of ten were then ordered to stand up, and, except for children, remove their outer clothing. As they were moved closer to the pit, they were ordered to strip completely. A Latvian guard, Bulvāns, later testified that he saw two Germans, SS-Scharführer ("squad leader") Karl-Emil Strott and Philip (or Filip) Krapp, using a whip on people who did not move on to the pit. The actual shootings were done by three units, one of Germans, another of Latvian SD men, and another unit of the Latvian police, apparently the one commanded by Galiņš. The victims were positioned along the edge of the sea side of the trench. They were faced away from their killers, who fired across the trench, with two gunmen allocated to each victim. After the initial volley, a German SD man would step down into trench, inspect the bodies, and fire finishing shots into anyone left alive. The goal was to have the bodies fall into the trench, but this did not always happen. Accordingly, the executioners had a "kicker" come along after each group of victims. The kicker's job was to literally kick, roll, or shove the bodies into the grave. Sergeant Jauģietis of the Latvia police worked as a kicker for at least part of the killings. Each execution team was relieved by another after killing 10 sets of victims. It was the practice of the persons commanding the executioners in Latvia to encourage drinking among at least the Latvian killing squads. During the Liepāja killings, a milk can of rum was set up at the killing pits. High-ranking Wehrmacht and Kriegsmarine officers visited the site during the course of the executions. Lucan, an adjutant of the 707th Marine Antiaircraft Detachment, described seeing an execution of 300 to 500 Liepāja Jews in the winter. He saw a column of 300 to 500 Jews of all ages, men and women, being led under guard past his unit's headquarter's north on the road to Ventspils. The trench was 50 to 75 meters long, 2 to 3 meters wide and about 3 meters deep. Lucan did not see the actual shooting, but he and other members of his unit heard rifle fire coming from the direction of the pit for a long time. Lucan inspected the site the next day: After the shootings, on January 3, 1942, Kügler reported to Fritz Dietrich, then in command of the Riga