The Liepāja massacres were a series of mass executions, many public or semi-public, in and near the city of Liepāja (), on the west coast of Latvia in 1941 after the German occupation of Latvia. The main perpetrators were detachments of the Einsatzgruppen, the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the Ordnungspolizei (ORPO), and Latvian auxiliary police and militia forces. Wehrmacht soldiers and German naval personnel were present during shootings. In addition to Jewish men, women and children (c.5,000), the Germans and their Latvian collaborators also killed Roma (c.100), communists, the mentally ill (c.30) and so-called "hostages". In contrast to most other Holocaust murders in Latvia, the killings at Liepāja were done in open places. About 5,000 of the 5,700 Jews trapped in Liepāja were shot, most of them in 1941. The killings occurred at a variety of places within and outside of the city, including Rainis Park in the city center, and areas near the harbor, the Olympic Stadium, and the lighthouse. The largest massacre, of 2,731 Jews and 23 communists, occurred in the dunes surrounding the town of Šķēde, north of the city center. This massacre, which was perpetrated on a disused Latvian Army training ground, was conducted by German and collaborator forces from December 15 to 17, 1941. More is known about the killing of the Jews of Liepāja than in any other city in Latvia except for Riga. German invasion Liepāja was targeted by the Germans as a town of special importance. It was a naval base and also an important international port. As such, the population was suspected of being more sympathetic to Communism. The German army planned to capture the city on the first day of the war, Sunday, June 22, 1941. The attack on Liepāja was led by the German 291st Infantry Division. Strong resistance by the Red Army and other Soviet forces prevented the Germans from entering the city until June 29, 1941, and resistance, including sniper fire, continued within the city for several days afterwards. The city was heavily damaged in the fighting and fires burned for days. Shootings begin In Latvia the Holocaust started on the night of June 23 to June 24, 1941, when in Grobiņa, a town near Liepāja, Sonderkommando 1a members killed six local Jews, including the town chemist, in the church graveyard. Once Liepāja itself fell on June 29, 1941, "the hunt for the Jews began with the first hours