CONDITIONS IN BERZE AND YELGAVA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A000600470004-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 18, 2002
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: August 14, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
SMCR'ST
SECURITY INFORMATION
COUNTRY USSR (Latvian SSR)
SUBJECT Conditions in Berse and $e;gava
DATE OF INFO. 1949 - 1951
PLACE ACQUIRED
25X1A
This Document contains information affecting the Na-
tional Defense of the United States, within the mean-
ing of Title 18, Sections 793 and 794, of the U.B. Code, as
amended. Its trAnsmission or revelation of its contents
to or receipt by an unauthorized person Is prohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form is prohibited.
REPORT NO.
DATE DISTR.
25X1A
li+ August 1953
NO.. OF PAGES 4
REQUIREMENT NO. RD
REFERENCES
THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
THE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
(FOR KEY SEE REVERSE)
25X1X
The castle at Yelgava was burned out, and in'd.isrepair. Gypsies and Soviet
tramps lived in the ruins. The former castle theater was torn down and there
was no building oil this site. The cafe near the bridge d in operation. The
bridge tse ,of 3.*144~in contrast to the other bridge over the Driksa which tee::n. r
and of concrete.. The former Hotel Tervete was in .ruins but had been rebuilt
and repaired,,.completely. A big building was standing where the Hotel Kurse.me
used to be. Whether it was a new one or the former hotel was repaired source
does not,..,know. There was a big second-hand store, or Komisiiae Veika.le, on the
southern side of Liela iela, between Liela iela and Poruka iela. Opposite this
store on the other side of Liela Lela there was e, sh.oe.shop and a bakery. On
the site of the theater, there was a movie theater. The school, formerly
1 .? to . ,y was repaired. The monument of the first president 'of Latvia,
Janie ciaicsteywhich stood in front of this building, was removed in 1951. The
Orthodox church stood as before; The courthouse was in ruins. The new post
office building was not damaged.; there was also a movie theater in the same
building. The School was in ruins. There was a square with a big garden in
the background on"the site of the garden of the former Aizsargu House. Mili-
tia headquarters *ze in'.A, gray building, apparently the former laugura House.
Source did not know 'about the prison and lied Cross Hospital, but the City
$ospital was not damaged. Near this hospital there was a polyclinic but source
was not able to describe the location. Source had heard that in the City
Hospital two sons of former president Cakste were employed as doctors. In
Gintermuila there was still an asylum for lunatics. St. Ann's Church was re-
paired, but not Trinity Church near the bridge., Source did not know about the
Catholic church. The railroad station was repaired, and the two railroad
bridges were rebuilt. Opposite the railroad station was a statue of Lenin, and
the nearby cemetery was destroyed and gardens were established instead. There
was a bus connection from the railroad station along Akademijas iela and Liela
ielai source does not know how far. Source does not know of a swimming pool
or a place where rowboats were rented. The steamboat harbor was at the old
place near the market, and there was a steamboat connection from Yelgava to
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I1ok4s (NS7-39, 122-13)1.5ouroe does not know whether the boat wont as far as
Riga. Source does not know whether streets were renamed in Yelgava. 8a did
not pay any attention to that, knowing the streets by location and not by
new, and remembers only the old nsmes,such as Lisll Isla, #kadsmiias Isla,
Plkv. Briesa Isla, Pasta Lela eto. There was a sawmill in operation down-
stream beyond the st'iamboat harbor. The briokkilns around Yelgava were in
operation. Generally there were many ruins along the main streets of Telgava,
2. In Yelgava in 1947 a butcher and his wife had two rooms and a kitchen,
a barn,and 3000 square meters of land. They kept a horse, two cows, three pigs,
two dogs,and three oats, and fared very well. Be earned money slaughtering
cattle and hogs privately and helping people in cutting and weighing meat on
the market. Por slaughtering he received 200 rubles for a cow and 75 rubles
,for a hog. He paidMass of 2800 rubles per year for his house. There was
electricity in the house. The current was constant, without interruptions.
They still lived quite well in 1951. In unskilled worker earned an average of
300 rubles per month and it was not enough to live on,so eberybody worked in
his' free time to earn something additional.
