Indra file / תיק קהילה

📜 The stories of the Indra community during the Holocaust

The collection of sources presents comprehensive historical and personal documentation about the fate The Jewish community in the town of Indra in Latvia before and during the Holocaust. The documents include Name lists of victims, prisoner cards from concentration camps such as Stutthof, and detailed testimonies about the murder of the Jews of the region in the Pogolyanka Forest. Archive photographs reveal the Community life and religion, including a picture of the local synagogue that burned down during the war. In addition, Personal interviews and letters Officials reconstruct the family trees of local families and commemorate the stories of the survivors and the victims. The collection combines Statistical data Dry and touching human memory to preserve the memory of the destroyed community.

Based on the sources found in the archives, the following is a detailed historical overview of the Jewish community inIndra (Indra) and its surroundings. It should be emphasized that the sources deal with the community located inLatvia (in the district) To the church), and not in Estonia (C11-1f, C11-4f, C11-8f).

General background and demographics

The settlement Indra, also known in some sources as Bolbinova (Bolbinova), located in the district To the church (Latgale) againLatvia (C11-1f, C11-3f). Between 1920 and 1940 the settlement was part of independent Latvia (C11-1f). According to printed statistics from 1935, the Jewish community in the place numbered 46 people, who constituted about 16% of the total population of the settlement (C11-1f, C11-3f, C11-4f). Detailed statistical documentation from the same year (originally in Latvian) indicates that the settlement had a total of 294 residents (C11-2f).

Community life, economy and religion

The Jewish community inIndra and its surroundings maintained an active religious and cultural lifestyle. In the settlement there was a synagogue named after Munitz Ruven (C11-5f). A personal handwritten testimony on a photograph states that the synagogue was burned in June 1941 as a result of a Nazi bombing (C11-5f).

Economically, the local Jews were engaged in trade and crafts. An official printed publication from 1936 lists the names of Jewish business owners in the settlement: Israel Saibela and-Nechuma Breslava who ran stores selling food products, andSoma Levins who ran a barbershop (C11-2f). Testimony of Zalman Yaffe (Zalman Yoffe) describes his family as Orthodox Jews; his father used to go to synagogue every day, the house was kosher, and the children studied in a "cheder" (C11-8f). Jews in the area also engaged in professions such as tailors, shoemakers, and tanners (C11-8f).

The Holocaust and the Destruction of the Community

With the outbreak of World War II and the signing of the Ribbentrop-Molotov, the Red Army entered Latvia in August 1940 and established a Soviet regime (C11-3f, C11-4f). On June 22, 1941, the German army invaded the region (C11-1f).

According to printed sources, by the end of June 1941 a number of Jews had been murdered by local Latvians (C11-1f, C11-4f). By the end of July 1941, the rest of the community had been taken to the ghetto. Daugavpils (Daugavpils), also known in sources Dvinsk (C11-1f, C11-3f). A few days later the Jews were led to the forest Pogolianka (Pogulianka), where they were murdered in what the sources defined as "the operation to exterminate the Jews of the field towns" (C11-1f, C11-3f). Handwritten Semitic lists list dozens of victims from the settlements. Indra andFridroja (Priedruja) who were murdered or disappeared in 1941, including family members Sorkin, Shapira, Monitz andDonda (C11-6f).

Key figures and personal documentation

The archive contains details about a number of survivors and prisoners:

• Lipka Munitz: Born in 1914 in Kelavo. In printed documents with handwritten additions he is described as a baker and locksmith (C11-9f, C11-10f). He was arrested on October 31, 1943 in Riga under the category "Political Latvian Jew" (C11-10f). During the war he passed through several concentration camps: Riga, Stutthof, Buchenwald (which he arrived at on August 16, 1944) and finally Bergen-Belsen, to which he was transferred on February 27, 1945 (C11-9f, C11-10f).
• Schapsa Kodesh: Born June 25, 1908. He was arrested in Riga by the German police on August 9, 1944 and transferred to the concentration camp. Stutthof, where he received prisoner number 56629 (C11-11f, C11-9f).
• Zalman Yoffe: Born in 1921, his family came from Indra and Mparili. In his testimony he describes the deportation of his family to Siberia in June 1941 by the Soviet authorities as "dangerous elements to society" (C11-8f). After the war he returned to Riga and became involved in the fishing industry (C11-8f).

Geographical and cultural terms

Below is a clarification of the concepts that appear in the sources:

• Indra: A settlement in Latvia, the focus of the review.
• For Latgale: The district in Latvia where Indra is located.
• Bolbinova: The Russian name of the settlement is Indra.
• Pogulianka: A forest near Daugavpils where massacres of Jews were committed.
• Daugavpils: A major city in Latvia (also known as Dvinsk).
• Room (Heder): A traditional religious educational institution for children.

List of sources

• C11-1f: A historical and demographic overview in Hebrew of the settlement of Indra (Bolvinova), including the Holocaust period.
• C11-2f: Pages from an official Latvian statistical publication from 1936 containing data on the settlement of Indra and a list of business owners.
• C11-3f: An information page in Hebrew about the history of the Indra community in Latvia under the Soviet and Nazi occupation.
• C11-4f: A historical overview in English of the Jews of Indira under independent, Soviet, and Nazi rule, including details of the operation to liquidate the field towns.
• C11-5f: A photograph from 1940 of the Rubin Monitz Synagogue in Indra, accompanied by a caption identifying the members of the community photographed.
• C11-6f: Handwritten Semitic lists in Russian of residents of Indra and Fridruje who were murdered or persecuted by the Nazis in 1941.
• C11-7f: Compilation of testimonials and lists from the Yad Vashem database for victims and survivors from the Indra settlement, including names and dates of birth.
• C11-8f: An in-depth interview with Zalman Yaffe in the magazine Latvia SIG describing his family's life in Indra, the deportation to Siberia, and the community in Prilep.
• C11-9f: A letter of response from the International Tracing Service (ITS), which collects archival information on the arrest and fate of Lipka Monitz and Shafa Kodesh.
• C11-10f: Personal prisoner cards of Lipka Monitz, including demographic information, professional training, and details of transitions between concentration camps.
• C11-11f: Personal prisoner cards of Shefa Kodesh detailing his date of birth, profession, and record of his imprisonment in the Stutthof camp.

C11-1f

C11-2f

C11-3f

C11-4f

C11-5f

C11-6f

C11-7f

C11-8f

C11-9f

C11-10f

C11-11f

**End of Sources Section**

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