CONDITIONS IN RIGA AND KALININGRAD

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A000600200003-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Sequence Number: 3
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
SECRET
SECURITY INFORMATION
COUNTRY USSR (Latvian SSR and Kaliningrad
Oblast)
SUBJECT Conditions in Riga and Kaliningrad
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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
DATE DISTR.
NO. OF PAGES
REQUIREMENT NO. RD
REFERENCES
THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
THE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
(FOR KEY SEE REVERSE)
28 August 1953
1. In the part of Ri called Sarkandaugava there was no war damage and n cha e
exce-ot a trolley-bus line was installed in place of the bus-lined
the following installations are still in existence and suffered
e or no war damage:
Provodniks Factory, an internment camp for civilians, with barbed wire around
the premises.
Buffalo Factory, textile factory still. in operation.
Rutenbergs Ohemical Factory, still in operation.
Sarkankalas.Hospital for Mental Diseases, still serving same purpose.
Aleksandra Augstumi Hospital for Mental Diseases, still serving same purpose.
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d _an T.Prm3.na cier,uns(prison$r;)were without changes.,
Laima Chocolate .Factory; premises stood and production was going on; the factory
was known as the biggest candy and chocolate producer in Latvia.
Goegginger Factory still stood, but nothing was known about production.
Sports stadium near 1905 Dada Park, and. the former YMCA stadium; the latter was
called Dynamo Stadium, and a new hall for indoor winter sports had been erected
there, on the former tennis courts, near the firehouse,
The customs place and buildings were as before,
The Citadele area and the Church of the Citadele were without change.
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The Riga Power Station near the harbor still stood, but the area was fenced in
and restricted.
There was an underground power station, diesel operated, near the Babelite Lake.
The Milgravja Superphosphate Factory had been enlarged.
Sw9,mming pool at the ponton bridge operated in the summer as before.
The castle still stood and was called the Castle of the Pioneers.
The buildin ,of the Bank of Latvia was still standing
I
The State Technical School still stood and. served the same purposes.
The soldiers' cemetery was still there.
the crosses on the
graves of German soldiers had been removed.
I
The Luna Cafe was in operation.
There was a modern banking house on Kalku iela, formerly the Akciju Bank.
The big department store, formerly the Armijas Ekonomiskais Veikals,. was still
in operation.
The telephone exchange was on Zigfrida Meierovica bulvaaris.
The house of the former Latvian Association is an.. officers' club now.
Tl, . rremi ;es of the former Officers' School in Kr. iela
used for military purpose
The premises of the former officers' Club of the Latvian army were the same;
even the guns in front of the building had not been removed.
The house of the former Ministry of Foreign Affairs probably was used for the
same purpose.
The premises of the former second and third gymnasiums were still in use.
Arts'Museum was at the Esplanade..
The Orthodox church was still standing at the Esplanade.
The monument of the writer Blaumanis near Bastejkalns was still standing, but
it was not at the corner of Blaumana iela and Kr. Barony iela anyxl re.
The large factories, Kuznecovs and Kvadrats, were in operation.
Between the Volfsmits Factory and, the big mill nearby was a big,
supplying almost all of Riga with bread.
it was probably Plkv. Brieza iela.
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The barracks of the former Latvian Air Force in Pardaugava. still were used
by the Air Force.
The opera house was still standing.
The former National Theater was still standing.
The university was on both Raina bulvaris and Kronvalda bulvaris.
Besides the Central Market there was. a market on Matisa iela.
The main post office building was not used as a post office; in 1949 it was
a technical school, and the post office was in the former Feitelberg storehouse
at Brivibas bulvaris and Kalpraka bulvaris.
Other factories were VEF, Vairogs, and Erenpreis (sic, possibly Erenbreit), the
latter also called Sfrkana Zvaigzne,
All churches were intact except Peter's Church, which had burned down. l
The main restaurants were ? zais Vermana Garden and Rudzisa.
On Balasta Dam a PW camp was established, consisting of five wooden barracks,
each large enough for 200 men.
A new swimm;r. pool in the Daugava River was built near Balasta Dam, where
the Vidzemes Yacht Club was formerly.