3. Source gave the following prices of articles purchased by him in 1951%
Price Cis b)
Place of Purchase
Work suit, poor material,
175
MarketoYelgava?, 1950
shrinking when wet
Army overcoat, undyed
220
Market~Telgava, from a soldier
Army boots
150
n n u n n
Trousers, poor quality
75
Market,,Yelgava, 1950
Army uniform, blouse and
150
Market,Yelgava, 1950, from a
trousers
Soviet soldier
Shoes
98
Shop in Berse
Shirt
50
Shop in Livberss, 1950
4.:. In fall 1948 a dog caught hydrophobia. Militia with a Soviet veterinarian
visited the house, that dog was shot, and the yard of the house was sprinkled
with a powder. All the inhabitants of the house had to be inoculated and got
20 injections each. Tor this purpose the people received an order from the
veterinarian and had to appear in the polyclinic every other day.- The poly-
clinic was near the hospital, and the personnel including doctors were all
Latvians. The injections were made in the area of the stomach. First the
place of injection puffed up, but on the next day it was normal and the in-
jections were repeated until each person got 20 injections.
5. The steamship harbor was at the old place in the Driksa River opposite the
market, and river navigation was carried on with several ships, all of them
painted white with a red streak. Source remembers the following shipst
ZIBB S, VE'fRAOaad ZVAZG The fare from Telgava to Slokas was three rubles.
No.kkhoznika like all members of the kolkhoz and lived on the farm. ea es
three Germaas)there were only three young men working Qa the kolkhoz; all
other young people were either drafted or in factory schools in Riga or in the
office of the kolkhoz? 111 other work on the kolkhoz was done by old men and.
women. There were four men over 60 still compelled to work, and the chairman
was also about 60. One member of the kolkhoz was 72 and still compelled to
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work; he carried milk to the dairy in a horsecart, and would die if not able
to do any work since no pension or other support for the aged was granted..
The payment was for working days, and the working day was figured out accord-
ing to norms; harrowing of six hectares was one working day, carrying manure
out of stables to the field was accounted as one working day if eight cart-
loads were taken the distance of one-half kilometer,. , Watching the farm
for 24 hours during the holidays of May 1 or November 7, in order
eT to prevents
s
sabotage, counted as two working days. In 1949/50 the salary per day
kg grain, 800 r sugar,, and 2 rb in cash. In 1950-51 the salary per day was
much lower: 21 kg grain, 150 grams sugar)and 1,85 rubles in cash. Grain was
of very poor quality, wetland full of worms. Source remembers that the miller
did not accept the grain for grinding, and source sold his grain to a railroad
employee, concealing the poor quality, of course. He received about 65 rubles
for one MA, about 16 kilograms. The railroad man complained afterwards, but
source was not willing to cancel the bargain, blaming the kolkhoz.for the
quality. Deceit was common, and even hay was stolen to furnish food for the
cows'in possession of kolkhozniki. It was usually done when transporting lum-
ber"in the winter for the kolkhoz; then on the way home hay was 1.1cadled and
brought hove. Work in the woods was usually in places far away from Berzej
such as Blidene, Josta, and Lestene, and therefore no remorse for-stealing was
felt. Each kolkhoznik also had a certain norm of work in the woods to perform
for the kolkhoz, and for this work he was paid separately. The norm was 35
cubic meters to cut and 42 cubic meters of lumber to transport. Generally,it
was possible to cut four cubic meters per day if firewood was prepared, but up
to ten cubic meters if logs were cut. The payment was 2.85 rubles per cubic 25X1X
meter.
25X1 X
7.
to appear before the draft board in December 1950, La o e e UMO-60, ,
the rayon'seat. They came to Dobele with many Latvian boys, Since source had
no documents, he was issued a certificate by the kolkhoz administration that
he was a member of the kolkhoz. This certificate was in Latvian and German,
and the Soviet officer registering the draftees started shouting when this
document was presented to him, because he did not read Latvian or German; he
threatened to punish the bearer and requested a document he would be able to 25X1X
read. Eventually he calmed down and source was medically,examined,as were the2 5X1X
- _ ni..__ 4 ___i
April 1951. Source did not receive the e- but mere y a cern-
f icate that he had been medically checked and found fit.. In Dobele draftees'
hair 'was out and they were sent to a unit. Source thinks that they served in
Kaunas. Though older,,another boy was not drafted then and was supposed to re-
port for military service by the fall of 1951. Why this delay source does not
know, but it could be.due to-the fact that the boy's father was arrested in
winter 1950 because of anti-Communist talk.
