Vilaka file / תיק קהילה

These sources document the The history of the Jewish community in the town of Vilaka (Marianhausen) in Latvia, from the 18th century until its destruction in the Holocaust. The collection includes Demographic data, business owner records, and maps, alongside a review of the educational, religious and cultural institutions that flourished there. A significant portion of the material is devoted toDescription of the German invasion in 1941, the persecution of Jews by local forces and their mass murder at sites near the town. In addition, the sources present Personal testimonies and name lists of victims, rabbis, and survivors, who preserve the memory of the community. These documents serve asHistorical Gilead Which combines academic research by Yad Vashem with press clippings and statistical reports from various periods.

The history of the town and the beginning of the Jewish settlement

The settlement Vilayaka (Viļaka), also known as Marienhausen (Marienhausen) in German andMaryanovo (Marianovo) in Russian, located inAverna District In the province Latgale (Latgale), in eastern Latvia (C45-1f, C45-3f, C45-4f, C45-9F). The settlement began in a fortified castle of The Livonian Order Founded in 1293 by the Archbishop of Riga, most of its lands belonged to the Catholic Church (C45-1f, C45-3f, C45-9F). In 1772, with the First Partition of Poland, the area was annexed to Russia, and in 1825 the settlement was granted town status (C45-1f, C45-3f, C45-4f). Jews began to settle there in the late 18th century, and by the mid-19th century their number did not exceed 70; significant growth began when a local Polish landowner showed interest in expanding the village and attracted Jews to settle around his estate (C45-1f, C45-3f, C45-9F). In 1847, 61 Jews lived in the town, and in 1903 their number had increased to 540, who constituted the majority of the population (C45-3f, C45-4f, C45-9F). In 1882, following the "temporary regulations" that prohibited Jewish settlement in villages, the settlement was stripped of its town status, but it was restored in 1892, which led to the movement of many Jewish families from the surrounding area into the town (C45-3f, C45-9F).

Spiritual leadership and religious institutions

The community's first rabbi was Rabbi Ben-Zion Don Yehia (Benzion Don-Yahia), who served between 1900–1926 (C45-1f, C45-4f, C45-9F). According to information in the book "My tents are there"The rabbi was born in Lutsin in 1864 (or 1861 according to another version in the same source) to his father, Rabbi Eliezer Don Yehia, and studied in the yeshivots of Kidin, Volozhin, and Kovno (C45-8f). Before his official appointment, he served as a local Torah authority. Rabbi Moshe David Goldensky (C45-3f, C45-9F). After Rabbi Don Yahya left for Lucin following the death of his father, he was appointed to the position Rabbi Israel Yaakov Czerniak (Czerniak), who was a prominent figure in Haredi education in Riga and later perished in the Holocaust (C45-1f, C45-4f, C45-9F). There was one synagogue in the town with a separate prayer room ("cloister") for the few Hasidim, and after disputes over the wording of the prayer, the services were split into two synagogues: the "large" one for the dissenters and the "small" one for the Hasidim (C45-1f, C45-3f, C45-9F). A handwritten note on one of the documents in the file states "8th town", as well as notes in Russian referring to the archival documentation (C45-3f).

Social life, the economy, and education between the world wars

Most of the town's Jews were engaged in wholesale and retail trade, mainly in linen, grain, lumber, and hides (C45-1f, C45-4f, C45-9F). In 1903, a volunteer fire department was established in the town, composed largely of Jews (C45-3f, C45-4f, C45-9F). According to a 1935 census, there were 77 Jewish-owned businesses in the town, compared to 15 non-Jewish-owned ones, including grocery stores, butcher shops, and textile stores (C45-3f, C45-9F). The list of homeowners and businesses includes names such as Avram Afnansky, Israel Bobrov, Yitzhak Kagan, andMendel Sandler (C45-2f). In the field of education, until World War I, children studied in rooms or with private teachers, and in 1921 a Jewish elementary school was opened in the Chisha (Tsischa/CYSHO) where the language of instruction was Yiddish (C45-1f, C45-4f, C45-9F). Political activity was extensive and included branches of Beitar, Hashomer Hatzair-Netzach and Zionist-Socialist parties (C45-1f, C45-3f, C45-4f). A cultural club called "Yiddish Cultural Union" Operated on site and included a public library and a drama club (C45-3f, C45-4f, C45-9F).

