Edward
Anders
(USA) and Vladimirs Baans (Liepaaja), Co-Chairmen
One is not truly
dead until one’s name is forgotten.
(Talmud)
The need for this memorial became evident in 1998
when one
of us learned that the names of most Liepaaja Holocaust victims had
been
forgotten. Although Yad Vashem (Jerusalem) had since 1953 collected
victims’
names from survivors, only 20% of the names from Latvia had been
recovered, and
there was little hope of getting additional names. As only 2% of
Latvian Jews
had survived the German occupation, many Liepaaja Jewish families and
their
friends were totally annihilated in the Holocaust, leaving nobody to
remember
their names. Such oblivion would have pleased Hitler.
For the next 3 years one of us, aided by Juris
Dubrovskis
in Riga, searched a dozen archival sources in five countries for Jews
who lived
in Liepaaja on the eve of the Holocaust. Ella Barkan in Tel Aviv
provided
invaluable help by interviewing survivors. At last, a memorial book
with 7,060
names was published in 2001. The complete database was posted on the
Internet,
enabling people to check for errors and omissions The current list,
posted on
the Memorial Wall, includes 6,428 names of the victims of Hitler and
Stalin.
That is at least 93% of the total.
Helped initially by Ella Barkan and Solomon
Feigerson, we
started to plan a Memorial Wall in the Jewish Cemetery in Liepaaja. A
fundraising appeal for the Wall and for some tidying up of the cemetery
yielded
nearly $26,000 from about 160 former Libauers or their descendants
(listed
below), to whom we express our gratitude. The Wall was strictly a
grass-roots effort, without any help or support by organizations or
governments. However, we
gratefully
acknowledge contributions by the City of Liepaaja toward renovation of
the
cemetery. The memorial was designed by Alzhaana grafikas un dizaina
birojs
(Liepaaja) and was built by UPTK (Liepaaja).
We cannot revive the victims of the Holocaust or
even
provide them a decent burial. As a symbolic gesture, we have buried
some sand
from the Shkjeede killing field at the foot of the Memorial; it
probably
contains a few atoms of the victims. In a more visible tribute we have
brought
their names to the cemetery, where most victims would have found their
final
resting place if there had been no war, no Holocaust, and no Gulag.
Edward
Anders and Vladimirs Baans
AUSTRALIA: Bertelsen Lorraine
• Fooks Noemi • Hofmanis Joseph
• Kohn Maly • Opat Vivienne • Solway Max •• BRAZIL: Elefant Cyrla •• CANADA: Bercuvitz Judith •
Blumberg
Henry • Brauer Max • Gamsa Simon • Newman Lisa • Pamensky Victor •
Porzecanski
Steffi • Rakoff Gina • Sebba Richard • Stoch Ella & Mary •• FRANCE: Benatti Joyce •
Darmon Irène •
Depaigne Anita • Ostrowsky Nicole •• GERMANY: Deift Ruven •
Deift Zalman •
Hering Franz & Gabriele • Hering Johannes • Kartschoke Andreas •
Kartschoke
Bettina • Kartschoke Horst & Karen • Pitten Susanne •• ISRAEL: Arbel Ruth • Barkan Abraham •
Barkan Ella •
Barkan Josef • Bartal Aida & Rita • Boyar Meri • Braver Aviva •
Brener Lea
• Brilowitz Reuven • Cohen Tamar • Davidi Lea • Farkash Sarah •
Feiganov Shalom
• Feigerson Solomon • Flaster Hedda • Fridland Shmuel • Genton Josef •
Gilad
Chava • Goldberg Eugenie (Genia) • Gordon Efraim • Gotchinski Ruth •
Hait
Genadi • Hakel Anna • Hasid Dora • Havenson Aisik • Hirschhorn Hessel •
Ish-Shalom Rosa • Issahary David • Kogan Ilia • Koleck Jocheved •
Kopman Chaim
• London Ella • Mazin Rachel • Neufeld Bella • Niburg Rosa • Pikielny
