Kalevi-Liiva Memorial
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Kalevi-Liiva are
sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...
s in
Jõelähtme Parish Jõelähtme Parish ( et, Jõelähtme vald) is a rural municipality in Harju County, north-western Estonia. It had a population of 5,351 (as of 1 January 2012) and an area of , the population density is The administrative centre of Jõelähtme P ...
in
Harju County Harju County ( et, Harju maakond or ''Harjumaa''), is one of the fifteen counties of Estonia. It is situated in Northern Estonia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, and borders Lääne-Viru County to the east, Järva County to the sou ...
,
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
. The site is located near the Baltic coast, north of the Jägala village and the former
Jägala concentration camp Jägala concentration camp was a labour camp of the Estonian Security Police and SD during the German occupation of Estonia during World War II. The camp was established in August 1942 on a former artillery range of the Estonian Army near the vi ...
. It is best known as the execution site of at least 6,000 Jewish and Roma
Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
victims.


Execution site

The Kalevi-Liiva site served as the execution and burial site for trainloads of Central European Jews transported to Estonia for extermination. Other victims include Gypsies and
political prisoners A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although nu ...
of mainly
Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...
and
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
origin. The mass execution were carried out by
Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...
Nazi collaborators under German supervision. At least two trainloads of Jews arrived at the
Raasiku Raasiku is a borough ( et, alevik) in Raasiku Parish, Harju County, Estonia, with a population of 1,372 (2020). Although situated in a parish with the same name, Raasiku is not the official administrative centre of the municipality (which is Aru ...
railway station, one from
Theresienstadt Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Schutzstaffel, SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstad ...
on September 5, 1942, and another from Germany in mid-September. The trains carried over 2,000 people, mainly
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
and
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
n
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, about 450 of whom were selected for forced labor and interned at the
Jägala concentration camp Jägala concentration camp was a labour camp of the Estonian Security Police and SD during the German occupation of Estonia during World War II. The camp was established in August 1942 on a former artillery range of the Estonian Army near the vi ...
, the rest were transferred by bus to Kalevi-Liiva and immediately executed. The Estonians in charge of the executions,
Aleksander Laak Aleksander (Alexander) Laak (24 August 1907 – 6 September 1960) was a lieutenant and the commander of the Jägala concentration camp during the German occupation of Estonia. The estimates for the number of killed at Jägala concentration camp ...
,
Ain-Ervin Mere Ain Mere (from birth to Estification Ervin Martson; 22 February 1903 – 5 April 1969) was an Estonian military officer in World War II. During the German occupation of Estonia, he served in the German-controlled Estonian Security Police and SD. ...
and Ralf Gerrets, were implicated in the
Holocaust trials in Soviet Estonia A number of war crimes trials were held during the Soviet occupation of Estonia (1944–1991). The best-known trial was brought in 1961, by the Soviet authorities against local collaborators who had participated in the Holocaust during the Germa ...
in 1961 and charged with murdering up to 5,000
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
and
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
n
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
and
Gypsies The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...
in 1942–1943. Estimates of the total number of victims vary. The two memorial stones on the site cite 6,000 Jews and 2,000 Roma. Contemporary sources estimate at least 1,700 (probably 1,754) Jews killed at Kalevi-Liiva, other known victims include forty Gypsies and a number of "
political prisoners A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although nu ...
" of mainly
Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...
and
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
origin.
Anton Weiss-Wendt Anton Weiss-Wendt (born 1973) is a Norwegian academic and historian. He has a PhD in Jewish history from Brandeis University and has worked at the Center for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities The Center for Studies of the Holocaust ...
''Murder Without Hatred: Estonians and the Holocaust'' 2009. p. 238:


See also

*
Ain-Ervin Mere Ain Mere (from birth to Estification Ervin Martson; 22 February 1903 – 5 April 1969) was an Estonian military officer in World War II. During the German occupation of Estonia, he served in the German-controlled Estonian Security Police and SD. ...
*
Collaboration during World War II Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime, and in the words of historian Gerhard Hirschfeld, "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to t ...
*
Holocaust trials in Soviet Estonia A number of war crimes trials were held during the Soviet occupation of Estonia (1944–1991). The best-known trial was brought in 1961, by the Soviet authorities against local collaborators who had participated in the Holocaust during the Germa ...
*
History of the Jews in Estonia The history of Jews in Estonia starts with reports of the presence of individual Jews in what is now Estonia from as early as the 14th century. Jews were settled in Estonia in the 19th century, especially following a statute of Russian Tsar ...
*
Judenfrei ''Judenfrei'' (, "free of Jews") and ''judenrein'' (, "clean of Jews") are terms of Nazi origin to designate an area that has been "cleansed" of Jews during The Holocaust. While ''judenfrei'' refers merely to "freeing" an area of all of its ...
*
Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany During World War II, in the course of Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany invaded Estonia in July–December 1941, and occupied the country until 1944. Estonia had gained independence in 1918 from the then warring German and Russian Empires. How ...


References


External links


Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes in EstoniaZeugenaussagen über die MassenerschießungenKalevi-LiivaKalevi-LiivaKalevi_Liiva, 1992
{{Authority control The Holocaust in Estonia Jõelähtme Parish Tourist attractions in Harju County Holocaust locations in Estonia