The Holocaust Period: Occupation and Extermination

After the period of Soviet rule (1940–1941), Vilyaka was occupied by the German army in early July 1941 (C45-1f, C45-3f, C45-9F). Shortly thereafter, the Jews were expelled from their homes and concentrated inghetto established in a poor area of ​​the town, where forced labor was employed (C45-3f, C45-9F, C45-10-2f). According to the research of Igras Hortensia (Aigars Urtāns) quoted in the sources, local collaborators known as "Self-defenders" broke into Jewish homes, robbed and committed acts of violence (C45-10-2f). On August 11 and 12, 1941, the town "Commando Arenas" (Arājs Commando), a murder unit operating under German command, after committing murders in nearby towns such as Litāna, Balvi and Avarna (C45-10-2f). The men were separated from the women and children and taken to pits prepared in advance in the forest Zabrinski (Zverinki), near the village Dzokalna (Dazukalna), about 2 km from the town, where they were murdered (C45-1f, C45-3f, C45-4f, C45-9F, C45-10-2f). The women and children were murdered in a separate pit about 1.5 km from the town (C45-3f, C45-4f, C45-9F). The sources mention a heroic act by a Jewish mother named Leah Schneor, which encouraged women to "die as proud Jews" (C45-3f, C45-9F). In total, about 520 Jews were murdered in and around Vilyaka (C45-10-2f). In May 1944, as they were about to withdraw, the Germans forced Soviet prisoners of war to open the graves and burn the bodies in order to cover up the traces of the murder (C45-3f, C45-9F, C45-10-2f).

After the War: Commemoration and Memory

In July 1944 the town was liberated by the Red Army (C45-1f, C45-4f, C45-9F). A Jewish officer in the Red Army erected the first gilded tomb at the murder site, with an inscription in Russian and Latvian that did not explicitly state that the victims were Jewish (C45-1f, C45-3f, C45-9F). Remains from the grave of the women and children were brought for burial inRiga by survivors (C45-1f, C45-4f, C45-9F). In 1979–1980, at the request of the remnants of the Jewish community, a memorial plaque placed by the municipality was moved to the site of the men's grave (C45-3f, C45-4f, C45-9F). E-mail correspondence from 2020 indicates that Aviva and Nyota Kuczynska They sought donations from Wiliaka residents to help care for the cemetery and the murder site (C45-10-1f). A memorial service was held in the town every year, but the number of participants decreased over the years; in 1980, only 14 Jews attended (C45-3f, C45-9F). According to an interview with Tuvia Lisitsyn From 1979, he was one of the few who left the town before the war, studied at the Slobodka Yeshiva and immigrated to Israel in 1924 (C45-6f).

Terms and concepts from the sources

• Nefet Abrenne: An administrative unit in Latvia to which the town of Viilaika belonged (C45-9F).
• Blatgalle: A region of land in eastern Latvia, known in Latvian as Latgale (C45-9F).
• Tsischa/CYSHO: A central network of secular Jewish schools that operated in the Yiddish language (C45-9F).
• Arājs Commando: An auxiliary unit of the Latvian Security Police that operated under the Nazis and committed mass murders of Jews (C45-10-2f).
• Livonian Order: A military-religious order of Christian knights that ruled the region in the 13th century (C45-4f, C45-9F).
• Guild: A guild of merchants with privileged rights; originally merchants belonging to the "Second Guild" are mentioned (C45-3f, C45-9F).

List of sources

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