Gostini file / תיק קהילה

📖  Dunkra: Characters and Events from a Town in Latvia

These sources document the history of the Jewish community in the town. Gostiny (also known as Dankara or Glazmanka) in Latvia, from its founding in the 19th century to its destruction. The collection includes Historical documents, demographic lists and testimonies detailing the diverse religious, social, and economic life that existed in the area, alongside maps and statistical data on businesses and educational institutions. A significant portion of the material is dedicated to the memory Holocaust victims, containing Semitic lists of residents murdered by the Nazis in 1941 and reports on the current state of the cemeteries. Among the pages can also be found Personal correspondence, postcards and publications which shed light on the activities of Jewish youth movements and aid organizations that operated in the town. Together, the sources constitute Comprehensive memory archive which preserves the cultural heritage and Jewish identity of the settlement throughout the generations.

This historical overview of the history of the Jewish community inGostiny (Gostini) is based on the attached archival sources. It should be noted that according to the sources, the town is located inLatvia (and not in Estonia), in the district Daugavpils (Daugavpils), at the meeting point of the historical districts Courland (Courland), Livland (Livland) andVitebsk (Vitebsk) (C24-17f, C24-1f).

The founding and beginnings of the community

The settlement Gostiny, also known by the names Glazmanka (Glazmanka), Dankiri (Thank you) andTrentelberg (Trentelberg), was established in the early 19th century (C24-18f, C24-1f). Jews began to settle there in the early 19th century, and in 1847 they were 192 Jews, most of whom were traditionalists (C24-18f, C24-17f). The town developed significantly in the 1860s after the construction of the railway station in the nearby town Flavinas (Plavinas) (C24-18f, C24-1f). In 1897 the Jewish population reached its peak with 1,064 people, who constituted 46% of all residents (C24-17f, C24-1f).

Religious institutions, leadership, and society

At the beginning of the community, religious and charitable institutions were established, such as: synagogue, Sherva Kadisha, Association "Visit to the sick", and charitable institutions such as "hospitality" and **"clothes the naked"** (C24-18f, C24-1f). The community was headed by a rabbi and a president, with the rabbi Dov-Bar Seligman He served on the rabbinical throne for 41 years, starting in 1875 (C24-18f, C24-1f). At the beginning of the 20th century, the town was Four synagogues: Two of theOpponents, one of theHasidim (C24-18f, C24-1f) and another one (C24-18f). Among the prominent figures who left the town was Professor Asher Gulak, an expert in Hebrew law who immigrated to Israel in 1926 (C24-3f).

Economy and everyday life

Initially, the Jews made their living as craftsmen (tailors, shoemakers, and butchers), and later most of them became merchants (C24-18f, C24-1f). The archive contains printed information indicating that during the period of the town's unification with Flavinas (Between 1927 and 1933), the economic situation of Jewish merchants improved, but after the separation of the settlements there was a setback again (C24-18f, C24-1f). Statistics from 1935 show that Jews owned most of the commercial establishments in the town: 18 out of 20 Containers, all 7 storestextile, and all 4 storesShoes and products ofmetal (C24-3f, C24-25). One of the members of the community even established a Leather processing factory (C24-18f, C24-1f).

Political and cultural activity

The **Bund** movement was active in the town from the beginning of the 20th century and played a central role in the events of the 1905 Revolution (C24-18f, C24-3f). In the 1920s, a branch of the Bund party was established. "Youth of Zion", which became the dominant political body, alongside youth movements such as "The Pioneer", "Bar Kochba", "Hashomer Hatzair-Netzach", "Gordonia" and **Beitar** (C24-18f, C24-3f). In the field of education, in 1921, a Jewish elementary school The language of instruction was Yiddish, and in 1934 it became a Jewish-religious institution (C24-18f, C24-3f). Also, in 1927, the Chabad Hasidim established the Yeshiva "Supporters of the innocent", which was replaced in 1935 by a yeshiva "Beit Yosef" (C24-18f, C24-1f). Cultural life included the establishment of Theater company And a club named after Bialik In 1930 (C24-18f, C24-1f).

Unusual events and crises

• Big fire: In 1888, a fire broke out in the town, destroying dozens of Jewish shops and homes, leaving about 60 families homeless (C24-18f, C24-3f).
• blood libel: In 1891 (according to the printed source) an attempt was made to slander the Jews of the town, but it was immediately refuted (C24-3f).
• World War I: With the outbreak of fighting, many Jews were forced to leave the town and flee deep into Russia, and many of the Jewish homes and synagogues were damaged or destroyed (C24-18f, C24-3f).