Simon •
Plaksin Chaja • Ravid Eliyahu • Samuelson Israel • Samuelson Yecheskel
&
Hinda • Schattenstein-Roitgur Sara & Sunia • Schnaider Rocha •
Sebba Wulf •
Suhovokov Rachel • Tosch Glika • Tzivian Naftaly • Waldstein Evelyn •
Westermann Aharon • Zipori Riva • Zohar Bracha & Lazer •• ITALY: Jarre Maria
Gersoni •• NORWAY: Dante Jenny &
Sam •• SOUTH
AFRICA: Katz
Maurice •• SWEDEN: Berniker Orian •• UNITED
KINGDOM: Alexander Simon •
Alexander
Zelda • Fisher Hilda • Phipps Rosie • Rosengarten Georgia • Scott
Herman •• UNITED
STATES: Anders
Edward • Anonymous • Benjaminson Eric • Bloshteyn Pesya • Borus Rita •
Breitz
Ellen • Breitz Hazel • Bub Bennie • Carlen Esta • Charny Anna • Charny
Clara •
Charny Wolfe • Drabkin Julius • Ende Frieda • Engel Arnold • Erlich
Reva • Farb
Leonard • Feitelberg Allen • Finkelstein Rosalind • Fischer Jack •
Fischer
Stanley • Foss-Kant Pessia • Goldsmith Eleanor • Gottfried Marie •
Haight Taube
• Halle Morris • Herschitz Hilel • Herschitz Zelma • Hirschhorn Beth •
Hirschhorn Donald • Hirschhorn Irvin • Hirschhorn Laurence • Hirschhorn
Robert
• Hoffman William • Hollander Vita • Howard Bernard • Joffe Benjamin •
Kahn
Shoshana • Karshtedt Ilya • Lebovits Fanny • LePere Gene • Lesses
Rebecca •
Lowenson Jeffrey • Luban Pnina • Madere Laura • Markuse Lea • Melnick
Michael •
Mirman Boris • Munic Sara • Neys Benjamin • Neys Shaia • Numark Neil •
Ospovat
Alexander • Porzecanski Arturo • Prager Marlene • Robbins Sheila
Johnson •
Rosen Fred • Roth Ida • Saretzky Gary • Saretzky Simon • Satten Joseph
•
Schiman Nanci • Schmahmann John • Schmehmann L. • Schwab George • Sebba
Anthony
• Solomon Steven • Sommer Jenny • Spector Doris • Spector Johanna •
Spencer
Edith • Stephens Xenia • Strumpf Selda • Vekhnis Mara • Zilber Lydia •
The Jewish Community
in Liepaaja
was established only in 1799. Although Jewish traders and craftsmen
appeared in
Courland (Kurzeme) Duchy already in the 16th century, few
were
allowed to settle; in 1795, when Courland was annexed to Russia, only
19 Jews
were registered in Liepaaja. Only the Piltene district, including
Aizpute
(Hasenpot) was somewhat more hospitable. Restrictions gradually eased
during
the 19th century, leading to increased immigration from
Latgale,
Lithuania, Byelorussia, and Poland. These newcomers added diversity to
the
old-timers, who were oriented toward German culture. As Liepaaja became a major port of the Russian
empire, Jews
played an important role in developing commerce and industry. In 1914,
about
10,000 Jews lived in Liepaaja, which then had a population of 116,000.
Many
Jews fought for Latvian independence 1918–1920 and later helped the
country recover from the ravages of World War I. Life was tolerably
good until
the first of a series of disasters struck on 17 June 1940, when the
USSR occupied
Latvia in violation of a perpetual non-aggression treaty of 1920.
Despite
initial promises of continued Latvian sovereignty, the USSR annexed the
country
7 weeks later. These events split the Jewish community. Many working
class Jews
(and Latvians) initially welcomed the Red Army, trusting communist
promises of
social justice and power to the people. They also expected protection
from
Hitler. But the more prosperous Jews feared persecution as „bourgeois“
and
„class enemies“. However, it soon turned out that persecution also
extended to
other categories of Jews, such as Zionists, moderate leftists,
religious Jews,
former politicians, etc.
