Subata file / תיק קהילה

📜 Biographical Documentation: Pinchas Mordechai Teitz

These sources document the History and Demographics of the Jewish Community In the town of Sovata in Latvia, focusing on the first half of the 20th century. The collection includes Personal documents such as passports, transit visas, and immigration certificates to the Land of Israel of individuals, which illustrate the migration routes and administrative regulations of that period. In addition, the sources provide Statistical data and voter lists which detail the social, professional and religious structure of the settlement. Historical reviews in the text describe the Community growth, the institutions it established, and the severe impact of anti-Semitism. Finally, the information concludes with a tragic description of The extermination of the town's Jews During the Holocaust and the commemorative activities carried out in their memory.

The beginning of the settlement and its demographic development

The town Sobata (Subate), known in Jewish sources Shobat or bran, is located in the Ilukste district of western Latvia, near the Lithuanian border (C75-1f, C75-3f, C75-4f). "Old Sovata" began in 1550 on the shore of a lake, and in 1685 German barons founded "New Sovata" (C75-3f, C75-4f). Although the city's founding regulations of 1686 prohibited Jews from settling there, there is evidence of a Jewish presence as early as the early 19th century, when Rabbi and Shochet (C75-1f, C75-4f). The Jewish population grew rapidly: in the 1897 census, Jews numbered 978 (about 49% of the total population), and in 1910 their number was 772 (C75-3f, C75-4f).

Religious life, education and society

The community's institutions developed around prominent rabbinical figures. Between 1898 and 1915, he served as the town's rabbi. Abraham Benjamin Tietz (Teitz), during whose time a Beit Midrash was established that included separate prayer houses forHasidim AndOpponents (C75-3f, C75-4f). According to a handwritten note on a newspaper clipping, Rabbi Teitz was born in 1873 and was appointed rabbi in 1898 (C75-5f). His son, Pinchas Mordechai Tietz, who was born in Sovata in 1908, studied with his father and in various yeshivahs and received ordination to the rabbinate (C75-6f). In the field of education, until World War I the boys studied in three "Rooms"And the girls attended a Russian elementary school (C75-4f). A women's association called " was also active in the community.Vroien Verein" which engaged in relief and cultural activities (C75-4f).

Interwar period and migration

During World War I (1915), the town's Jews were deported by the authorities to the interior of Russia, and only some returned after the establishment of independent Latvia (C75-1f, C75-4f). In 1920, the community numbered 533 people (C75-3f). With the assistance of theJoint (AJDC) The community was restored, and in 1928 a bank was founded.Acts of kindness" (Gemilluth Hesed) who also provided loans to nearby settlements (C75-3f, C75-4f). Economically, the Jews were mainly engaged in trade (especially inlinen) and in crafts; in 1935, 33 of the 80 businesses in the city were Jewish-owned (C75-4f). In the same year, 387 Jews were registered in Sovata out of a population of 1,489 (C75-1f). Archive documents document the emigration of Israel Weiss (Izraelis Veiss), a resident of Sovata, who received a Latvian passport in Daugavpils in December 1934 (C75-10-1f). According to a handwritten note on an immigrant certificate, Weiss marriedRebecca Tzipian In January 1935, they immigrated to Israel through the port of Constanta (C75-10-1f, C75-10-2f).

The Holocaust and the Destruction of the Community

The destruction of the community began with the changes in government following the agreement. Ribbentrop-Molotov; In August 1939 the Red Army entered Latvia and in the summer of 1940 the Soviet regime was established, which abolished Jewish institutions (C75-1f, C75-4f). With the German invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, Jewish refugees from Lithuania arrived in the town, but only a small number of the local Jews of Sovata managed to escape to the Russian interior (C75-1f, C75-4f).

At the end of June 1941 the Germans occupied Sovata. During the summer and autumn of that year the remaining Jews of the town were murdered in a nearby forest (C75-1f, C75-4f). The sources state that the children were the first to be shot dead in front of their parents, and then the adults were shot in two separate pits (C75-4f). According to one version appearing in the printed sources, some members of the community were deported toDaugavpils Ghetto (Dvinsk) before the main "Aktion" and there they shared the fate of the local Jews (C75-1f, C75-30).

The sources document an extraordinary rescue story of the doctor Benjamin Landau (Benjamin Landau) and his wife. According to an article in Russian, the two escaped from the Daugavpils ghetto in October 1943 and were hidden by the Landau family. In Balodis (Balodis) in the barn and in various hiding places (C75-12f). Later, they were also helped by the family Caninish (Kaninsh) until the liberation of the area (C75-12f). Sovata was liberated by the Red Army in July 1944 (sources differ on the exact date: July 13 or July 31) (C75-1f, C75-3f). Most of the survivors did not return to live in the town and settled in Riga (C75-1f, C75-4f).

Terms and concepts from the sources

• Shohet: Certified for kosher slaughter of animals according to Halacha.
• Rooms (Hadarim): Traditional learning frameworks for Jewish children.
• Gemilluth Hesed: A community financial institution that provides interest-free loans.
• Vroien Verein: A Jewish women's association that engaged in social activity.
• Flax: Textile raw material that was a major trade branch for the town's Jews.
• Action: A term describing the concentration and murder of Jews during the Holocaust.
• Certificate: Official immigration visa to the Land of Israel.

List of sources

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• C75-1f – A historical overview printed in Hebrew about the Sobata community, including its history until after the Holocaust.
• C75-2f – Official statistical and descriptive publication in Latvian about the city of Sovata, including demographic and economic data.
• C75-3f – A document in Hebrew detailing the history of the Jewish settlement in Sovata, demographics, and religious and educational institutions.
• C75-4f – Information sheets in English from the Jewish Diaspora Center that review the history and destruction of the Sobata community.
• C75-5f – A short biographical section indicating the work and birth of Rabbi Avraham Binyamin Teitz in the town of Sobata.
• C75-6f – Biographical documentation in Yiddish and Hebrew about Pinchas-Mordechai Teitz, born in Sobata, and his studies in yeshiva.
• C75-7f – An e-mail from Mike Getz calling for the collection of names of Holocaust victims from the town of Sobata.
• C75-8f – Handwritten lists in Hebrew, Yiddish and Russian detailing family names and details about the residents of Sobata.
• C75-9f – A registration page from a historical archive containing a list of residents of the town of Sobata and financial data.
• C75-10-1f – A passport of the Republic of Latvia belonging to Israel Weiss, which includes personal details, stamps and entry visas.
• C75-10-2f – Palestine Immigrant Certificate from the Jewish Agency for Israel Weiss and his family.
• C75-10-3f – A register envelope from the Aliyah Department and a list of addresses of Aliyah institutions in Israel and abroad.
• C75-10-4f – Medical quarantine card from the Mandatory Health Department for Israel Weiss with vaccination stamps.
• C75-10-5f – Account detail pages, expenses and useful information for new immigrants from the Aliyah Bureau in Israel.
• C75-10-6f – Official receipt in Latvian (Kvit) issued for Israel Weiss for various payments and fines.
• C75-11f – Voter list from the town of Subate for the Russian Duma elections in 1907.
• C75-12f – An article in Russian describing the story of the rescue of Dr. Benjamin Landau and his wife during the Holocaust.

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