Transit Camp Kurtenhof

Transit camp "Kurtenhof" (Salaspils)

Introduction
The camp "Kurtenhof" or "Stalag 350s" as the Nazis called it was built in 1941 to officially function as a police and labor re-education camp. Jews from the Riga Ghetto were responsible for the construction. It would temporarily house about 15,000 Jews and political prisoners. Two years later, in 1943, the head of SS Heinrich Himmler tried to turn it into a real concentration camp, but that never happened.

The camp would become known for its terrible medical experiments, especially on (Jewish) children from Russia. They were used to pump blood from their bodies for hospitals to help German soldiers. There are different stories about the numbers of victims; about 50,000 people are said to have been murdered here and between 2,000 and 3,000 survived.

Nowadays
In 1967, a large monument was unveiled on the 40 hectares where the camp once stood. A number of gigantic sculptures were erected and an exhibition space in a large concrete building. From this building you have an overview of the former camp site. There are flowers and toys on the children's monuments (the concrete blocks of which are supposed to represent the barracks). Rose bushes are also planned.

The former camp site can be reached by train from Riga. From the platform where you got off the train, walk behind the waiting area onto the dike, into the forest, and follow the path (in the direction of the village of Salaspils). You cross (straight ahead) a wide asphalt road. It is about a 15 to 20 minute walk. PLEASE NOTE: most trains do not stop at this stop.

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