8. The official holidays were May 1, November 7,and January 1, and on these days
the kolkhozniki were free. The festival of.St. John's was celebrated gnoffici-
ally and it was not a holiday. During the celebration of May 1 and November 7,
meetings were held in Berne (N56-41, E23-26), with all the people gathering at1?g
the school. A party official gave a speech and then all moved in procession
to the local cemetery,,where there were buried Soviet soldiers killed in action
during the last war. In the evening each kolkhoz treated the kolkhozaiki with
drinks, mostly beer, and there was dancing. On the festivals of May 1 and
November 7 the kolkhoz administration feared anti-Communist activities, and
therefore on each farm kolkhozniki were supposed to stand guard, so for one
day's guard duty two working days were awarded. The persons appointed just
stayed up and drank all night; nothing had happened since source was on the
kolkhoz, and he never heard:-6f`9nfthing happening before. Alcohol was cheap:
in 1948-49 half a'liter of scb ps cost 50 rubles, in 19.50 the price was 25
rubles, and in 1951 only 22.501rubles.
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9. During the big scale deportations in spring 1949 were deported an entire family
of which two sons had served in the Latvian Legion and were still in a Soviet
PW' camp, and a man who had served in the German armed forces. In 1945 a man
was arrested from the Leinerti farm. He returned in 1950 as a cripple, some-
thing being wrong'with'one arm.. Source heard that he was arrested and sentenced
for talking against the Soviet regime. He spent his term in the prison in Riga.
In winter 1950-51 they arrested a man from the Diki farm, because-he had spoken
against the Soviet regime during the threshing campaign. He was warned by other
people to be careful and to shut up, but continued criticising, and after.a
...
couple of days was arrested. His family remained at home, and his sod woe
drafted for military service in the fall of 1951. There were more= people_.dei
ported from Berse, but source dons not remember the others. Except for the
Soviet veterinarrr-a doctor)there were no Soviets in the kolkhos in Bbrse:
SEOBET
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-(CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
SECRET
SECURITY INFORMATION
COUNTRY USSR (Latvian, SSR)
Conditions in Riga
25X1X
25X1A
This Document contains information affecting the Na-
tional Defense of the United States, within the mean-
ing of Title 18, Sections 793 and 794, of the U.S. Code, as
amended. Its transmission or revelation of its contents
to or receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited
by 1abv. The reproduction of this form is prohibited.
REPORT NO.
DATE DISTR.
0
10 August 1953
25X1A
NO. OF PAGES 2
REQUIREMENT NO. RD
REFERENCES
THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
THE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
(FOR KEY SEE REVERSE)
1. Source was put into a labor camp in East Prussia when she was 19 and did not
possess any documents; the camp was moved gradually eastward to Telgava and
then to Riga. Never were any documents issued to the inmates. In Riga the
Germans were brought to work in the town and during this time were able to
leave the place of work and visit houses and. shops, begging to improve their
food; this was illegal and possible only due to lack of permanent control;
the Germans from the camp still did not possess any documents. Source made
the acquaintance of a'German PW in 1948 and had a child by this man.. She
was admitted to a hospital at Mara Isla 45 by order of the doctor of the
camp, and was accepted there upon the order of the doctor without any documents.
Source does not know the procedure of her registration in the hospital since
she did not present any papers. After she was released from the hospital, she
received a certificate issued by the hospital administration.
2. The camp in Riga was located somewhere near the railroad line Riga-Tukums
(N56.591 323-10); whether or not it was the same camp as that near Imanta
station was impossible to clarify, since source does not remember the names
of any streets or stations. According to source there were several c s
The camp source was in was dissolved 25X1X
25X1X but whether or not the other camps remained she does not know. During
the stay in the camp source had to work together with other women in different
places in Riga, mainly building roads;, and splitting stones. They marched to
the place of work from the camp on foot and had guards with them, but were not
strictly guarded while on the place of work, so many o?' them went around in
the town begging and visited shops and private houses. Source gave birth,to
a child in 1949, but was not released from work even then. Some inmates of
the camp looked after the baby while source was absent. She received no
support as to the diapers or additional food, and even a bottle for nursing
was not available. She warmed food on a stove in the barracks room. No
money was paid for the work done and only due to support from the civilians
in Riga did the inmates of the camp get additional food and sometimes cl'thing.
The baby survived nevertheless 25X1X
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