Publications, Dov levin's file / תיק – פרסומים, דוב לוין

The fate of the Jews of the Baltic States under the rule of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany during World War II. The historical essays review the The deportation process to Siberia in 1941, detailing the stages of detention, the harsh living conditions in the labor camps, and the legal struggle to clear the names of the survivors after the war. Alongside this, it examines The armed resistance of Jews from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, whether as fighters in Red Army units or as partisans in the forests. Another personal testimony describes the Experiences of arrest and humiliation in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, and highlights the power of faith in the face of Nazi oppression. In short, the documents illuminate the Stories of survival, expulsion and fighting of the region's Jewry during this dark period.

The history of Latvian Jews in the 20th century is a complex mosaic of Cultural and political flourishing, which was brutally interrupted by two successive periods of occupation – the Soviet and the Nazi – which changed the face of the community forever.

The Soviet occupation and deportations to Siberia (1940-1941)

With the annexation of Latvia to the Soviet Union in June 1940, a rapid process of "Sovietization". Jewish community institutions, Hebrew schools, and political parties (both Zionist and religious) were liquidated (H32-3f, H32-5f). The peak of Soviet pressure was the mass deportation operation on the night of June 13-14, 1941, in which about 15,000 Latvian citizens, of whom about 2,000 to 5,000 Jews, were deported to Siberia (H32-2f, H32-3f). The Jewish deportees included The political, economic, and spiritual leadership elite, and they were sent to labor camps (gulags) in subhuman conditions (H32-2f, H32-8f).

The Holocaust under Nazi occupation

The German invasion in June 1941 led to the almost complete annihilation of Latvian Jewry. In the first weeks, mass massacres were carried out by units of theEinsatzgruppen With the active assistance of local collaborators, such as "Commando Arrays" (H32-1f, H32-3f).

• The ghettos: The survivors of the first massacres were concentrated in the ghettos in Riga, Daugavpils (Dvinsk), and Liepaja (H32-1f, H32-3f).
• Mass murder: In December 1941, approximately 27,000 Jews from the Riga Ghetto were murdered in the forest. Rombola (H32-1f). By the end of the Nazi occupation, approximately 70,000 of the original Latvian Jews had been murdered (H32-1f, H32-3f).

Jewish resistance and struggle

Despite the difficult conditions, many Jews took an active part in the war against the Nazis:

1. The Red Army: About 5,000 Jews served in201st Latvian Division (and later the 43rd), where they constituted about 30% of the fighting force. Many of them fell in heavy battles defending Moscow (H32-1f, H32-4f).
2. Partisans: An armed resistance movement operated within the ghettos, and groups of fighters attempted to escape to the forests to join partisan units (H32-1f, H32-4f).
3. Spiritual resistance: The sources describe manifestations of spiritual endurance, such as maintaining religious rituals and studying within the concentration camps (H32-8f).

The Remnants of the Holocaust and the Return to Latvia

After the liberation in 1944, the Jewish community in Latvia was Diverse and complexIt included "survivors" who had survived the ghettos and camps, and "refugees" who had returned from deep within the Soviet Union (H32-1f, H32-5-1f). Many of them felt alienated in their own country due to local anti-Semitism and the destruction of the community, which led to extensive activity of the **"Bricha"** movement towards Israel (H32-5f).

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Key figures

Jewish leaders, spiritual figures, and victims:

• Mordechai Dovin: Leader of the "Agudat Israel" in Latvia, an influential political figure who was expelled by the Soviets and died in exile (H32-2f, H32-3f).
• Shimon Dubnov: A world-famous Jewish historian, murdered in the Riga ghetto (H32-1f, H32-3f).
• Mordechai Nurok: Religious Zionist leader (Mizrahi), politician and member of the Latvian Seimas (H32-1f, H32-3f).
• Max Lazarson: Jewish jurist and political leader in Latvia (H32-3f).
• Riva Weiner: A Holocaust survivor who documented her experiences and hardships in Siberia and Latvia (H32-2f).

Nazis and collaborators:

• Friedrich Jaklen: The commander of the SS and police in the "Ostland" region, primarily responsible for the mass murder in Rumbola (H32-1f).
• Victor Arais: Commander of the Latvian volunteer unit ("Kommando Arais") that committed mass murders of Jews (H32-1f, H32-3f).
• Herbert Zukurs: A notorious Latvian collaborator who took an active part in the murder of Jews (H32-1f).
• Rudolf Lange: Commander of the Security Police (SD) in Riga, one of the main planners of the extermination of the Jews of Latvia (H32-1f).

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List of sources

• H32-1f : A comprehensive historical overview of the history of Latvian Jews, the Holocaust period, and the resistance.
• H32-2f : Documentation of the deportations to Siberia in June 1941 and stories of deported families.
• H32-3f : Details about the Soviet occupation (1940) and the Nazi occupation (1941) of Latvia.
• H32-4f : A study of the armed resistance of the Jews of the Baltic States against the Nazis.
• H32-5-1f : A scientific conference program dealing with the fate of Jewish remnants in the Baltic countries after the war.
• H32-5f : An analysis of the social structure of the She'erit HaPleita in Latvia and the movement to escape to Eretz Israel.
• H32-8f : Evidence of religious life and spiritual standing within the concentration camps.

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– H32-1f

– H32-2f

– H32-3f

– H32-4f

– H32-5f

– H32-5-1f

– H32-6f

– H32-7f

– H32-8f

– H32-9f

** end of Publications, Dov Levin files **

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