2023

On July 29, the Liepaja Jewish Heritage Foundation hosted the first presentation of the memoirs of Professor George David Schwab in the Liepaja Jewish Community Hall. The event was attended by VIP guests, including H.E. Māris Selga, Ambassador of Latvia to the USA, Sharon Rapaport Palgi, H.E Ambassador of the State of Israel to Latvia and members of the Jewish Community, history experts, media and Liepaja public representatives as well as donors.

It was not a coincidence that Professor’s book of memoirs was first presented to the public in Liepaja. George David Schwab was born on November 25 in Liepaja in the family of the famous gastroenterologist Arkady Schwab and his wife, pianist Clara Schwab (nee Storch). George studied at the Latvian school named after J. Čakste. His pre-war childhood was carefree surrounded by a large and friendly family. But the Second World War began and in the first days of the occupation his father was shot. After the Liepaja ghetto, George, his mother and brother were sent to the Riga ghetto and then to concentration camps in Germany.

Joseph Berger, reporter and editor of The New York Times wrote:

George Schwab wrote an outstanding memoir about the Holocaust. What makes them special is that they reflect the life of a child, and then a teenager, who grew up in a very wealthy family – with a governess, games of tennis, dinners in the Kaiser Pavilion, where canapes with cocoa were served – suffered the same fate as the Jews from the poorest shtetls. Schwab tells his tale of woe without an ounce of self-pity, yet his detailed and vivid account of cattle cars, slave labor, death marches, the loss of loved ones in the gas chambers, and Nazi violence is heartbreaking. The fact that Schwab, a street child for some time after the war, became a highly respected history professor and foreign policy expert makes his resilience, courage, and courage all the more impressive.
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July 10-20 – Research team from the USA opens new facts on extermination of Liepaja Jews during the Holocaust

From July 10-10, 2023, at the invitation of the Foundation ”Liepājas ebreju mantojums” and the financial support of the “Uniting” Foundation, a team of researchers from the United States worked in Liepaja, which continued to study known and unknown burial sites of Holocaust victims using a non-invasive method, which began in 2022 year. In 2022, researchers were tasked with:

• In the lighthouse area: – determination of the specific place of execution of the Jews of Liepaja, which are depicted in the film by the German soldier Reinhard Wiener made in Liepaja on July 15, 1941, as well as probable other burial places in the same territory;

* In the Šķēde Memorial area and round the stele erected in 1955

*In the Jewish part of the Livas cemetery in the K-N(?) sector.

We have always been interested in the reason of the existence of two hills in the N-K(?) area and the likelihood of finding a mass grave between them. The research team was led by Philip Reeder, PhD, from Duquesne University, Harry Jol, PhD, from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, Martin Goettl, a Geospatial Technology Facilitator in the Department of Geography and Anthropology at UWEC undergraduate students from the same universities.

On October 8, we received the first report on the results of work at the Jewish cemetery. Based on studies of earth sections and all georadar data collected at the Jewish cemetery, it was concluded that there were anomalies (probable interventions in the earth layer) in fixed study location. A large anomaly extends at a depth of 2.20 – 2.55 m.

The presence of two mounds of soil to the north and south of the GPR grid (see figure 5), and the anomalies within the grid, indicate that the area where the grid was placed does contain some type of excavation. It is postulated that the mounds of soil are present because “something” was placed i Researchers mentioned that at that moment, they could not say what was placed in the excavation (if anything), but given its location within a Jewish Cemetery, and the Nazi penchant for using existing Jewish cemeteries as places for mass burial, it would be possible that the excavation contained the remains of Jews that were murdered by the Nazis and their local collaborators.

The students have developed an ESRI Story Maps which provides a way for them to tell the story and provide preliminary results of the data we collected.
Eastern Europe Story Maps (students) – https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/40c136cfea0949d498b0202fb8df92b0
Eastern Europe Blog link (Mikaela) – https://archgeosummerscholars2021.wordpress.com/blog/
We have had significant news coverage:
• an article by the regional Latvian newspaper: https://www.liepajniekiem.lv/zinas/sabiedriba/asv-petnieki-mekle-ebreju-kapavietas/
• A television interview on a western Wisconsin station: https://www.weau.com/2023/08/16/uw-eau-claire-research-group-searches-unmarked-graves/
• An article on Latvian Public Media. The article is written by Liba Meller who joined us for several days in the field. The article is published in multiple languages: https://www.lsm.lv/raksts/dzive–stils/vesture/20.08.2023-liepaja-atrasti-jauni-gravji-ar-nacistu-nosauto-ebreju-mirstigajam-atliekam.a520852/ – translation into Latvian from the original in Russian: https://rus.lsm.lv/statja/stil-zhizni/istorija/20.08.2023-novye-rasstrelnye-rvy-s-ostankami-zertv-nacistov-naideny-v-liepae.a520542/

This year from June 29 to July 2, with the support of the Liepāja Jewish Heritage foundation, a forum of young Jewish entrepreneurs was held in Liepāja for the first time.

