Essays and studies

Prof. Ezergailis examines specific aspects of the Holocaust in Latvia in his essays and studies.

• Folklore versus History —Tracing the genealogy of the "Germanless Holocaust", an examination of the contention that there was a separate native Holocaust before the Germans even arrived in Latvia, despite there being no documentary archival evidence. This view is common among statesmen and diplomats in a number of countries, including Sweden, Israel, and Germany.
• Our Guiding Compass? — Extraordinary claims of brutality by the Eastern European peoples against their centuries-old Jewish neighbors ought to provide extraordinary proof. An examination of specific accusations commences with an account of alleged war crimes by the 18th Latvian Police Battalion.
• "Neighbors" Didn't Kill Jews —Two versions of the Holocaust originated with the Nazis, one that the Holocaust was highly organized, almost mechanistic, leaving absolutely nothing to chance; the other that it was a spontaneous explosion of anti-Semitism and revenge, Germanless and leaderless.
• 1941, Propaganda of Hate — An examination of Nazi-managed anti-Semitic propaganda in occupied Latvia, its origins and evolution.
• The Rumbula Massacre — Twelve of Jeckeln's hand-picked men killed more than 2,000 Jews, each, over two days. The largest two-day killing of people in the history of Latvia lacks the attention it deserves, despite more accurate information being available about it than about any other facet of the Holocaust in Latvia.
• Shifting Interpretations — The concept of a “Germanless” Holocaust emerged in the 1960's. How did it become an apparently feasible alternative to the guilty verdicts rendered at Nuremburg which convicted those who envisioned, managed and executed Hitler's industrialized genocide?
• Who Knew What and When? — Joseph Grigg's report from Berlin of June 1, 1942, what it says about what was known about the Holocaust, what was factual and what was propaganda.
• Herberts Cukurs — Rather than ask “how many Jews did Cukurs kill?”, ask “did he even kill one Jew?” Did Mossad assassinate an innocent man?