More
disasters followed in close succession. On 14 June 1941, nearly 15,000
people
were deported to the USSR, either to Gulag camps or to exile in
Siberia. Jews
were nearly three-fold overrepresented among the deportees (208 of 559
from the
city of Liepaaja). When Germany attacked the USSR 8 days later, some
300 out of
7,100 Liepaaja Jews fled to the USSR. More might have fled but
men—except
party and government officials—were not allowed to leave; others were
turned away at the Latvia-USSR border for lack of proper papers;
moreover, the
city was soon encircled by German troops. Besides, a number of Liepaaja
Jews,
remembering the benign German occupation of 1915–1918, expected nothing
worse than discrimination and perhaps forced labor. Neither they nor
the German
Jewish refugees in town knew that Hitler had ordered the extermination
of Jews
in all territories seized from the Soviets.
Of the about 160 Jews
who were in
the military or Workers’ Guard, many fell in the battle for Liepaaja
whereas
some others retreated with the Red Army. That left about 6,500 Jews in
the
hands of the German forces that occupied Liepaaja on 29 June 1941.
An SS-Einsatzgruppen team arrived on the same day, killed a number
of Jews, and
recruited volunteers for a Latvian „Self-Defense” unit. The latter
promptly
began to arrest Jews, especially members of the Workers’ Guard, and
took them
to the Women’s Prison, which became a torture chamber and
holding pen for
the doomed. Some 47 Jews were shot by the Einsatzgruppen men on 3 July 1941. (Many were reburied in the
Jewish
cemetery a few days later; from then on, mass graves at execution sites
became
the rule.) A daily manhunt began: Jews, marked by yellow cloth patches
on chest
and back, were arrested on the street, in their homes, or—most
conveniently—on Firehouse Square, where Jewish men had to report for
forced labor at 7.00 every morning. Executions took place every few
days. Many
Jewish families were evicted from their apartments and had to double up
or
triple up with friends or relatives, where they lived on food rations
one-half
of the skimpy Latvian rations. The synagogues were razed on orders of
the SS,
who then tried to force Jews to trample on the sacred scrolls.
Liepaaja became a
major base of
the German Navy. Unfortunately for the Jews, the commandant, Fregattenkapitän Dr. Hans Kawelmacher, and especially his
deputy, Korvettenkapitän
Fritz Brückner, seemed anxious
to outdo
the SS. Brückner issued rules for Jews that were the most draconian of
any town
in Latvia. Kawelmacher, believing Nazi propaganda that Jewish men were
the
mainstay of communism, became impatient with the pace of executions and
cabled
the commanding admiral of the Baltic fleet to send 100 SS- and 50 Schutzpolizei troops “for rapid execution Jewish problem.
With
present SS-personnel, this would take one year, which is untenable for
pacification of Liepaaja.” His
request was
promptly granted; the notorious Latvian SD commando under Viktors
Araajs
arrived from Riga, shot about 1,100 Jewish men on July 24 and 25, and
left.
Shootings, soon
including women,
continued in the next months—first at the lighthouse and fish
processing
factory, then on the Navy Base, and finally at Shkjeede. On 15–17
December 1941, 2,749 Jews—mainly women and children—were murdered
at Shkjeede by 3 firing squads: German SD, Latvian SD, and Latvian
auxiliary
police. (SS-Oberscharführer
Sobeck took
pictures, which were secretly copied by an audacious Jew, David Zivcon,
and
since the war have been widely displayed in museums and books). By the
end of
1941, only 1,050 Jews were still alive.
After further
shootings in the
next few months, 832 Jews remained, who were forced into a crowded
ghetto on 1
July 1942. The ghetto commandant, Meister der Schutzpolizei Franz Kerscher, was relatively humane, and so
about 800
were still alive on 8 October 1943 when the inmates were deported to
the
Kaiserwald concentration camp in Riga. Old people and mothers with
children
under 12 soon were killed locally or sent to Auschwitz for gassing.
After
further “selections”, about 350 remained, who were deported to the
Stutthof
concentration camp in August-September 1944. Some were sent to subcamps
further
East, where they were liberated by the Red Army in early 1945, others
died on
death marches or under the increasingly brutal conditions at Stutthof.