The Holocaust and the End of the Community

Following an agreement Ribbentrop-Molotov, the Red Army entered Latvia in the summer of 1940 and a Soviet regime was established; Jewish businesses were nationalized and Jewish public activities were stopped (C24-18f, C24-1f). On June 22, 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, and about ten days later Gostiny was occupied (C24-18f, C24-1f). All Jews who remained in the town were murdered by the Germans and their assistants (C24-18f, C24-1f). Among those murdered were the last rabbi of the community, Israel Tanchum Berkman, and the Rabbi Yechiel Michal Gordon (C24-6f, C24-3f). Semitic lists of the murdered, including entire families such as the Solovyov, Minzker andMiller, were preserved in the witness statements and documents of the investigation committee (C24-5f, C24-6f, C24-31, C24-32).

Notes on the sources and uncertainties

The archive contains handwritten pages containing long lists of surnames of families from the town (such as the families Levin, Chenutin andSchneider), but some of the names and details in the manuscript are not clear enough for a definite reading (C24-7f, C24-33 to C24-42). There is also a postcard from 1929 indicating the existence of a branch "The Guardian" In Gostiny, which includes an official stamp in Yiddish and Latvian (C24-8f).

Terms and explanations

• Sherva Kadisha: A community organization responsible for the care of the dead and their burial according to Jewish law.
• Visiting the sick: A voluntary association that aims to assist patients with food, medicine, and medical care.
• The Bund: An anti-Zionist socialist Jewish workers' party that operated in Eastern Europe.
• Zion Youth: A socialist Zionist movement that advocated a combination of Zionism and socialist principles.
• Opponents: A sect within Orthodox Judaism that opposed the Hasidic movement.
• Innocent supporters: A network of Chabad yeshivot.
• The pioneer: A movement to train young Jews for immigration to the Land of Israel and agricultural work.

List of sources

• C24-1f: A printed Hebrew review of the history of the community, its institutions and its complete destruction in the Holocaust
• C24-2f: Official statistical publication from Latvia (1936) including demographic, economic data and a city map
• C24-3f: Historical research in Hebrew including demographic tables, trade data, and an overview of the destruction of the community
• C24-4-1f: A historical review printed in English on the development of Gostiny and Jewish life between the wars
• C24-5f: List of genocide victims in Russian from the documents of the State Investigation Commission in Gostiny
• C24-6f: A letter and lists of names of the community's deceased sent to Yad Vashem for documentation and commemoration purposes
• C24-7f: A collection of handwritten pages that includes family lists and genealogical data of the community members
• C24-8f: Photo of a postcard from 1928 with an official stamp of the Hashomer movement branch in Gostiny
• C24-9f: A postcard from 1930 containing a handwritten invitation in Yiddish to a social event in the community
• C24-10f: A handwritten document in Yiddish that includes lists of names and account records of community members
• C24-11f: A handwritten official letter from 1921 bearing a stamp of the Hechalutz movement and a postage stamp
• C24-12f: A detailed, handwritten review in Yiddish of community institutions, synagogues, and community figures
• C24-13f: Printed list of subscribers and donors to books, including the names of Jews from Dunkirk
• C24-14f: Photo of the cover of the book Dankiera by H. Ehrlich, published in Johannesburg in 1956
• C24-15-1f: Newspaper clippings from 1888 reporting on religious and educational activity in Latvian communities
• C24-15-2f: A report from the 1888 newspaper reported a large fire that broke out in the town of Dunkirk.
•  C24-16f An official letter from the University of Latvia explaining the evolution of the names of the town of Danka throughout history
• C24-17f: A collection of English translations of travel guides, historical reviews, and a map of Latvia
• C24-18f: A historical summary in English about the Jews of Gostiny from the database of the Jewish Diaspora Center
• C24-19F: Personal testimony in Russian describing the murder of the Jews of Gostiny in the Kekishi swamps in 1941
• C24-20F: An English edition of the book Dankiera, including memoirs, character descriptions, and a glossary
• C24-21f: A sequence of partial archive pages without textual content that appear in the community folder
• C24-22f: E-mail correspondence from 2006 regarding a visit and restoration of the cemetery in the Gostiny Forest

C24-1f

C24-2f

C24-3f

C24-4-1f

C24-5f

C24-6f

C24-7f

C24-8f

C24-9f

C24-10f

C24-11f

C24-12f

C24-13f

C24-14f

C24-15-1f

C24-15-2f

C24-16f

C24-17f

C24-18f

C24-19F

C24-20F

C24-21f

C24-22f

**End of Sources Section**

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