The Riga Ghetto was a small enclave in the Maskavas Forštate, neighborhood, that the Nazis made fistly the Jews from Latvia, and later from Germany, Austria and the Czech republic live forcibly during World War II. On October 25, 1941, the Nazis forcibly relocated all Jews from Riga and the vicinity to the ghetto while the non-Jewish inhabitants were driven out. Most of the Latvian Jews (about 24,000) were killed on November 30 and December 8, 1941 in the Rumbula massacre and a large number of German Jews were killed in massacres later.
In 1942, the official rations in the German run ghetto were-
- 220 grams of bread per day,
- One portion of rancid fish per week,
- Occasional servings of turnips, cabbage or frozen potatoes.
- Occasional servings of horse meat.
- One liter of fat-free milk per week for baies and infants.
The majoraty of the small children had already been killed in the Dünamünde Action in March 1942.
Eduard Roschmann (AKA: "F(r)ederico Wagner" (or "Wegener")), was last commandant of the Riga Ghetto, and ernt himself the epathet "Butcher of Riga" becuase of his crule acts towards the ghetto's Jews. He was born in Graz, Austria, during 1908 and died in Asunción, Paraguay during 1977. He was a member of the Nazi SS and was commandant of the Riga ghetto from January 1943 until the ghetto was closed in the autumn of that year.
Today, there are memorials on the site of the synagogue and the old Jewish cemetery. Most of the prewar buildings remain standing.
Maskavas Forštate is locatednear the River Daugava.