Vilani file / תיק קהילה

📜 List of residents and expatriates Villani In the historical archive

These sources document the The rich and tragic history of the Jewish community in the town Villani in Latvia. The collection includes Statistical data and demographics from the 1930s, alongside Name lists Detailed records of Jewish residents and their addresses. Official documents and handwritten testimonies reveal the The horrors of the Holocaust in the region, including mass murders, property theft, and the establishment of ghettos under the Nazi occupation. In addition, the sources provide Biographical background about the town's rabbis and describe the religious and social life that flourished there before the war. Summaries of Committees of inquiry Since 1944, the extent of the loss has been assessed and the memory of the many victims has been commemorated. The information serves asHistorical evidence Essential for preserving the heritage of a community that has almost completely disappeared.

General and geographical background of the settlement of Villani

The town Villani (Vilani), known in Jewish sources as curtain (Vilon) and in German Weleny, located in the district Razkane (Rezekne) in the region To Italy (Latgale), Eastern Latvia (C44-1f, C44-4f). The settlement is first mentioned in historical sources at the end of the 15th century, and in 1495 it was noted that the Vilani estate was owned by Jan de Loo (C44-15f, C44-20). In 1928, the settlement was granted city status (C44-1f). According to the 1935 census, the settlement had 1,333 residents (C44-15f, C44-25).

The beginnings and development of the Jewish community

The Jewish community inVillani It was established at the end of the 19th century, when its first institutions were established: House of Prayer, bath house andcemetery (C44-1f, C44-23). ​​In 1897, the Jewish population numbered 321, which constituted 41% of the total population (C44-1f, C44-19). The first Jews to settle in the city were employed inTannery (leather processing) which was owned by a Jew (C44-12f, C44-24). During World War I, most of the wealthy Jews were expelled from the city (C44-24). After the war, in 1918–1919, public buildings and Jewish homes were destroyed as a result of the fighting between The Bolsheviks to the Germans, but these were rehabilitated with the help of the community committee and charitable institutions (C44-1f, C44-23). ​​A handwritten note on a printed document stated that the organizationJoint Assisted in funding the Community Rehabilitation Loan Fund (C44-20).

Economic and public life between the world wars

The period between the two world wars saw economic development in the community. In 1935, most of the shops in the city were Jewish-owned (C44-24). According to the 1936 data of the Statistical Bureau of Latvia, various commercial establishments operated in the city, including a hostel owned by Abraham Gwartin, restaurants owned by Rosalia Fondor andAlexey Kotin, and grocery stores owned by Ita Ita, Haim Sharigin andMoses Krups (C44-16f). Few Jewish craftsmen were active in the city's crafts sector (C44-24). Jewish representatives served on the city council (C44-1f). The handwritten information records that the total number of businesses in the city was 156, of which 68 were Jewish-owned (C44-20).

Religious life, education and culture

Throughout the years of the community's existence, rabbis served in it, including: Rabbi Yitzhak Grodzi, who served from 1900 until the mid-1930s (C44-21). He was followed by Rabbi Mordechai Pelton, who perished in the Holocaust with his fellow believers (C44-21). Other sources mention Rabbi Menachem Mendel GreenbergBorn in Warsaw, he was appointed rabbi in Wilany in 1959, andRabbi Zvi Hirsch, born in Minsk, was appointed rabbi of the city in 1944 (C44-9f, C44-10f). In the field of education, in 1922 a Jewish elementary school was founded where the language of instruction was Yiddish (C44-1f, C44-21). Initially, 50 students attended, but in 1926 the number had dropped to 35 (C44-21). The city also had a public library (C44-1f). In addition, there was a social club called Bialik Club (Bialika clubs) who resided at 16 Perses Street in Riga and had contact with the community (C44-5).

Political activity and antisemitic events

There was extensive Zionist activity in the community. In the early 1920s, a branch of the Zionist Party operated. Zion Youth, and later a branch was established The pioneer (C44-1f, C44-24). In the 1930s, branches of the youth movements were opened Beitar, Hashomer Hatzair-Netzach andAkaviya (C44-1f, C44-21). In those years, several families from Vilani immigrated to Israel (C44-24). Alongside this, anti-Semitic incidents occurred; in 1928 Jews in the city were attacked by extremist nationalists (C44-21). The issue was raised inSaim (Latvian Parliament) by the Member of Parliament for theBond, Noah Meisel (C44-12f, C44-25).

