Dispossession as practice. Riga, 1939–1942

This article sheds light on the dispossession of Jews during World War II through the study of administrative practices, using the case of Riga. In this Soviet (Latvian) city occupied by Nazi Germany, dispossession policies were established and implemented quickly. Between the summer of 1941 and the summer of 1942, the homes and moveable property of the 40,000 Jews living in the city (including many refugees) were all seized and redistributed as their owners and tenants were being exterminated, along with the property owned or leased by the thousands of individuals who escaped the city during the German invasion. This rapidity would not have been possible without the reutilization of administrative tools established to facilitate previous policies, and the application of various actors’ experiences since 1939. This text explores two ways in which this reutilization occurred: the accumulation of expertise within the municipal administration of Riga in relation to the dispossession and redistribution of rental apartments; the transfer of German experiences with dispossession in Polish cities annexed by the Reich. In addition to insights on practices of dispossession, this text notably provides points of reflection about the interactions between the Reich and the Soviet Union and about the transfer of policies and experiences related to racial persecution within the territories occupied by the Reich.