From Ordinary Life to the Holocaust's file / תיק – מחיים רגילים לשואה

These sources include Archival documentation Official and personal documents concerning the Jewish community in Latvia during the 1940s. Among the documents are: Name lists Detailed records of Jewish patients at the "Serenklanes" hospital in Riga, alongside Payroll records of workers at a Jewish gymnasium from 1940. In addition, it appears Power of attorney letter Handwritten from 1944 and a list of Jewish workers employed in the factory during the war. These documents, some of which are held at the institution Yad Vashem, serve as administrative and historical evidence of the lives and fates of individuals during the Holocaust. The information contained in them includes Dates of birth, ID card numbers and employment details of dozens of people.

The collection of documents before us documents the lives, education and tragic fate of the The Rapoport family and the Jewish community of Riga, Latvia, before World War II and during the Holocaust. The documents range from official identity cards, administrative lists of forced laborers and the sick, to heartbreaking personal correspondence attempting to trace the missing after the war.

Key figures appearing in the documents

Victims and family members:

• Abram-David Rapoport: A central figure in the documents. A merchant born in 1890 who lived in Riga (H67-1f). He was imprisoned in the Riga ghetto, sent to forced labor in a cement factory and in the Kaiserwald (Meja-Parc) camp, and later deported to camps in Estonia (Vaivarä and Kivioli) and to Germany, where he was last seen in the Stutthof camp in the fall of 1944 (H67-1f).
• Israel Rapoports: Born in December 1920 or January 1921. Excellent student at the private Jewish gymnasium "Ezra" in Riga (H67-1f).
• Adelheid Rot: A relative (probably Abram's wife) who lived in Riga and led the arduous efforts to locate him with the Red Cross and various committees after the war (H67-1f, H67-3f).
• Berta Rapoport: Born Romanovskaya. Married Abram in 1919 (H67-1f). Worked as a laborer (H67-1f).
• Morduch Rapoport: A teacher at the Jewish Gymnasium in Riga, whose name appears on the salary lists from 1940 (H67-5f).
• Volja: Mentioned in letters as having been sent to Meža-parku in critical health, barely able to stand on his feet (H67-2f).
• Male Rapoports: Student at the "Ezra" school (H67-1f).
• Rachel Baron and Esther Birnbaum: Relatives whose belongings were left with Adelheid Roth (H67-3f).

Administrative figures (Nazis and collaborators/officials):

• The documents do not name specific senior Nazi criminals, but they document the bureaucratic system they operated. Bodies such as the "Prisoners' Committee" in Schwerin and the Estonian concentration camp administration are mentioned (H67-1f). L. Laats Appears as the chairman of a local committee in Estonia that responds to inquiries about missing persons (H67-1f).

---

Expansion of important sources

Source (H67-1f): Documentation of the path of suffering of Abram Rapoport This is the richest source in the collection. It includes marriage certificates and passports from peacetime, but its main body is the post-war correspondence (1945–1946). Through Adelheid Roth's applications to the International Red Cross, Abram's deportation route is revealed: from the Riga ghetto (1941), through hard labor in a cement factory, a stay in the Meijer-Park concentration camp, and the deportation of 500 Jews to Estonia (H67-1f). The document describes how he worked hard in Kivioli for the "Neviger-Portofee" labor group until his final deportation to Germany in the summer of 1944 (H67-1f).

Source (H67-4f): Sarkankalna Hospital Records This document is chilling administrative evidence from the early days of the occupation of Riga (August-September 1941). It contains semi-enumerated lists of dozens of Jewish patients hospitalized in the hospital, along with their ID and passport numbers (H67-4f). These lists serve as an important tool for identifying the fate of Jews taken from medical institutions during the first Aktions.

Source (H67-5f): Cultural and educational life before the destruction This document documents the salary lists of teachers at the Jewish Gymnasium "Ezra" in Riga in August and September 1940 (H67-5f). It presents an aspect of vibrant and organized community life just before the Nazi invasion, and includes the names of educators, including Murdoch Rapoport, some of whom died later in the war.

The source (H67-2f): Personal voices from hell This source consists of personal notes and letters in Russian, German, and Latvian (H67-2f). The letters describe feelings of despair ("My situation is hopeless"), desperate pleas for financial help ("I am left without means"), and reports of the deteriorating health of relatives (H67-2f).

---

List of sources

• H67-1f : A collection of personal documents of the Rapoport family, including passports, educational certificates from the "Ezra" Gymnasium, marriage certificates and extensive correspondence between Adelheid Roth and the Red Cross and the Committees for the Tracing of Missing Persons regarding Abram Rapoport.
• H67-2f : A collection of letters and personal notes in various languages ​​(Russian, German, Latvian) documenting the difficulties of existence in the ghetto, reports on health conditions, and deportations to labor camps.
• H67-3f : Handwritten power of attorney authorizing Adelheid Roth to receive items left by her relatives.
• H67-4f : Detailed Semitic lists of Jewish patients at the "Serkankalna" hospital in Riga from August and September 1941.
• H67-5f : Administrative salary sheets of the teaching staff at the Jewish Gymnasium in Riga from 1940.
• H67-6f : List of Jewish forced laborers at the "Skrundas Kodras" factory in Riga from October 1943 and Yad Vashem archive markings.

H67-1f

H67-2f

H67-3f

H67-4f

H67-5f

H67-6f

** end of The Rapaport Family, from Ordinary Life to the Holocaust files **

**Press to go back to Personalities Table**