Latvijas Vēsturnieku komisijas raksti - 23.sējums

258 Novadpētnieku vākums
At the third stage, the remaining Jews were executed. Jewish property was appropriated
mainly by punitive expedition members as well as by neighbours. In 1944, the pits
with executed Jews were opened and set on fire.
Vladislavs Vuškāns saved six out of eight Jews whom he helped to hide during the
years of the Nazi occupation.
In 1968, the Supreme Court of Soviet Latvia considered the case against six murderers
of Jewish people. These were: Izidors Aizkalns, Emīls Kalniņš, Izidors Ivanāns, Jāzeps
Vaivods, Jāzeps Kraševskis, Ludvigs Rumps. The age of those accused varied from 22
to 45 at the moment of the crime. Only one of them had secondary education, I. Ivanāns
was semi-literate, J. Vaivods had finished two classes of the elementary school. I. Aizkalns
fully pleaded guilty and regretted the committed crime whereas all the rest did not plead
guilty and kept denying their crimes. All of them were sentenced to 10–15-year terms of
imprisonment (Part 1, Article 59 of the Criminal Code of the Latvian SSR).
They had much in common. All of them were former home-guards (aizsargi), at the
beginning of war they as members of “self-defence” groups participated in executions of
civil people including Jews. In autumn 1941, after execution of Jews they were incorporated
in Group “C” of the auxiliary police. After the liberation of Preiļi from Nazi occupation,
they went into hiding trying to avoid the amenability. Some of them were caught and in
1945–1946 they were sentenced to small terms of imprisonment. It was only in 1968 that
they were called to account again due to new facts that came to light.
There is also some difference in murderers’ destinies. Former home-guard E. Kalniņš
became a member of a self-defence unit at the beginning of the war, he used to participate
in the execution of Jews and later he became a policeman. In 1942, Kalniņš joined the German
army. In 1943, he was on leave, came to Preiļi and told that his unit was in Gatchina
(Leningrad region). In August 1944, Kalniņš was summoned to the Red Army where he
was a commander of the engineer company, was shell-shocked and injured. The fighter
was awarded five medals. A guard, member of the self-defence unit, murderer of Jews, a
policeman, a sapper of the Red Army, a farmer – all this is E. Kalniņš. He used to serve
“properly” for all the powers.
J. Vaivods joined the auxiliary police of “C” group after the execution of Jews and
liquidation of “self-defence” units (the members of the latter had fulfilled their bloody affair).
In spring 1942, while being a member of that battalion, he moved to Ukraine, the
city of Dnepropetrovsk, and then to the city of Kerch. J. Vaivods was a lieutenant batman.
The battalion guarded the road-building. In 1944, the batman had a fortnight’s leave and
came to Preiļi. In July 1944, the collaborator came to know from his sister that Vladislavs
Vuškāns was hiding Jews. He arrested the Jews and handed them over at the German
commandant disposal. Yet in the court J. Vaivods confirmed that the Nazi charged him
to do the operation. At the end of July 1944, the criminal went into hiding. At the end of
July 1945, he was caught and sentenced to five-year imprisonment; having been released