KuldĪgas ebreju kopienas vēsture un likteņi holokausta laika
The Kuldiga Jewish Community
during the Shoah.
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The first interviews are: 16th of July, at 4 p.m. with sports teacher Heinrihs Freimanis (*1927) has lived in so called Jewish quarter in Smilšu iela in Kuldiga since 1927 up to the 1941. He witnessed the Shoa as a teenager. He tells about most influencial Jewish families of Kuldiga in 1930. Jewish boys were among his best friends. He remembers very well the days when Jewish families of Kuldiga were gathered, sent to countryside, imprisoned in synagogue and later shot in the nearby forests. After the shootings few people came back wounded to be helped by Freimanis family. Freimanis in his interview is also reports from a group of Hungarian Jewish women in Kuldiga. 17th of July, at 1 p.m. meeting with the former director of Kuldiga 2nd School, the teacher of chemestry Ērika Doniņa (*1921) lived in Kuldiga all her life. She has went to Gymnasium of Kuldiga and had few Jewish classmates whose families she remembers. She has lived on Rumbas street. In her interview she has witnessed the incarceration of Jewish people in the former German Diakonie, Rumbas iela 6. In the interview she tells also about the businesses led by Kuldiga Jews. She has witnessed also cases when Jewish people who have foreseen the events of 1941 had given their belongings to Latvian families. 19th of July, 12 a.m. Zigurds Kilēvics (*1928) has lived on Liepājas street (the main street in Kuldiga) and starting from summer 1941 he lived in Smilšu street. He tells about the life of Jewish, Latvian and German communities in Kuldiga and Saldus, tells about specific people and their stories.He tells about the mass murder and mentions names of the Latvians who were involved in the murders. He tells about Shmuel, the Jewish Glasser seeing him alive in Kuldiga in 1943, and explains it by telling that Shmuel payed a ransom for himself. 21st of July, Arturs Višņevskis (*1923) lived in Kuldiga sice 1926 in diffent flats. His aunt with whom he lived in one house had tight relationship with Jewish and German people organising cultural gatherings with Jews and Germans. He is telling about sports activities of young Jews and Latvians of the town, competitions between these groups. He is speaking about rumours about Latvian children killed by Kuldiga Jews for needs of rituals. This kidnapping he tells continued after the Second World War. 21st of July, Heinrihs Freimanis second interview 22nd of July, Roberts Reimanis (*1931) lived in Kuldiga and had lots of Jewish friends. During the 1930ies he visited the synaogue a couple of times. When Jews were under custody in synagogue he, aged ten, stepped into the building in order to see his friends and by mistake was taken as a Jew and thrown into a lorry that took Jewish people to be killed in Kuldiga forests. He escaped.He had also witnessed that some people were killed in the synagogue while being imprisoned. 23rd of July, Freds Celms (*1931) lived in different places in Kuldiga old town. In his young years he was close to the German community of the town as his Mother was German. He reveals an aspect to the relationship of Kuldiga Jewish, German and Latvian communities describing few of the most particular conflicts among them by shoutings on the street. 23rd of July, Alfrēds Jēkabsons (*1928) in 1930 lived in Ventspils street and had few Jewish friends. He tells how his mother was hiding a Jewish girl in her house in 1941 and how neighbours reported on this girl. (Mother got imprisoned). He tells a different story of the Shmuel case, reporting that he was shot in one of the last mass executions. He also witnesses Jewish people of Kuldiga who came back to the town after the Second World War and spend there quite many years. 25th of July, Arvīds Skude (*1921) was born near Aizpute in Apriķi village and witnesses about the life of Jewish community in Aizpute during 1930, like learning some Hebrew writing among friends. He was imprisoned by Aizsargi in the synagogue of Aizpute, where in exactly the same place at the same time the Jews were harassed. He is reporting about the humilation and sacrileg of them. Together with his whole family he entered the Soviet partisan group “Red Arrow” in 1943, that was active in Kuldiga, too, and fought up to the end of the war. 27th of July, Anonymous (*1931) from the countryside outside of Kuldiga, and her husband from Riga. At her familie's farm Jewish women were forced to work for a week or two in 1941. 28th of July, Heinrihs Freimanis , third interview, a walk through town. 29th of July in Jurmala Leo and Hannah May (*1919); Leo May, born in Stuttgart in Kuldiga, left after visiting the Jewish elementary school in Kuldiga to Riga and studied chemistry up to the German invasion. He survived the Riga Ghetto, the concentration camps Kaiserwald, Stutthof, Buchenwald-Magdeburg and escapes in April 1945. Back in Riga he continues his studies. Later gets accused by the Soviets of being a collaborator for he survived the camps despite being Jew. Hanna May tells about the life of a Jewish person in Kuldiga that she and her husband had to face starting from 1991 while trying to get Mays' properties back. 30th of July in Riga Eva Vatere , whom lived in Kuldiga working as gynaecologist from 1955 - 1966. She is author of the book Eva - Ieva Vatere: Ebreji - mediķi Latvijā (1918-1996) : enciklopēdija / Jewish Doctors in Latvia (1918-1996). Rīgā 1997, 274.pp. Rīga : [b.i.], 1997. - 258 lpp., [8] lp. : fotogr. - Aut. uz vāka nav norādīts. - Teksts paral. latv., krievu val. ISBN 9984-550-03-6 (in Latvian and Russian). In the book about 5000 short biographies of Jewish medical specialists are compiled. She now lives in Tel Aviv. Ruta Fridlendere (*1933) survived the Shoa by hiding with her mother in a hole under a chicken house in Ventspils for four years. She now lives in Kuldiga, being the only Jew in town. A 10-days-interview with Ruta Fridlendere was made several months before by historian Jens Hoffmann. Interview summary The interviewed got approached after talks with town inhabitants and ancestors. We asked if anyone knows something about Kuldiga in Second World War. The interviewed are victims, by-standers, as well as people, that showed their anti-Semit point of view clearly being interviewed - something we didn't knew before nor looked after. In the interviews a wide varity of new information about the Shoah as well as the Jewish life before and after that got recorded. We'd like to thank all interviewed for their kind collaboration. The interviews are held in Latvian mostly (with the exception of May) with a simultaneous translation to German, caused by the interviewers are German (Mike Hartwig) and Latvian (Agnese Kusmane) speaking. All where interviewed in their houses, except Freimanis in his school, and Celms in Restaurant Metropole. Next interviews: Heda Auziņa (*1948) came to Kuldiga in 1973. Because of her Jewish origin has experienced offences in Soviet Kuldiga. She is the daughter of Ruta Fridlendere. Elliott Lanford (*1910 in Kuldiga). He emigrated with his family in 1928 from Kuldiga, as he was 18. He now lives in London. He came back first to the Schwimmer symposium in autumn 2007. Velta Kampare (1929) who lived in Kuldiga until 1941. She had Jewish classmates, and knew Jewish families. She was sent to Siberia in 1941, came back to Kuldiga in 1957, worked as dressmaker afterwards. (cancelled) |