More than 120 Jewish entrepreneurs, both experienced and beginners, gathered at their regular Forum from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

BJN – is a community of like-minded people dedicated to the development of contemporary Jewish life in the Baltic States.

BJN – is a platform where young entrepreneurs have the opportunity to express themselves and develop in the professional world of specialists, experienced entrepreneurs. It is an opportunity to exchange experiences, ideas, create and develop partnerships in the Baltic Jewish community.

On June 29, 1941 when the Nazi army fully occupied Liepaja, there were approximately 6,500 Jews living in the city, but by the end of the year only 1,050 remained alive.
On July 1, 1942, already 832 Jews remaining alive were imprisoned in the Liepaja ghetto, On October 8, 1943 about 700 ghetto inmates were transported to the Riga concentration camp and then to Auschwitz. Only 3% of Liepaja Jews survived the Holocaust.
About 70,000 Latvian Jews were killed during the Holocaust until the end of 1941. About 20,000 German, Austrian, Lithuanian and Hungarian Jews were resettled in Latvia and also killed.

On July 4, the open public foundation “Liepājas ebreju mantojums” in cooperation with the Liepaja Jewish Community organized the annual event dedicated to the thousands of Jews who were killed during the Holocaust in Latvia.
The 4th of July was chosen to commemorate the burning of the Great Choral Synagogue and four other Riga synagogues on July 4, 1941, which was the symbolic beginning of the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi occupation authorities.
By honoring the victims of the genocide of the Jewish people of Latvia, we remind and make us think about the fragility of a human life and peace. Only a joint fight against anti-Semitism, as well as other manifestations of intolerance to such evils, can guarantee a happy future.
Remembrance rallies and prayer readings took place at the lighthouse (Ronu Street 6), at the memorial in Šķēde and at the memorial stone on the site of the former Liepaja ghetto.

It was devoted to Israeli wineries and the role of wine in religious Jewish rituals. Lecturers I. Ivanova, R. Suharо told about the history of winemaking in Israel, introduced the meeting participants to 5 different wine-growing regions of the country.

E. Kaplan presented several types of kosher wine, shared the insignia of kosher wines and talked about the role of kosher wine in the fulfillment of religious traditions.

At the end of the evening there was a presentation of 6 types of Israeli wine. Wine expert Daiga Veismane conducted a tasting and a master class. The evening ended with a wonderful show – chief Gleb Rogoza, a member of our community, demonstrated how to open a bottle of champagne in the “hussar” way – knocking down the cork with a sword, which caused a storm of applause in his address

For our first meeting, we invited Rabbi Israel Aizensharf and his wife from Riga. He spoke about the history and traditions of Shabbat. The meeting participants learned that Shabbat is met with a Shabbat meal. The woman lights candles, her husband reads Kiddush – a blessing – on Shabbat, Shabbat wine or grape juice is poured, challah is shared amonf all participants of the meals. The whole family sits around the table and celebrates Shabbat – they communicate, eat, sing songs. The Rabbi’s wife, Inna Aizensharf, spoke about the important role a Jewish woman has in preparing for Shabbat and shared her personal experience. The family members and guests sit down at the table in a good mood, forgetting about the problems of everyday life and anxiety. The meal should be the best: fish, meat and various delicacies. Two challahs are necessarily served on the table in memory of the heavenly manna, which G-d gave to the Jews when they returned from Egypt through the desert. On that day, G-d gave the people twice as much heavenly bread. It is believed that during Shabbat, an atmosphere of joy and peace should reign in the house. Our meeting was held in a warm and friendly atmosphere, the youth dstayed together for a long time and decided to continue their acquaintance with the history and traditions of the Jewish people.

We are grateful to the chef of the restaurant “OXO Brasserie” Gleb Rogoza for his delicious meals prepared for our Shabbat dinner.

1. On April 18, 2023, the cast bronze monument “She Didn’t Take Off Her Boots” was unveiled at Caroline and Maurice LeBauer Park in Greensboro, North Carolina, USA.
2. It is the first and only women’s Holocaust memorial in North Carolina and is named after the brave mothers Eva Weiner and Sophia Guralnik, who rescued their children, Shelley Weiner and Raya Kizhnerman, by hiding them in Nazi-occupied Poland for almost two years.
3. According to the author of the monument, sculptor Victoria Karlin Milstein she was inspired by one of the 12 world-famous photographs of the execution of women, old people and children in Shkeda (Liepaja, Latvia).
4. The sculptural group presents four Jewish women withsad eyes and a frightened little girl. They had been told to strip to their underwear in the freezing cold. But the older woman in the center would not take off her black boots.
5. The monument will become a public space in Greensboro so that the public not only remembers the Holocaust, but also has a place for effective Holocaust education. In memory of the dead, the monument will be a powerful statement against the killing of women and children, anti-Semitism, genocide and all kinds of hatred.Itglorifiesthestrengthandresilienceofallwomen.
6. The Monument “She Wouldn’t Take Off Her Boots”, the memorial of the December 15th, 1941 Liepāja massacre, is a voice for women and childrenwhich says …. We will put our boots on…. We will resist …. We will be the witness …. Arm in arm… We will build a more just society for all communities.