Karsava file / תיק קהילה

These sources document the Jewish history and life in the city of Krasbeh (Karsava) in Latvia throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The collection includes Official documents Such as high school graduation certificates from local gymnasiums, registration forms for foreign residents, and administrative records in Yiddish, Latvian, and Hebrew. Alongside these, there are Detailed historical reviews Describing the development of the community, educational and religious institutions, Zionist activity and the composition of the population over the years. Some of the documents are dedicated toCommemorating the Holocaust Era, including testimonies about the mass murder in the firing pits and the attempts to rebuild community life after liberation. The sources also present Visual materials, such as illustrated maps of the region and photographs of rabbinical manuscripts, which provide a broad view of the local cultural heritage. In short, it is aDocumentary archive which combines the personal fate of individuals with the general experiences of Latvian Jewry.

The town Karasawa (Karsava), known in Jewish sources asKarasoka (Karsauka) or Korsovka (Korsovka), located in the district Lodz (Ludza) in the region To Italy (Latgale) in eastern Latvia (C99-4f, C99-1f). It began as an agricultural settlement in the 15th century, and towards the end of the 18th century it was recognized as a town (C99-4f). In 1812 the town was destroyed by Napoleon's army, but was rebuilt about 12 years later after a nearby crossroads turned it into a commercial center (C99-4f).

The Jewish community inKarasawa Founded in the 1820s (C99-4f). At that time, a cemetery was consecrated and a synagogue and rabbinical institutions were established (C99-4f). In 1840, the community numbered about 700, but in 1843 most of the Jews (except for four craftsmen and their families) were expelled by a Polish landowner (C99-4f). The deportees moved to neighboring settlements or agricultural colonies in southern Russia, and only about twenty years later were they allowed to return to the town (C99-4f, C99-3f).

The community experienced significant growth in the late 19th century; in 1875 a new synagogue was built, and in the 1897 census the Jews numbered 2,400, constituting about 60% of the total population (C99-4f, C99-1f). During this period, an association was established in the town.Visiting the sick" and a pharmacy (C99-4f).

After World War I, with the establishment of independent Lithuania, the Jews returned to the town (C99-4f). In 1920 the community numbered 910 people (about 47.5% of the population), and with the assistance of the "Joint"A GMAH fund and welfare institutions such as" were establishedDressing naked", "Poor people's bread" and a women's association (C99-4f, C99-1f). The education system included the religious school "Torah and the Way of the Earth", a Jewish elementary school and gymnasium (C99-4f). At the gymnasium, which was located at 8 Teatra iela, the language of instruction was initially Russian and later Yiddish, with Hebrew also being taught as a language (C99-4f, C99-70). Documents from the archive include matriculation certificates of students such as Moshe Aharon Shabel-Eliased (1932) andSarah Zalkind (1930) (C99-13f, C99-14f).

Economically, most of the town's Jews belonged to the middle class and were engaged in trade and crafts (C99-4f). Data from 1935 indicate that of the 214 shops and businesses in the town, 180 were Jewish-owned (C99-4f, C99-1f). Among the prominent figures in the town were Rabbi Aretha Olschwang Bar, the last rabbi of the community, andDr. Michael Zeidlin, who was the manager of the local bank and a member of the gymnasium board (C99-4f). Maps and handwritten notes in the archive document the locations of the homes and businesses of families such as Dimenstein, Gordin andwriter (C99-30f, C99-12f). A handwritten note states that Diana Gordin Born in a house at Kalēju Street 15 in 1913 (C99-30f).

Zionist activity in the town was extensive and included branches of "The pioneer", "The Young Guard", "The Eastern"And"Agudat Israel", alongside the activity of the"Bond" (C99-4f, C99-3f). Photographs from the archive document members of the youth movements in Krasava in 1928, 1930 and 1933 (C99-31f).

The Holocaust period began with the occupation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union in 1940 and the nationalization of businesses (C99-4f). After the German invasion in June 1941, about 200 young Jews were drafted into the Red Army (C99-4f). In early July 1941, the town was occupied; 25 Jews were murdered in the first few days by the Lithuanian police (C99-4f). The Jews were concentrated in a ghetto, forced to wear a yellow badge and taken to forced labor (C99-4f). On August 23, 1941, about 450 Jews from the town and its surroundings were taken to Givat Naudes-Klans (Naudas Kalnas), where they were shot to death in pits they had been forced to dig themselves (C99-4f, C99-1f). A handwritten note states that the massacre was carried out under the command of a German officer and assisted by local police (C99-102).

After the town was liberated by the Red Army in July 1944, it turned out that only a few Jews survived in the town after being hidden by locals (C99-4f). Most of the survivors who returned from the front or the Soviet rear settled in Riga, and only about 20 families returned to Karasava (C99-4f). The archive contains a Semitic list of about 50 Jews born in the town who fell in battles during World War II (C99-32f). Over the years, the number of Jews in the town decreased; in the 1980s, only a few families remained (C99-4f). The cemetery was restored and a monument was erected in memory of the murdered with an inscription in Russian and Yiddish (C99-4f).

