B. Liptzer - ghetto resident “representative” of the Nazi Security Police – instructing immunity from transport to Riga. 16 275 Y,L – Complaint investigations, list of escapees, jail renovation papers, policemen listings. 17 186 L – Postings of ghetto police. 7-8 18 581 L,Y,G - Requests / complaints, Ghetto Court decisions, (no.’s 571-575) order of SA Obersturmfuehrer for individuals to be available for transport to Riga, Riga listings. 19 116 L,G,Y – Arrest / penalty warrants, gate police reports. 8-9 20 585 G,L – Arrest / fine warrants. 9 21 16 L – Lithuanian passport copies. Investigations of private property theft [no description] 22 7 [No description] 23 11 [No description] 24 24 [No description] 25 10 [No description] 26 14 [No description] 27 11 [No description] Page 5 28 6 [No description] 29 8 [No description] 30 8 [No description] 31 7 [No description] 32 9 [No description] 33 17 [No description] 34 10 [No description] 35 6 [No description] 26 12 [No description] 37 7 [No description] 38 63 [No description] 39 20 [No description] 40 25 [No description] 41 6 [No description] 42 18 [No description] 43 11 [No description] 44 8 [No description] 45 10 [No description] 46 15 [No description] 47 12 [No description] 48 31 [No description] 49 10 [No description] Page 6 50 9 [No description] 51 27 [No description] 52 10 [No description] 53 5 [No description] 54 15 10-16 [No description] 17 368 497 L,Y – 1943, jail penalty listings, police daily work assignments, gate search reports, jail reports. 369 54 L – 1941, police work assignments, police reservist files. 18 370 334 G,L – 1941-42, arrest orders, administrative penalties. 371 73 L,Y – 1941-42, instructions, correspondence, post assignments. 372 220 L,Y,G - 1942, policemen requests for punishment, complaints, administrative orders, persons in debt to jail, Ghetto Court decisions. 373 107 G,Y,L – 1943, ghetto Works (Werkstaeten) requests, documents 19 379-393 . [No description] 394 106 Y,G,P – Vilna Ghetto medical and sanitation instructions. 395 11 Y – Vilna Ghetto medical and sanitation instructions. 396 43 P,L,G - policemen post assignments, map of Kovno Ghetto. 397 5 L – 1941, listing and signatures of police employees committing to serve. 398 169 Page 7 L,Y – 1941, complaints to police, properties of residents taken away, resident petition to contain trading at fence. 399 11 L – review of police posts journal XI/3 to XII/2 1941. 400 25 L – 1941, administrative instructions. 401 13 L,Y – 1942, orders of Chief of Police to turn in books, metals; orders to clear stones.