Balvi file / תיק קהילה

📜Commemoration and registration of Holocaust victims in Balvi, Latvia

These sources document theThe rich and tragic historyof the Jewish community in the cityBalviIn Latvia. The documents includeHistorical and statistical reviewsOn the social life, economy and religious institutions of the Jews in the city before World War II. A significant part of the material is devoted toTo commemorate the victims of the Holocaust, which contains detailed Semitic lists of families murdered by the Nazis in 1941. In addition, it appearsOfficial requestof survivors and evacuees to local authorities in Latvia, pleaseTo preserve the memory of the murderedand maintain the memorial site in the nearby forest. The personal testimonies and administrative documents paint a picture ofA vibrant community that was destroyedDuring the war years.

Based on the attached sources, the following is a comprehensive and detailed historical overview of the history of the Jewish community in the town.In Albi(Balvi):

Geography and early settlement

The townIn Albi(known in Jewish sources asBolwayorBulawayo, and in GermanBalwa) is located in the sub-districtAvernae(Abrene), in the districtTo Italy(Latgale) in the eastLatvia(C-17-1f, C17-4f). The settlement was founded at the beginning of the 20th century as a merger of several villages, and from 1920 to 1940 it belonged to independent Latvia (C-17-1f, C17-4f). In 1928, Balvi was granted city status (C17-3f, C17-4f). According to a note in the printed text, the Jewish community began with the village residentsWilka(Vilska), and it is possible (originally: "probably") that a Jewish settlement existed there since the 18th century (C17-3f).

demography

The Jewish community in Balbi was established early, and in 1913 it numbered between 30 and 40 families (C-17-1f, C17-4f). Printed statistics show the development of the Jewish population in the town:

• In the year1920: 441 Jews, who constituted 54% of the total population (C17-3f).
• In the year1925: Approximately 487 Jews, approximately 49% of the population (C17-3f).
• In the year1930: 386 Jews, about 24% of the population (C17-3f).
• In the year1935: 379 Jews, about 19% of the population (C17-3f). On the eve of World War II, about 450 Jews lived in Balbi (C-17-1f, C17-4f).

Community institutions, religion and education

The community operated various religious and welfare institutions, includingsynagogue,Beit Midrash,Hopeand the charity fund (C-17-1f, C17-4f). Initially, the community was served by a butcher, and later a rabbi was appointed (C17-4f). Among the prominent figures was the rabbiDavid Covenut(D. Kovnats), whose signature and seal appear on official documents of the "Bolvi Rabbinate" (C17-10f, C17-13f).

In the field of education, the first Jewish school was established in Balvi where the language of instruction wasYiddishand was operated by the municipality (C-17-1f, C17-4f). Later, the community established another school where the language of instruction wasHebrew, which also housed a library and a cultural center (C-17-1f, C17-4f). According to testimony in the interview, the Hebrew teacher at the school wasBaruch Goldberg(C17-27).

Economic life

Most of the community members were merchants, and a minority were craftsmen (C-17-1f). The sources mention the existence of a small shoe factory and a leather processing factory (C-17-1f, C17-4f). There was also one Jewish doctor in the community (C-17-1f). A detailed statistical source from 1936 contains a long list of Jewish-owned businesses, including grocery stores, textiles, footwear, household goods, pharmacies, and restaurants (C17-2f). Among the names mentioned as business owners:Yitzhak Alexandrovich,Avraham Zilber,Mordechai SchweibandNechama Davidov(C17-2f). Two Jews owned farms, but these were not cultivated by their owners (C-17-1f, C17-4f).

Public and political activity

In 1919, Jews from the town fought alongside the Latvians in their war against the Bolsheviks (C-17-1f, C17-4f). In the early 1920s, the town had a youth association called "The resurrection", and then branches of youth movements were opened"The Young Guard"And"Beitar" (C-17-1f, C17-4f). In 1936, the Betar movement established an agricultural training center in the place (C-17-1f, C17-4f). Alongside Zionist activity, there were also a few in the community who belonged to "Bond" and to the communists (C-17-1f, C17-4f). Throughout the entire period of Latvian independence (1920–1940), Jews were members of the municipal administration (C-17-1f, C17-4f).

