Comparing Holocaust Mass Burial Trenches : A Case Study from Sabile, Latvia

Abstract

Two Holocaust-era trenches sit between the Abava River and a local road near Sabile, Latvia. The mass murder of Sabile Jews took place on August 6,1941. The intended execution of Sabile’s Roma population never occurred leaving an open trench. The goal of the project is to locate the filled in trench containing 240 Jewish citizens and compare it to the open Roma trench. To find the Jewish trench, an 8x9m grid was laid down and ground penetrating radar (GPR) lines were collected every 0.25m using a Sensors & Software pulseEKKO Pro system with 500MHz antennae. The GPR data was then geometrically corrected using a Topcon laser leveler. Results show horizontal, to sub-horizontal semi-continuous reflection patterns with erosional truncations from 2-4m across the grid. These truncations were filled with concave upward reflection patterns. In comparison to the open Roma trench, it is hypothesized that the Jewish trench lays partially within the imaged lines and is roughly 2-4m wide and 5m deep. The study, for the first time, has been able to compare two Holocaust trenches (one open and one filled in). The results can be used by others to compare mass execution sites worldwide.