Me'er Akselrod, On the Edge of the Abyss, gouache on paper, 1964-69 (detail)
From Persecution to Mass Murder
1941 – A Turning Point in the Fate of the Jews
The turning point in the Nazis' plan to "solve the Jewish problem" began with Operation Barbarossa, the massive military invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. Hundreds of thousands of Jews managed to flee into the depths of the Soviet Union, but approximately 2 million Jews remained under Nazi occupation and were the victims of mass murder carried out by the Einsatzgruppen units. In less than half a year, by the end of 1941, about half a million Jews had been murdered within the areas of the Soviet Union conquered by the Nazis. Read more...
Operation Barbarossa - Holocaust Survivors Remember
"From the whole family, I remained alone.."
Dina Baitler
![Nelli [Nelly] Tsypina](/web/20120916093716im_/http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/barbarossa/images/tsypina_b.jpg "Nelli [Nelly] Tsypina")
The Beginning of the Final Solution
Thematic and chronological background with photos, video, documents, maps, artifactsKilling Sites Project
Mass Murder of Jews in Liepaja, Latvia, 1941
On 13 December 1941, the Nazis ordered the Jews of Liepaja to remain in their homes for the following few days. From 14-16 December, over 2,700 Jews were taken to the nearby fishing village of Skede, where they were shot by units of Einsatzgruppen, 2 (a subunit of the SS mobile killing unit, Einsatzgruppen A) with the help of local Latvian units.
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The Story of the Jewish Community of Bălţi, Romania (today Moldova)