..A ,new bridge was built across the Daugavs from the end of-Valdemara iela to
Balasta Dam, to the site of the former.Vid'zemes Yacht Club. It was of wooden
construction with oalr one pair of streetcar rails laid.on it. Us.*lly the
streetcar did not.go over.-this bridge, except when the ponton bridge was out.
The steel-construction bridges, Zemgales, and the railroad bridge, which were
blown up by the Germans, were repaired for temporary use, and the repair work
w s still going on.
At the northern end of Zvirgzdu Island there was a bridge from 3{raeta iela at
the end of Speka iela, and'on the island there was a second-hand market, called
the lice market. It was legal to sell only personal belongings here, and militia
checked. whether somebody bought an item.-and then resold it for more moi4by.
Beginning at Strugu iela there was between Maskavas iela and Krasta iela a
penicillin factory, on the premises of the former Farmacon Factory. The premises
were enlarged, and a fence externdea to the Daugava, so that Krasta iela was not
a through street anymore.
There-was a new store for raw rubber between Strautu iela - Madonas soseja and
the Riga-Daugavpils railroad. There were six brick warehouses for storage of
the rubber, in pieces of one cubic meter, and railroad tracks leading to this
storage place from the Riga-Daugavpils main line. In the winter of 1948/49
rubber from England and. India was stored here. !
North of this storage place there were old German planes on a field, not smashed,
but not used for flights.. The planes still had the German insignia on them, and
among others there were also jet planes. It wao definitely not an airfield but
rather a-sort of storage place.
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PW camp No. 9 was outside the brick wall surrounding the Export Harbor;. the
PWs went to work in the harbor through a gate on the eastern side of the fence,
not through the main gate to the south..
The warehouses in the Export harbor were destroyed and PWs built new, modern
warehouses in the same area.
The entrance the channel leadin along the Central Market was closed at the
Daugava end. the channel was'filled with, earth, stones,
and garbage due to the war, and that eventually it would be cleaned again, but
by 19+9 it was impossible for vessels to carry goods to the Central Market
through the channel.
The monument of the first Latvians president, Janis Cakste, on the square before
the castle, was removed, and the square was called Pionieru Square instead of
Janis.Cakstes Square.
In. the area of the Forest Park new gardens for recreation were laid out, called
the Park of Culture.
Along Karla iela, also called for a period 13 Janvara iela, many houses were
destroyed and not rebuilt, among others the building where the Jaunatnes
Petisanas Instituts was located.
The building,of the former Kreditbanka at Doma Square, now 17 Junija Square,
was still standing but had been rebuilt inside, and adapted for broadcasting
.studios for the Riga Broadcasting Station. Several walls were broken down and
new ones put in and cowered with special material for acoustics. This house
was chosen for broadcasting because it was near the Doma Church and thus Wpuld
be protected against possible air raids.
The building of the former Opera Cafe was leveled and a square established
there with a lawn and benches; in the evenings the square'is illuminated.
The house adjoining the former Opera Cafe was standing, but all the area
including Hotel Rome wa,s razed, and new buildings were under construction
there, though nothing seems to be plAnned for the site of the former Opera
Cafe.
Along Kalku iela there was much damage; many houses were destroyed andat
several places squares were established instead of replacing the former build-
ings. The street was much broader, and there were few shops.
There was much war damage around the Guildhouse; the ruins were cleared and
gardens established,with no buildings there.
The banks of the Daugava were blown up by the Germans. and were. rebuilt by
German PWs. All along the banks there were gardens, and streetcar tracks ran
only from the pontpn bridge toward the Central. Market, not toward the castle.
Victory Place was leveled, including the part which was not finished before
,the war. The place was used for army parades and big meetings.
On the Esp~aa*de a stage was erected, and in-summer 19+8 there was an all-Latvia.
song festival.
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Near the stadium in C}r.izinkalns, at the gardens called 1905 Gada Park, therl
was a.srn ll PW camp, which was broken up in the fall of 19-9, and from the
material thus obtained the hall for winter sports activities on Dynamo Stadium
was built (see Page 1).
