1. In 1835, the Libau Jewish community comprised 114 townsfolk from the merchant class and 1,234 from the middle classes. However, in 1850, due to the 1848 cholera epidemic, these numbers decreased to 125 and 1,093 respectively. In 1840, 13 families moved to the agricultural region of Kherson in today’s southern Ukraine.
2. The 1897 census registered 64,489 inhabitants in Liepaja of whom 9,454 were Jewish (almost 15%). On 1 January 1908 local police records showed there were 90,800 inhabitants of whom 7,402 were Jewish (8%).
3. The Jewish population were on the whole traders involved in export oriented trade, the main exports being cereals and lumber.
4. In the 1920s several Jewish banks were established in Liepaja.
5. Liepaja was not just a strategic Baltic Sea port but was also a major industrial center. In the 1920s Jews owned up to 25% of the industrial sector, employing 25% of the factory workforce in the city.
6. According to 1935 statistics, the Jewish workforce was broken down as follows:
48% – trade
29% – industrial sector
7% – liberal professions (e.g. lawyers, journalists)
1% – farming
7. Moreover, there were:
7 – Jewish pharmacies
13 – pharmaceutical warehouses
3 – taverns
1 – restaurant
2 – photographic studios
150 – shops and stores (incl. 25 fishmongers, 29 lumber merchants, 27 manufacturing stores).
8. In total about 25% of all factories in Liepaja were of Jewish ownership.