The last remnant of
Stutthof
prisoners were put on barges two weeks before the end of the war,
tugged
westward, and then abandoned at sea. Norwegian political prisoners
navigated
the barges to shore at Neustadt i.H., but when the half-dead Jews
staggered
ashore, a group of young German sailors shot or drowned more than 50 of
them. A
few hours later the last survivors were liberated by British troops.
Further
south, the US Army liberated a few Liepaaja survivors in Dachau.
After liberation, the
Liepaaja
survivors received excellent medical care in Denmark, Sweden, or
Germany, but 8
died in the next few weeks, leaving 176. Another 33 had survived in
Liepaaja,
having been hidden by brave and kind-hearted Latvians who risked their
lives,
such as Roberts and Johanna Seduls who saved 11 Jews. All together, 3%
of the
Liepaaja Jews survived the Nazi occupation. But the Soviet regime
treated these
survivors with great suspicion, presuming that any Jew not killed by
the Nazis
must have committed high treason. A number were sentenced to 10–20 year
terms in
the
Gulag. Not surprisingly, many emigrated to Israel or other countries
when the
opportunity arose in the early 1970s.
Of
the ~300 refugees who in June 1941 tried to flee to the USSR, several
dozen
perished—mainly captured or killed in air raids while still in Latvia.
Of
the deportees 40% died, leaving 126 survivors.
Today
the Liepaaja Jewish Community has about 200 members. Only 6 of the
original
Liepaaja families remain; all others are immigrants from Russia or the
Ukraine.
The old Community building at Kungu iela 21 has been thoroughly
renovated,
thanks to the generosity of Selwyn and Raymond Haas of Great Britain
and the energetic efforts of Ilana Ivanova.
The
Community has several active programs, such as a school, clubs for
families and
the elderly, and a welfare program for the needy.
Anti-Semitism had
never been
strong in Latvia. Unlike other parts of the Tsarist empire, Latvia
never had
any pogroms. Indeed, when a mob of “Black Hundreds” in October 1905
tried to
attack a Jewish quarter in Riga, Latvian workers joined Jews in
fighting them
off, and 3 Latvians died in this defense. True, in the 1920s and 1930s
the
anti-Semitic (and anti-German) organization Peerkonkrusts had a small but fanatical following and
published vicious
propaganda. But it was outlawed by Ulmanis in 1934. Although Jews were
excluded
from civil service and after 1934 suffered growing discrimination in
business
and in university admissions, Jewish schools were supported by the
state and
Jewish refugees continued to get visas when most other countries
refused to
admit them. All told, Latvia in the 1930’s was more anti-Semitic than
Italy or
Scandinavia; about the same as France, Switzerland, the USA, and
Canada; but
less so than Germany or several Eastern European countries.
Latvian anti-Semitism
grew during
the Soviet occupation 1940/41, but did not become violent. The chaotic
period
between collapse of Soviet authority and arrival of German troops would
have
been an opportunity for fanatical anti-Semites to kill Jews, but
although there
exist some reports of such killings, none of those investigated have
been
confirmed
thus far. Verified killings started only with the arrival of German
troops and Einsatzgruppen
teams—in Liepaaja, on 29 June 1941. Simultaneously came a torrent of anti-Semitic
propaganda,
contending: The USSR and especially the NKVD was run by and for
Jews, Jews
were responsible for the 14 June deportations, Jews had started the
war, Jews
conspired to rule the world, Jews rather than German bombers and
artillery had
burned down the town, etc. One
bizarre
story in a German police magazine claimed that on Stalin’s orders, the
Jews on
Viitolu iela had burned down their own houses so as to deny them to the
Germans.
The Latvian auxiliary
police
recruited by the Einsatzgruppen
initially were ordered only to arrest Jews and communists, leaving the
shooting
to Germans. But in September, a Latvian SD platoon was organized that
replaced the
departing German police unit as executioners. Some volunteered in
response to
an offer of 2–3 bottles of alcohol. Long-term anti-Semites and recent
converts who believed Nazi propaganda often brutalized and tormented
the
arrested Jews before execution. Others were more restrained but still
followed
orders, which eventually included shooting women and children, or at
least escorting them to their death.