The house at the corner of Brivibas iela and Karlines iela, called Feitelberga
House, was razed and.a square established there instead,. wlthgrass.
At the corner of Valcu iela and Trikatas iela PW camp No. 13 was established,
consisting of wooden barracks.
Between Ganibu Dam and the freight depQt track, at the, top of Pilumizas iela,
PW camp No.. 15 was established.
In the area of the Vairogs Factory most of the old buildings. were'_damaged.and
razed, and many new buildings erected.
In the area of the VEF Factory, at Unijas ieLa, a big, new building was a;ected
adjoining the Gushodor area. ?-
2. The trolleybuses had no numbers, lust the place of destination.
The itinerary was as follows: The ro ey us
line with the destination Sarkandaugava went from the railroad station along
Rains bulvaris - Valdemara iela - Karlotes iela - Duntes iela .- Sarkandaugava.
There was a turning point at Tilts iela, and then back the same way to the rail-
road station. Duntes iela was one-way, and after turning at Tifta iela the
trolleybus went back along Aleksa iela until it came to Duntes iela again. Some
cars of this line went farther, to Meza Park along Meza prospekts to Kokneses
prospekts, Another trolleybus line went from.Viestura Gardens along Kirova iela,
formerly Elizabetes iela.- Kalpaka bulvaris - Terbatas iela.- Gertrudes iela to
the railroad crossings and?turnMd there along Polockas iele. - Katolu iela, and
then back along Geyrtrudes iea in The third line went from the Central
Market to the Maskavas sUburbI -1
it was a very wide street, an(~ it might be Jekabpils
iela. No streetcar used the Ring around the Old City. There were no streetcar
tracks from the ponton bridge to'Ward the castle, and. all streetcars from across
the Daugava turned toward Central Market and made a turn here.. The lines Nos.
6, 13, 2, and 11 followed the old itinerary, except that they also went to the
market but not around the city.
= a streetcar line in 19+9 ran rom a corner o r, rona a aan r vi as
iela . Barons iela - Rains iela Radio
iela - Marijas iela - Stabu. iela .- Avotu
iela - Jana saga iela - Pernavas iela - Kr. Barona iela t9 the corner of Brivibas
and Kr. Barons ielas. Thus, there was no streetcar along'Matisa iela from Kr.
Barone iela to Marijas and along Mari as a from t' iela to Re
eles iela
and the Stadium. The stret-
car line which previously ran to the Kuznecovs Factory ran to Kvad.ats Factory.
There was still steamboat transportation from. the
Agenskalne.
Ion the Agenskalns side there were a new pier,
ticket offices, and waiting rooms, built east of the old site, toward Balasta
Dam, where the new bridge from Valdemara iela ends. This.new house was in
oriental stye. The steamboat traffic was not as heavy
steamboats were old-ones,
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4. The PW camps were under the supervision of the MV.D. Besides the uniformed
25X1 officers and soldiers, there were inspectors in civilian clothes without any
military rank who did the questioning. .1 1
the MVD building at na vars. IT, was Me 150RTMOM
or e ormer a van Ministry of Agriculture, which was connected with two
25X1 other buildings on Raina bulvaris, probably numbers 4, 6,, and 8 , or 6, 8,and 10.
There were three entrances from Raina bulvaris, but inside the buildings were
25X1 connected and it was possible to'go from one into another.
25X1 in the Cheka Hou a the corner of
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tabu iela and tivibas' iela;;, cond tons were terrible', and if anmabne1v
was summoned to this building.: he usually did not return at a17.1
this building was an MGB installation.
m ci The office of the town militia dis
The officials are called simply
trict was on Marijas iela, The ,~.
town militiamen were both Latvians and Soviets, and not all of the Latvians
spoke perfect Russian. The headquarters o the militia was in the former
5., Prices for clothing were ve hlhthe following prices for
25X1 items bought by him in'Riga
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Article
Unit Price (in rubles)
Work trousers, poor. quality 1 pair 190 rb
Work suit, poor quality 1 296 rb
A good suit-cost thousands of'rables. Prices in general went doin from 1947, to
1949, and that prices still were
dropping.a er 1949.
