Pre-1940: Tartu, city and district center, Estonia; 1940–1941: Estonian SSR; 1941–1944: Dorpat, center, Kreis and Gebiet Dorpat, Generalkommissariat Estland; post-1991: Tartu, city and district center, Republic of Estonia Tartu, Estonia’s second-largest city, is located 185 kilometers (115 miles) south of Tallinn. According to the 1934 population census, 920 Jews were living in the city. German armed forces captured the city on July 11–12, 1941, three weeks after their invasion of the USSR on June 22. During that time, the vast majority of the Jewish population was able to evacuate; it was mainly the sick and elderly and some of their relatives (about 50 people) who remained in Tartu at the start of the German occupation. At first, German Feldkommandantur 817 controlled the city, which was headed by Oberst Hans Gosebruch. In December 1941, authority in Estonia was transferred to a German civilian administration, and from mid-December 1941 onward, Tartu was governed by Kreisleiter Me...