List of terms and explanations

• Gatavības apliecība / Rieffekeit-Atteystat – Matriculation certificate (appears in Latvian and Yiddish on graduation documents) (C99-13f).
• Money Mountain – "Silver Hill", the site of the mass murder of the town's Jews (C99-4f).
• Shouchet – Butcher (appears as a job description in foreign registration documents) (C99-15-1f).
• A.D. – Abbreviation for the term "after the judgment" or indicates a date of death in genealogical tables (C99-12f).
• The city's Jewish gymnasium – The Municipal Jewish Gymnasium (C99-13f).

List of sources

To view the document, click on its number.

• C99-1f – A historical overview printed in Hebrew on the history of the Jewish community in Krasava and its destruction in the Holocaust.
• C99-2f – Pages from a Latvian cities yearbook from 1936 that include statistical and economic information about Karasava.
• C99-3f – A historical overview printed in Hebrew that includes demographic and economic data on Karasava.
• C99-4f – A detailed historical overview in English of the Jewish community in Krasava from its beginnings to after the Holocaust.
• C99-5f – A technical map of Karasava and a modern information leaflet about cultural and religious sites in the town.
• C99-6f – Biographical excerpts from a book on Judaism about rabbis who worked in Karasawa.
• C99-7f – Printed statistical data from 1914 on medical services and charitable institutions in Karasauca.
• C99-8f – List of members of the Association of Karasawa Descendants in Israel, including names and addresses from 1978/79.
• C99-9f – Transcript of an interview conducted with Avraham Itay regarding Jewish and social life in Karasawa.
• C99-10f – A biographical page with a photograph of Yehuda-Leib Dimenstein describing his life and his immigration to Israel.
• C99-11f – Personal testimony in Yiddish handwriting relating to the history of the town of Karasawa.
• C99-12f – A collection of family trees of the Dimenstein and Diamond families throughout the generations.
• C99-13f – Official high school diploma (in Yiddish and Latvian) of Moshe Aharon Shabel-Eliased from the Jewish Gymnasium.
• C99-14f – Graduation certificate and photograph of Sarah Zelkind from the Jewish Gymnasium in Krasava.
• C99-15-1f – Foreign national registration form from 1914 for Yitzhak Yaakov Sofer, born in Karasauka.
• C99-16f – A collection of personal handwritten letters in Yiddish and postal envelopes sent to Canada.
• C99-17f – An alternative to family letters and handwritten airmails in Yiddish and Hebrew.
• C99-18f – Personal memoirs handwritten in Yiddish that include descriptions of community life.
• C99-19f – A handwritten letter in Hebrew expressing a request for assistance or information regarding the school.
• C99-20f – A handwritten note in Hebrew confirming receipt of a donation for the Latvian Immigrants Association.
• C99-21f – An official document with the stamp of a Jewish workers' organization in Krasava from 1921.
• C99-22f – A handwritten memorandum in Russian on official stationery of a financial institution in Krasovo from 1929.
• C99-24f – Handwritten historical notes in Hebrew reviewing the history of the town of Karasawa.
• C99-25f – A handwritten letter page in Hebrew intended for the management of a community or religious institution.
• C99-26-1f – A printed section in Hebrew reviewing decrees of the Russian government during the Tsarist era.
• C99-26-2f – A Yiddish newspaper clipping from 1920 describing cultural and Zionist events in Karasauka.
• C99-27f – Testimony printed in Russian by Rachel Bankovich about the war years and the extermination of the Jews of Karasawa.
• C99-28f – A collection of photographs of tombstones in cemeteries, memorials and family photographs.
• C99-29-1f – Geographic map of the Baltic Sea region including Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.
• C99-29-2f – Illustrated map of eastern Latvia indicating the location of Karasava.
• C99-29-3f – A detailed topographic map of the Karasawa area with handwritten notes on murder sites.
• C99-30f – Hand-drawn drawings and street maps by Karasawa indicating the homes of Jewish families.
• C99-31f – Group photographs of members of Zionist youth movements and classrooms from the 1920s and 1930s.
• C99-32f – A handwritten Semitic list in Russian of Jews from Karasawa who fell in the service of the Red Army.
• C99-33f – A list of Jewish veterans from Karasawa, handwritten in Russian and Hebrew.
• C99-35-1f – Pages from the magazine "Atzalnu" including a eulogy for Frida Lambreg and a list of donors.
• C99-35-2f – Official letter from the association and receipt for the donation from the "Naginot" association from 1998.
• C99-35-3f – Handwritten notes in Russian describing Frida Lemberg's work in Riga and Israel.
• C99-35-4f – A detailed handwritten biography in Russian and Hebrew about the life and activities of Frida Lemberg.
• C99-35-5f – A journalistic article in Hebrew about the work of the "Naginot" association for immigrant musicians.

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