Militiamen were on the tracks in the-bigger stations,
but they were mostly concerned with travellers who had no tickets and were
riding outside the carriages. The tickets were sold in Riga in the booths of.
the Rigas Jurmala station, both in the hall and on the street. There was another
ticket office on Marijas iela near the main station. This office was for long-
distance trips. The fare from Riga to Tallinn was 38 rb for a child's half-fare
ticket. As to the time-tables, the train to Riga left Tallinn at 2030 and
arrived in Riga early the next morning.
e sa ar es
In Kaliningrad were better than in Riga, and it was because
Kaliningrad salaries were adjusted to Soviet wor ers w .no regard to the
indigenous laborers. As a matter of fact, there were few Germans, either some
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with about 400,000 before the war. Now there are many Soviets, mostly military
25X1 personnel, militia, and officials in the city. The best apartments were taken
by high-ranking Soviets. The area of Neza Park was inhabited largely by Soviets.
10. From the bus station, or Autoosta, between the main railroad station e.na.
Central Market, there were buses to Milgravis, Balo i, Bolderaja, and Ciekurkalns.
25X1 Buses have a number in the front of the car and also the destination.
11. There were four trolleybus lines in Riga. I
In the front of the tro ey us there was a plate with r e
bulvaris and Marijas iela, probably in the area of the former gardens. The
fare varied with. the distance; from terminus to terminus the fare was 90 kopeks.
The trolleybuses came by every ten minutes and ran until after midnight. There
was always only one car. The itineraries of the respective trolleybus lines
were as follows:
destination in Latvian. Three of the four lines turned at the corner of Rains
a. From a theater at a square on. Vidzemes soseja, formerly Zemitana Square,
along Vidzemes soseja, Brivibas iela, now Lenina iela, Raina bulvaris to
the turning point at the corner of Raina bulvaris and Marijas ielaawithout
crossing Marijas ielayand back.
b. From the railroad station, same turning point as for the line mentioned
above, along Raina bulvaris, Brivibas iela, Kirova iela, formerly Elizabetes
iela, Valdemara iela and Duntes iala to Tilta iela, where it turned at the
Sarkandaugava Theater, formerly Viktorija, and went back to the station.
Some cars went farther than Tilta iela, to Mezs Park, and sometimes there
were special cars from Tilta iela to Meza Park.
c. Prom the railroad crossings at Gertrudes iela, now Karla Marksa iela,
where there was a turning point at Gertrudes iela and Katolu iela, along
Gertrudes iela, Terbatas iela, Kirova iela, Viestura Gardens, and from
there back.
Line No. 1: From Bikernieku iela along Vidzemes soseja, Brivibas iela,.Matisa
iela, Kr. Barons iela to the turning point behind the Main Post Office, prob-
ably Radio iela, and back.
Line No. 2: Prom Brasla, the former terminus, along Miera iela, Karlines iela,
Matisa iela, Kr. Barona iela to the turning point around the Main Post Office
and the former Prefecture, probably Radio iela.
Line No. 3: Round trip from the Gaisa Bridge along B rivibas iela, Matisa iela,
Kr. Barona iela, Aspazijas bulvaris,'now Padomju bulvaris, Marijas iela, Stabu
iela, Ayotu iela, Jana Asare iela, Pernavas iela, Kr. Barona iela to Gaisa
Bridge. This line had cars running both d.irections,and the streetcars of this
line did not use the turning point around the Main Post Office and Prefecture,
running instead along Padomju bulvaris, formerly Aspazijas bulvaris.
specialists who had stayed in Kaliningrad, or Germans who returned from the
Baltic countries. The Germans in Kaliningrad were repatriated in May 1951.
They were sent from Kaliningrad to a repatriation ca near Sovetsk and
transported to Germany from there. I ivery few Germans re-
mained in Kaliningrad, as indispensable specialists.
