Skrudaliene file / תיק קהילה

These sources document the history of the Jewish community in the settlement. Skrodalina in Latvia, focusing on their daily lives and their bitter fate during the The HolocaustBefore the war, the settlement had a small but active community engaged inTrade and craft, owned most of the local stores and even maintained a small house of prayer. The documents include Statistical data Officials, lists of property owners, and handwritten personal testimonies detailing the names of families and their lifestyles. With The German occupation In 1941, the remaining Jews were murdered by the Nazis and local collaborators near Lake Holarki. The documentation preserves the Memory of the fallen and outlines the transition from peaceful communal life to the complete elimination of the Jewish settlement.

Geographic and demographic background of the settlement of Skrodalina

The settlement Skrodalina (Skrudaliena), also known as Skrodalina (Skrudaliene), located in the district Illuxta (Ilukste) in the region Zamgale (Zemgale), a region formerly known asCourland (Kurland) in Latvia (C86-1f, C86-4f). According to information in the manuscript, the settlement is located on the left side of the riverDaugava (Daugava) in the region Daugavpils, and despite its geographical affiliation toZamgale, it was economically linked in the 20th century to the region To Italy (Latgale) (C86-5f). In 1923, 17 Jews lived in the rural area of ​​the settlement (C86-1f). In 1930, there were 16 Jews in the settlement (C86-3f). Printed statistics from 1935 indicate that the small community 19 Jews, who constituted about 8% of the total 236 residents of the place (C86-1f, C86-2f). In that year, the total population in the settlement numbered 236 people, of whom 129 were men and 107 were women (C86-2f).

Community life, economy and religion

The Jews inSkrodalina They were major business owners in the community; they owned 7 of the 10 local stores and 9 houses (C86-1f, C86-4f). One of these houses was used asHouse of Prayer For the community (C86-1f). The information in the manuscript indicates that the Jews were religious people who gathered daily in the house of prayer, and on holidays they traveled in wagons toSilena (Silene), where there was a synagogue and where kosher slaughter was also conducted (C86-5f). Economically, the local Jews ran various shops: a man named life (or Fash) owned a butcher shop, and other Jewish families ran a liquor store called "Monopolka", where kerosene, salt, matches, and soap were also sold (C86-5f). In addition to trade, the Jews engaged in crafts such as shoe repair and sewing, and maintained "credit" trade relations with their non-Jewish neighbors (C86-5f). The manuscript indicates that the Jews lived in the center of the settlement, and some of their houses (now used as a post office, store, and boarding school) survived, while the house of prayer did not (C86-5f). The Jewish children attended the local Latvian elementary school (Skrudalienės elementary school) (C86-5f).

Prominent figures and family stories

Manuscript-based sources mention a number of prominent families, including the Ran (Ran), family Spanansky (Spanansky), as well as individuals named life andBoris (C86-5f). ToMishka Ran There were 5 girls, and so wereMoti Spanansky (C86-5f). A unique story that appears in the manuscript concerns a Jew who left the settlement in the mid-1930s due to poverty and hardship and emigrated toSouth Africa (C86-5f). After a few years he asked his wife and two children to join him, but the family resisted; eventually, after the wife fell ill and died, her younger sister married him and moved with the children to South Africa (C86-5f). The manuscript also states that before the war a number of Jewish girls moved toRiga For study and work purposes (C86-5f).

Holocaust period

The fate of the community changed following the signing of Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact in August 1939, which led to the entry of the Red Army into Latvia and its annexation by the Soviet Union in the summer of 1940 (C86-1f, C86-6). The manuscript states that the Soviet government did not harm the Jews, but the situation worsened with the German invasion in June 1941 (C86-5f). Skrodalina It was occupied by German forces about a week after the start of the attack (C86-1f, C86-6).

The central tragedy of the community occurred, according to handwritten notes, on Saturday, August 5 or 12, 1941 (C86-5f). The Jews were loaded onto trucks and driven towards the village Vityazky (Voitishki), where they were dropped off near an Old Believers cemetery near the lake Holarki (Lake Kholerki) (C86-5f). The Jews were shot dead in front of the cemetery gate and buried in the meadow near the lake (C86-5f). The sources state that the murder was carried out by the Germans andLatvian collaborators Locals (C86-1f, C86-7). The manuscript names local murderers: Salna (Salna) andAckerman (Akerman), and it is noted that the Germans themselves were hardly seen in the area at that time (C86-5f).

Another story of heroism and tragedy describes one Jew who managed to escape to the village Tabora (Tabore) and was hidden by a Christian named Sladkovsky (Sladkovsky); however, he was eventually discovered, shot dead, and Sladkovsky himself was imprisoned for several weeks (C86-5f). It is also noted that Ackerman Took two of his daughters Mishka Ran to work on his farm, but then shot them to death (C86-5f). Handwritten testimony tells of a local resident who heard girls laughing from Ackerman's house, which was suddenly interrupted by gunshots (C86-5f). After the war, there were no Jews left inSkrodalina, except for two sisters, Asia and Mania, who survived in Riga (C86-5f). In 1972, under cover of darkness and floodlights, mechanical equipment arrived at the murder site and removed the remains of the bodies, which were apparently taken for burial inSilena (C86-5f).

Terms and explanations from the sources

List of terms appearing in the sources:

• Monopolka: A local name for a government (or franchised) store selling liquor, which sometimes also sold basic goods.
• Zemgale: A historical region in southern Latvia.
• Ilukste: The name of the district/administrative district in which the settlement was located.
• Kurland: The historical name of a region in western and southern Latvia.
• For Latgale: A region of land in eastern Latvia, to which the settlement was economically linked.

List of sources

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