UNCOVERING THE HISTORY OF JUNGFERNHOF CONCENTRATION CAMP IN RIGA, LATVIA

Research was conducted in summer 2023 at the former site of the Jungfernhof Concentration Camp in Riga, Latvia. The main objectives of this research were to define the physical setting of the site, and to quantify land use history to determine the location of former camp buildings, and possible unmarked mass graves. Jungfernhof was created in December 1941 at site of the former Mazjumprava Manor Estate, on the Daugava River, to house nearly 4,000 prisoners in dilapidated barns and cattle sheds. During the harsh winter of 1941-1942, over 800 prisoners died from exposure and disease. In spring 1942 a mass grave was created within the camp, using dynamite to blast a hole in the still frozen ground, to hold their remains. Methodologies for this study included soil auguring, the use of a pulseEKKO Pro 500-megahertz ground penetrating radar (GPR) system, and comparative spatial analysis using overlays of a German military air photo from 1917, Google Earth satellite images, and maps from 1942 and 1947. The area’s soil texture was mostly silt, with some sand, with a distinct clay layer one-meter below the surface. Soil parent material is derived from overbank deposits from the Daugava River. Soil structure type is predominately blocky, and structure grade is weak between zero and one meters, and the clay-rich soil has a strong, predominantly blocky to very blocky structure. Texture and structure type and grade are important because they effect the penetration of the GPR signal. GPR detected probable building foundations and a potential mass grave at depths between one and two meters. A circular anomaly was present in one of the GPR grids, which may be the mass grave. Using the air photo, map, and satellite image comparison, the location of two of the camps buildings were correlated with anomalies in the GPR data base. It was also determined that no buildings previously existed at the location of a circular GPR anomaly, thus adding further evidence to the assertation that the anomaly represents the possible location of the mass grave. Future research at Jungfernhof will include additional GPR analysis to locate other anomalies related to mass grave and building locations, and the addition of other geophysical techniques, like electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), to assist in better defining subsurface anthropogenic features.