Iecava file / תיק קהילה

📜 Testimony and Memory: Pages of Testimony from Iecava

These sources document the history of the Jewish community in the town. Iecava in Latvia, from daily life and statistics of the 1930s to its destruction in the Holocaust. The information includes Demographic and economic data From official censuses, alongside personal testimonies about the social and religious structure of the small community that numbered a few dozen people. The documents describe the transition from a routine life, which included Zionist and educational, to the period of the Soviet occupation and then the German occupation in the summer of 1941. The bitter fate of the local Jews, who were sent toForced labor, were transferred to Bauska and finally murdered inLickbert Forest, with only one survivor remaining alive. Semitic lists appearing in the manuscripts commemorate the families that perished and provide Gilad Zichron To the destroyed community.

According to the attached sources, the following documentation deals with the history of the Jewish community in the town Yichao (Iecava, in German: Eckau) and its surroundings. Despite the request to review the history of Estonian Jewry, the sources deal with the settlements located in the district In Osaka (Bauska), rope Zamgale (Zemgale), located inLatvia (C54-1f, C54-3f, C54-8).

Geographic and demographic background

The town Yichao Located about 30 km from the city In Osaka and about 2 km from the railway station on the Jelgava-Krostpils line (C54-3f). According to printed statistics from 1935, the town was inhabited by 46 Jews, who constituted about 6.49% of the total population of 709 (C54-3f, C54-8). Another printed text states that the number of Jews in that year constituted 0.6% of the population, but this appears to be a calculation relative to a larger administrative unit or a printing error (C54-1f). The information appearing in the handwritten note states that about 10 Jewish families lived in the settlement (C54-5f).

Religious life, society and education

There were no official public institutions in the community, and no synagogue Special (C54-7f, C54-12). The prayers were held inHouse of Prayer which was located inPrivate apartment, in which a Torah scroll was kept (C54-1f, C54-12). The children of the community mostly studied in the local schools alongside non-Jewish students, and some were sent to study in Jewish schools in nearby cities such as In Osaka andMitau (C54-1f, C54-7f, C54-12). The community members were known for their affiliation withZionismThey donated money to the Israel National Fund and participated in elections for18th Zionist Congress held in 1933, when most of them voted for the list Socialist Zionist Party (C54-1f, C54-8).

Economic activity and trade

According to printed records, the Jews of the town and its surroundings were engaged in a variety of trades and services. Among the business owners mentioned: Moses Rosenthals (Property 65), Zaras Korshans (grocery), Leo Salzmanis andBasses Bernstams (C54-4f, C54-5f). In the food and butchery sector, it is mentioned Movshas Shmulyans, and in the field of watches and silverware, he operated Robins Ovchinskis (C54-5f). In the nearby settlement Skytkalna (Skaistkalne), lived in 1935 135 Jews, including property and store owners such as Isaacs in the derby, Dried Butcher's Horse andRebecca Zalmanson (C54-6f).

Holocaust period

after Ribbentrop-Molotov PactThe Red Army entered Latvia in the summer of 1940 and Soviet rule was imposed (C54-1f, C54-8). With the outbreak of war between Germany and the Soviet Union in June 1941, a number of Jews managed to escape eastward into the depths of the Soviet Union, and young members of the community enlisted and served in theRed Army (C54-1f, C54-12). The German army occupied the settlement in June 1941. Initially the Jews were taken toForced labor, mainly cleaning work (C54-1f, C54-12). A handwritten note states, with some uncertainty, that in 1941 only "1-2 people" lived in the town (C54-5f). In July 1941 (some sources give the date as July 13), the Jews were ordered to pack their belongings and were transferred toIn Osaka (C54-9, C54-10, C54-12). After a few days they were taken to the outskirts of the city, to the area known as Lickbertan (Likbarten), where they were all murdered (C54-1f, C54-9, C54-12).

Main characters and survivors

• Rabbi Levi Ovchinsky: historian and rabbi in Mitau, whose daughter was Chaya Baichau (C54-7f). His son, Reuven Ovchinsky, served as rabbi in Bilgaba and also perished (C54-11).
• Enoch Mol: The only survivor from the community who managed to escape and survive. According to the sources, he hid in the forest the night before the murder (C54-7f, C54-12). After the war, he lived in Riga (C54-12).
• Ezra Tov: He wrote down a list of names of his family members and other Jews from the town who were led to be killed, including members of the family Cyrus, Fold andRosenzweig (C54-11).
• Other soldiers and survivors mentioned by name: The brothers Gilev, Isaac Katz, Israel Friedman andShmuel Shoshan (C54-11).

Geographical terms and concepts

• Zemgale: A historical region in southern Latvia.
• Kurland: A historical region in western and southern Latvia, to which the district of Uusika belonged.
• Mitau: The German name of the city Yalgaba (Jelgava) in Latvia.
• Likbarten: A murder site located on the outskirts of Osaka.

List of sources

• C54-1f: A historical overview of the Eckau community, including demographic data from 1935, details of Zionist activity, and a description of the murder of the community at the Lickbarten site.
• C54-2f: Data sheets from a statistical publication from 1936 that include detailed lists of property owners, businesses, and residents in the communities of Yichaoua, Budabarga, and Skaistekalne.
• C54-3f: A summary document in Hebrew about the life of the Jewish community in Beichow, detailing the prayer routines, educational institutions, the results of the elections to the Zionist Congress, and the destruction of the community.
• C54-4f: Information pages in English from the Beit Hatfutsot Museum that review the history of the Yichow settlement, the social structure of the community, and a chronological description of the Holocaust period.
• C54-5f: Handwritten records detailing the names of Jewish families in Baichau, their economic occupations, details about the place of prayer, and information about the deportation to Bauska in July 1941.
• C54-6f: A letter and a list of names that include documentation of family members and Jews from the town of Yichaoua who perished in the Holocaust, names of soldiers who fell at the front, and a list of survivors who immigrated to Israel.
• C54-7f: A printed and signed testimony by Moshe Shmulian describing daily life in Baichau, the children's educational arrangements, the German occupation, and the story of the sole survivor.

C54-1f

C54-2f

C54-3f

C54-4f

C54-5f

C54-6f

C54-7f

**End of Sources Section**

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