9. the population of Riga was about one million, compared
d. Prom the turning point at the corner of Raina bulvaris and Marijas iela
crossing Marijas iela, East the station, through the subway in the direct-
ion of Central Market
12. Streetcar lines were numbered and the lines were as follows:
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Line'No. 43 Follows the route of former line No. 3,starting at Jana Asara
iela, along Avotu iela, Stabu iela, Marijas iela and then turning around the
Main Post Office and Prefecture similar to lines No. 1 and No. 2, and back to
the terminal of former line No. 3 at Jana Asara iela.
Line No. 5: From Moscow suburb I to the Central Market, along
Aspazijas bulvaris, Valdemara iela, Plkv. rieta iela, Ganibu Dam to Sarkandaur-
ava and back. A streetcar line also went on from Sarkandaugava to Milgravis,
the number-, it might be 13, 14,or 15.
Line No. 6: From the turni -point around the Main Post Office and Prefecture
to Sarkandaugava. F I
Line No. 78 The old route from Childrens? Hospital to the Central Market,
turning there and going back along the river to the ponton bridge, not around
the City as before. There was a line going on past the Childrens' Hospital, a
continuation of No. 7,
Line No. 8: The old route to Zasulauks, turning from the ponton bridge to
the Central Market, passing Central Market and coming back through the subway
again to the ponton bridge, not around the City as before.
Line No.'9o The old r.oute..to Ilgeciems, but turning along the Central Market
and not around the City.
All streetcars from Pardaugava, i.e.,Nos. 7, 8,and 9,crossed the river on the
ponton bridge, and no streetcar went over the new bridge at Valdemara iela.
When the pon?ton bridge was taken out, these streetcars turned at the bridge-
head on'the Phrdaugava side, and the passengers were taken over by buses run-
ning to the City over the new bridge at Valdemara iela. For this trip the
passengers had to pay extra,since there were no interline tickets.
Line No. 100,
Line No. 11: F 2 to Meza Park, the old route, but not comi
n
25X1 n. this line went farther than the zoo
,Line No. 12: From Bikernieku iela along Ropazu iela to Smerlis as the con-.
tinuation of No. i.-the old route, except that it did not go to the 6ity.
Line No. 14.-_]
Line No. 15:
itinerary.
lsuch a number existed
such a number existed, but does not know the
The fare for all lines was 30 kopeks, and there were no transfers. The street-
cars were usually crowded, and a train consisted usually of three cars.
13. There were still horsecabs in Riga. They were a private enterprise,
The horses were. in very poor condition.
There were pa -
road station
14. The taxi-cabs in Riga belonged to the municipality and were not owned privately.
The Pobeda make was the car most commonly used as a cab. Rarely did the cabs
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have automatic meters;. usually the amount to be paid for a trip was figured
25X1 out by the number of kilometers, and the fare was 50 kopeks per kilometer.
Some people ran a black market taxi-service, driving private cars as taxi-
cabs t night, and outside the town.
driver of a car belonging to
a ac ory. After working hours the driver had the car at his disposal, though
25X1 he was not supposed to make private trips, and had no gasoline for that purpose,
since gasoline was rationed. Nevertheless this driver used the car as a taxi,
fully aware of the risk of being caught. He purchased gasoline from air force
men at the barracks in Pardaugava, and made trips at night, even to Lithuania.
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k
k
ac
mar
et one had to pay 2 to 3 rubles per
liter, whereas the official price was about 1 ruble per liter. Each pro erl
licensed a certain amount of gasoline tickets
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15. The local river transportation operated from the landing-place on the right
b
ank of the Daugava River below the ponton bridge. The destinations of the
local steamships were. Agenskalns; Sarkandaugavaa Nilgravis, stopping also
at Kundzinsala; Daugavgriva, stopping also at Bolderaja; and Mezze, Park or
Kisezers, only in the summer. There is another line upstream. The stop in
Riga for this line was not at the same place downstream from the ponton bridge
as for the other lines; these steamships left from a place upstream from the
ponton bridge.
16? not able to estimate the percentage of active Communists and active
resistance, but as to the feelings of the Latvian part of the
population was:. a dup its anti-communist, even among the young people,
though the percentage must have been higher among
l~ Comments only the tower
a the c ur?c7z
Comment The streetcar lines were numbered in 1951, according to
an article in Cina in July 1952. ,
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