Among
Latvian civilians, some believed at least part of the German propaganda
and
became hostile toward Jews. Many were indifferent, but a number were
friendly,
even compassionate, and helped Jews by secretly supplying them with
food
despite the stiff penalties. The bravest among them—the
rescuers—saved 33 Jews by hiding them for days, months, or years, or by
providing them with false papers. Their names are given on the Memorial
Wall
and below.
|
Brundzelis J. |
Indriksons (husband) |
Seermolinja Maija |
|
Bushs |
Indriksons (son) |
Skara Arvids |
|
Daave Tereeze |
Ivanova |
Smilga |
|
Dombrovska Elizabete |
Janaite |
Sprog’is Jaanis |
|
Eilenbergs Kaarlis |
Kandevicha Ieva |
Streele Amalija |
|
Eninja Grieta |
Kaarklinja Herta |
Shimelpfenigs Otilija |
|
Eninjsh Kaarlis |
Kumerovs Friidrihs |
Unknown woman |
|
Eninjsh Teodors |
Paavele Zelma |
Unknown |
|
Eevels H. and family |
Paavels Jeekabs |
Unknown |
|
Fimbauere Anna |
Raats Jaanis |
Unknown |
|
Freimanis Eduards |
Raats Olga |
Unknown |
|
G’intere |
Roze Margrieta |
Unknown worker |
|
G’inters |
Sameits Kristaps |
Vecvagare |
|
Gludausis Arnolds |
Sedule Johanna |
Ziiverte Sofija |
|
Indriksone (wife) |
Seduls
Roberts |
Zvirgzdinja Anna |
The
punishment for hiding a Jew was much more severe in Latvia than in,
say, the
Netherlands—concentration camp or even death, rather than a reprimand
or
a 6-month prison term. The historian Marg‘ers Vestermanis reports that
52
Latvians paid with their lives for hiding Jews. Moreover, the hosts had
the
huge problem of feeding the fugitives. Even if the host had the means
to buy
food on the black market, he had to hide from neighbors the large
amount of
food going in and other signs of an increased number of people: voices,
footsteps, laundry, etc. The most outstanding rescuers in Liepaaja were
Roberts
and Johanna Seduls, who hid 11 Jews for nearly 2 years in a cleverly
disguised
hideout in the basement of the apartment building on Tirgonju iela 14
(now 22).
Tragically, Seduls was killed by an artillery shell on 10 March 1945,
but his
wife, helped by Arvids Skara, continued to care for the Jews until the
end of
the war.
There
also were rescuers among the German military. Marine-Verwaltungsinspektor Friedrich
Kroll was manager
of the Navy’s uniform warehouse,
located in
the former Cork Factory, where approximately 100 Jews worked. When he
discovered on 15. December 41 that masses of Jews were being arrested
and shot,
he and his associates rushed to the Women’s Prison and demanded that
“their”
Jews be released. He then urged the Jews working for him to spend the
next 2
nights in the Cork Factory rather than going home. Moreover, on the
next 2
mornings he again went to the Women’s Prison to gain the release of any
Jews
from the Cork Factory who had gone home despite his warnings and had
been
arrested. Another officer, Air Force Lt. Colonel Hernsdorf, hid 4 Jews in his
Karosta apartment during the December killings.
We dedicate this wall to the victims,
in the
hope that such atrocities will never happen again. May a new era free
of hatred
begin, when all ethnic groups of Latvia again work together in
friendship
toward the goal of building a prosperous, independent Latvia.
The
dedication ceremony was held in Liepaaja on 9 June 2004. Four
of the speeches are available
here.
·
Vaira
Viikje-Freiberga,
President of Latvia
·
Paulis Lazda, Professor of
History, University
of Wisconsin
·
Edward Anders, co-chairman,
Libau Jewish
Memorial Committee
·
Vladimirs Bans, co-chairman,
Libau Jewish
Memorial Committee