Holocaust period

Following an agreementRibbentrop-Molotov, the Red Army entered Latvia in June 1940 and Soviet rule was established (C-17-1f, C17-4f). Community institutions and Zionist organizations were dissolved, and some Jews were integrated into the new government machinery (C-17-1f, C17-4f).

With the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the community sent a number of elderly Jews to central Russia (C-17-1f, C17-4f). Young Jews who volunteered to fight the Nazis were equipped with rifles, and about 20 men managed to escape and enlist in the Red Army, but most of them were killed in the fighting (C-17-1f, C17-4f).

On July 2, 1941, the German army captured Balvi (C-17-1f, C17-4f). Within a few days, the Jews were concentrated in the Gypsy Quarter, which becameghettoand they were employed in various forced labor (C-17-1f, C17-4f). On the morning of August 9, 1941, the Jews were loaded onto trucks and taken to the forest.Celmini(Celmini), located about 6 km from the city (C-17-1f, C17-2f). There they were ordered to dig pits and shot to death by members of the "H" organization.Eissargi" (Aizsargi – Latvian fascist organization) (C-17-1f, C17-2f). The sources state that two Jews managed to escape from the pits, but their fate is unknown (C-17-1f, C17-2f). The handwritten lists include the names of hundreds of those murdered, including familiesIdelman,Greenman,SilverandLewinsky(C17-13f, C17-7f).

After the war and commemoration

After the war, survivors erected a memorial to those murdered in the Tselmini Forest (C-17-1f, C17-2f). The memorial commemorates about 400 local Jews and about 700 Jews from other communities who were murdered there (C-17-1f, C17-2f). In 2005, survivors and family members, includingFarewell Live(Frida Haja), to the authorities in Balbi, requesting them to preserve and care for the memorial site (C17-12-2f). In an official response from 2013, the municipality of Balbi confirmed that the site had been preserved and that every year on July 4th, a day of remembrance for the victims of the genocide against the Jewish people is held there (C17-12-1f).

List of sources

• C17-2f: Official Latvian statistics book (1936) including demographic, economic data and maps of the city of Albi.
• C17-3f: A historical overview in Hebrew of the Albi community, including statistical data, a description of economic life and Zionist activity.
• C17-4f: Information pages in English from the Jewish Diaspora Center that review the history of the Albi community from its beginnings to the Holocaust.
• C17-5f: Transcript of an interview (pages 1-5) with Albi survivors about community life, education, politics, and settlement in the early 20th century.
• C17-6f: Transcript of an interview (pages 6-8) with survivors of Albi about the events of the war, the escape, the murder in the Tselmini Forest, and the establishment of the monument.
• C17-7f: Detailed handwritten lists of names (pages I-V) of Holocaust victims from Balbi divided by families.
• C17-8f: Handwritten registration pages on lined pages that include the names of Jews in Albi and notes on their fate in the war.
• C17-9f: A table and handwritten notes including personal details, names and dates of members of the Jewish community in Balbi.
• C17-10f: Handwritten documents in Hebrew and Yiddish that include signatures and seals of Rabbi David Kovenat of the Bolwey Rabbinate.
• C17-11f: Newspaper clipping including an article about the "Tel-Azziat" site and military events.
• C17-12-1f: Official letter from the municipality of Balbi (2013) to Frida Haya confirming the preservation of the memorial site in the Tselmini Forest.
• C17-12-2f: Handwritten appeal (2005) from survivors of the Albi community in Israel to the Albi municipality requesting the preservation of the monument and the observance of a memorial day.
• C17-13f: Handwritten lists in Russian of Jewish residents of Balbi who were murdered in the Holocaust and a list of soldiers who fell in battle.
• C17-14f: A handwritten list including family names and the number of people from the Albi community.

C17-2f

C17-3f

C17-4f

C17-5f

C17-6f

C17-7f

C17-8f

C17-9f

C17-10f

C17-11f

C17-12-1f

C17-12-2f

C17-13f

C17-14f

C-17-1f

**End of Sources Section**

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