Kandava file / תיק קהילה

📜 History of the Kandawa Community: From Ruin to Rebirth and Back

The sources presented review the The history of the Jewish community in the town of Kandava in Latvia, from the beginning of the 19th century until its destruction in the Holocaust. The documents include Statistical data on demography and economics, urban maps indicating public buildings and Jewish residences, and Photographs of major sites such as the synagogue, the bathhouse and the cemetery. Alongside historical reviews in Hebrew, English and Latvian, there are Personal records such as a vaccination certificate from 1876 and details about the community's rabbis. A significant portion of the material is devoted toTragedy of World War II, which includes the deportation of Jews, their murder in the Elko Forest in 1941, and the establishment of a memorial at the site. The information provides a comprehensive look at Daily life, religious institutions, and the final destruction of this community under Nazi occupation.

The city Kandava (Kandava; in German: Kandau; In Jewish sources: Kandui) is located in the district Telsi (Talsi), in the region Courland (Kurzeme) in northwestern Latvia (C102-1f, C102-4f). The settlement was founded in the 13th century under the rule of Teutonic Knights, and passed into Russian hands in 1796 (C102-1f, C102-7f).

The beginning of the Jewish community and its institutions

According to a handwritten note in the original, Jewish settlement in the place began probably Shortly after 1567 (C102-3f). The printed text states that the community was organized in the early 19th century (C102-1f). One of the first wealthy Jews in the city was Rabbi Yitzhak Hymanson, who worked as a butcher and inspector and also served as a teacher (C102-3f). Document submitted to the archive by Bertha Hinden (for the Hymanson family) including a vaccination certificate from 1876 Jacob Hymanson, son of Abraham and Leah, indicating that the family lived in the city (C102-7f). Jewish Cemetery Established in 1840 (C102-4f).Synagogue (Synagogue) was built in 1880 on land donated by Shlomo Hirsch Klempner (C102-5f). Other institutions included Hope (ritual bathhouse) built at the end of the 19th century on natural springs, and meeting A small one that operated in the city before World War I (C102-1f, C102-6f).

Spiritual leadership and key figures

The community's first rabbi, Meir Yaakov Janson, appointed in 1841 and served until 1881 (C102-3f, C102-4f). Between 1883–1892 he served Rabbi Mordechai Lichtenstein, who came from a family of rabbis from the nearby city Tocumen (C102-1f). Other rabbis who served in the community were Baruch Mordechai Idelson (until 1897) andRabbi Menachem Mendel Zak, who served until 1912 and then became the Chief Rabbi of Riga (C102-3f, C102-5f).

Demography and Economy Until World War I

In 1881, the Jews numbered 775, constituting the majority of the city's population (C102-1f). Another text states that they constituted 55.2% of the population that year (C102-6f). In 1910, the community reached its peak size with about 1,000 Jews, constituting about 45% of the total population (C102-6f, C102-7f). The Jews' livelihood was based mainly on trade (C102-1f).

World War I and the interwar period

In 1915, during World War I, the city's Jews were deported to the Russian interior by order of the Russian military command, who blamed them for the army's failures (C102-1f, C102-6f). During the war, 18 Jewish homes and 3 public buildings were destroyed (C102-3f). After the war, only a few dozen Jews returned to the city; in 1920, there were only 44 Jews (C102-1f). The community was rehabilitated with the help of credit unions and the organization of theJoint (C102-1f, C102-4f). In 1935 the community numbered 68, and Jews owned 10 of the 17 shops in the city (C102-3f, C102-6f). Politically, the community was associated with the Zionist movement; in the elections to the 18th Zionist Congress in 1933 it received Revisionist Party 22 votes out of 25 (C102-1f, C102-3f).

Holocaust period

After an agreement Ribbentrop-Molotov, the Red Army entered Latvia and Soviet rule was established in the summer of 1940 (C102-1f). On June 22, 1941, the German army invaded the Soviet Union, and the city was occupied in early July 1941 (C102-1f, C102-4f). At the end of July, the city's Jews were concentrated in a ghetto established in the quarter houses Dimzi (Dimzi) outside the city, and their property was looted (C102-5f, C102-6f). There are different versions about the murder of the Jews: some were murdered in the local cemetery, others were taken toTocumen, and there is a version that others were locked inside the synagogue that was set on fire (C102-1f, C102-4f). Another source states that in August 1941 the Jews were taken out by the Nazis and local collaborators into the forest. Elco (Elku) and were shot there (C102-5f, C102-6f). In 1967, two former police officers were put on trial for participating in the murder of the city's Jews (C102-3f).

The fate of the community members and commemoration

After World War II, the synagogue building was renovated and used as a grain warehouse, and from 1950 a municipal cinema operated in it (C102-5f, C102-6f). The mikveh was renovated after 1905 and became a public bathhouse, and the building now houses a café and hostel (C102-5f). The Jewish cemetery was destroyed, mainly during the Soviet period, and is now abandoned with only a few tombstones remaining (C102-5f, C102-6f). In 2006, a memorial was established in memory of the victims in the Elko Forest with the assistance of the European Union and the Latvian government (C102-5f, C102-23).

Explanations of terms and concepts

• Vaccination certificate (German): Vaccination certificate (C102-7f).
• Pirts (Latvian): A bathhouse; in this case it served as a Jewish mikveh (C102-5f).
• Cemetery (Latvian): Cemetery (C102-5f).
• Bodek (Hebrew/Yiddish): Inspector; expert who checks the kosherness of an animal after slaughter (C102-3f).

List of sources

• C102-1f – A printed historical overview of the Kandava community, including information on institutions, rabbis, demographics, and the Holocaust period.
• C102-2f – Cover and data pages from the Latvian publication "Town Descriptions" from 1936, which include statistical, geographical and economic information about Kandava.
• C102-3f – A survey in Hebrew that includes a demographic table of the Jews of Kandava between the years 1881–1935 and details about the community's leadership and history.
• C102-4f – A summary in English of the history of the Jews of Kandava from the beginning of the 19th century, through World War I, and until the destruction of the community in the Holocaust.
• C102-5f – A brochure in Latvian that includes photos of key sites, maps of Jewish homes, and an overview of the community's buildings and commemoration.
• C102-6f – A brochure in English that includes photos of the synagogue and cemetery, maps of Jewish residences, and a historical overview of the destruction of the community.
• C102-7f – A document that includes a note in German about Bertha Hinden's donation and an original vaccination certificate from 1876 by Jacob Hymanson of Kandava.

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