- Herberts Cukurs
Herberts Cukurs (born
May 17 ,1900 , inLiepāja ,Courland - diedFebruary 23 ,1965 , inMontevideo ,Uruguay ) was a famousLatvia naviator and deputy commander of theArajs Commando , a Latvian auxiliary unit of the Nazi German SD [http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=fwLYKnN8LzH&b=245494&ct=948863 Simon Wiesenthal Center] ] . His participation in atrocities duringWorld War II earned him the nickname "The Hangman of Riga". [>cite book |last= Gad Shimron |first= Anton Kunzle |title= The Execution of the Hangman of Riga: The Only Execution of a Nazi War Criminal by the Mossad |year= 2004 |publisher= Mitchell Vallentine & Company |language= English |isbn= 0853035253 ]Aviation pioneer
As a pioneering long-distance pilot, he won national acclaim for his international solo flights in the 1930s (Latvia-
Gambia andRiga -Tokyo ).Participation in the Holocaust
During
World War II , however, he earned notoriety as deputy commander ofArajs Commando . This unit murdered approximately 20,000 Jews in Latvia andBelarus , including Jews deported from Germany and Austria, as well asRoma people , mental patients,Soviet partisans , and civilians.The
Simon Wiesenthal Center holds Cukurs directly responsible for mass murder, execution, forceful expropriation of property and the torture of hundreds of Jews during theHolocaust .Cukurs's guilt has never been proven in any trial, and as historian Andrew Ezergailis points out, much of the available literature suggests that Cukurs's main responsibility was working in the garages as a mechanic for the Arajs Commando. Nevertheless, Ezergailis contends that Cukurs participated in the atrocities committed in the Riga
Ghetto in conjunction with theRumbula massacre on30 November 1941 . [cite book |last= Ezergailis |first= Andrievs |title= Holokausts vācu okupētajā Latvijā 1941–1944 |year= 1999 |publisher= Latvijas vēstures institūta apgāds |location= Riga |language= Latvian |isbn= 9984601021 |pages= pp. 222, 230 Also available in English as: Andrew Ezergailis, "The Holocaust in Latvia, 1941–1944: The Missing Center" (1996), ISBN 9984905438.]Postwar fate
After the war he emigrated to
Brazil via France. Cukurs established a business inSão Paulo renting rafts.He was assassinated by
Mossad agents while traveling toUruguay after it was found out that he would not stand trial for his participation in the Holocaust.References
External links
* [http://www.cukurs.lv Dedicated website] , with images and publications (in Latvian, German, Hebrew)
* [http://latvianaviation.com/Events/E1934_05_25.html Flight to Gambia ]
* [http://latvianaviation.com/Events/CukTokyo.html Flight to Tokio ]
* [http://www.seabee.info/rc3_brazil.htm Cukurs in Brazil ]
* [http://paginas.fotolog.ig.com.br/ig/36/53/829749/fotolog/listaposts.html Images ]
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