Herberts Cukurs

Herberts Cukurs
Herberts Cukurs in pre-World War II Latvian uniform.
Born	(1900-05-17)May 17, 1900 Liepāja, Courland Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	February 23, 1965(1965-02-23) (aged 64) Montevideo, Uruguay
Occupation	Aviator
Known for	Pioneer aviator. Alleged involvement in killing of Latvian Jews during the Holocaust

Herberts Cukurs (May 17, 1900 in Liepāja, Courland Governorate, Russian Empire – February 23, 1965 in Shangrilá, Uruguay) was a Latvian aviator. He was a member of the Arajs Kommando which was involved in the mass murder of Latvian Jews as part of the Holocaust but he never stood trial, though there are eyewitness accounts linking Cukurs to war crimes. He was assassinated by operatives of the Israeli intelligence service (Mossad) in 1965. The Mossad agent agent Künzle who murdered Cukurs and the journalist Gad Shimron wrote a book "The Death of the Executioner of Riga" in which they called Cukurs the "Butcher of Riga", and the term was later picked up by several sources.

Since the fall of Communism, there have been several attempts to rehabilitate Cukurs's image as one of a national hero, denying the accusations brought against him.

As a pioneering long-distance pilot, he won national acclaim for his international solo flights in the 1930s (Latvia-Gambia and Riga-Tokyo). He was awarded the Harmon Trophy for Latvia in 1933, and was considered a national hero, comparable with Charles Lindbergh.

Cukurs built at least three aircraft of his own design. In 1937 he made a 45,000-kilometre (24,000 nmi; 28,000 mi) tour visiting Japan, China, Indochina, India and Soviet Union, flying the C 6 wooden monoplane "Trīs zvaigznes" (registration YL-ABA) of his own creation. The aircraft was powered by a de Havilland Gipsy engine.