The Holocaust Period: Occupation and Oppression

after Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, the Red Army entered Latvia in June 1940 (C44-12f). During this period, Jewish shops were nationalized and some members of the community joined the new government institutions (C44-21, C44-25). On June 22, 1941, with the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany, a few Jews managed to escape to the Russian interior, but most of the community remained in the city (C44-12f, C44-25). On July 3, 1941, German forces enteredVillani (C44-27f). Immediately after the occupation began, acts of abuse and murder began. The Germans and local collaborators, theEisergi (Guards), Jews were arrested at random (C44-27f, C44-32f). On the first day of the occupation, 14 people of Russian, Latvian and Jewish origin were murdered near the bridge over the river.Malta (C44-32f). The Jews were concentrated inghetto which was set up in side streets in difficult crowded conditions (C44-30f). The men were sent to hard forced labor and the women to lighter labor (C44-30f). Testimonies describe severe abuse inRabbi Platinsky, who during forced labor at an airport was forced to eat pork and had his beard cut off (C44-30f, C44-33f).

The destruction of the community

The main massacre of the Jews of Vilani took place on August 4, 1941 (21st of Av 5771) (C44-22f, C44-32f). At 2:00 a.m., the Jews were ordered to prepare for evacuation, with the false promise that they were being transferred toPalestine (C44-30f, C44-32f). The Jews were forced to pack their belongings and attach tags with their names to them (C44-32f). They were taken in trucks and on foot to the forest near the road. Razkane, between the cemetery of the "Old Believers" and the cemetery of the "Brethren" (C44-32f, C44-39f). About 480 Jews were murdered in the forest (C44-31f, C44-32f). According to the testimony of Stepanov S., women and children were shot separately from the men (C44-33f). Eyewitnesses reported that children were thrown into pits while still alive (C44-30f, C44-34f). After the murder, the Germans and collaborators robbed the victims of their property and held a feast (C44-31f, C44-34f). On January 4, 1942, about 87 people of Gypsy origin were murdered at the same site (C44-7, C44-32f). In April 1942, 6 Russian prisoners of war were murdered for having sugar in their possession (C44-34f).

Rescue, liberation and commemoration

In May 1942, a forced labor campaign was carried out in Germany; the population was held in detention in the "Beit Haam" and in Wilany until their deportation (C44-34f). The sources indicate that one Jewish family and a single Jew managed to escape (C44-12f, C44-25). Another version indicates that about 40 members of the community survived the war (C44-13f, C44-26). On July 28, 1944, the Villani by the Red Army (C44-13f, C44-26). After the war, two memorials were erected at the murder site: one at the initiative of the municipality and with an inscription in Russian, and the other at the initiative of the survivors and with an inscription inYiddish (C44-22f, C44-26). According to photographs and handwritten notes, survivors and relatives used to visit the place every year (C44-37f, C44-38f). The final report of the Commission for the Investigation of Nazi Crimes, signed on October 20, 1944 by the chairman of the commission Egorov Potapy Pavlovich, determined that the total number of those murdered in Villani was 680 civilians, of whom 280 were men, 200 women and 200 children (C44-32f, C44-35f).

Terms and definitions from the sources

• Aizsargi: A Latvian national guard organization whose members collaborated with the German occupation forces in acts of murder and robbery (C44-32f, C44-34f).
• Seim: Parliament of the Republic of Latvia (C44-24).
• Latgale: A historical region in eastern Latvia where the town of Vilani (C44-1f) is located.
• Bund: Jewish Socialist Workers' Party (C44-1f, C44-25).
• Governorate (Guberniya): An administrative unit (district) during the Russian Empire, as mentioned in connection with Vitebsk or Kalisz Province (C44-8f, C44-9f).
• Old Believers (Старообрядцы/Old Believers): A Russian Christian sect whose cemetery is mentioned as a landmark for the murder site (C44-32f, C44-39f).

List of sources

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• C44-2f – Excerpts from a Latvian statistical publication from 1936 describing the city of Viljandi, its residents and economy
• C44-3f – A detailed historical overview in Hebrew of the history of Villani, its institutions and its fate during the war
• C44-4f – Information sheets in English from the Diaspora Center on the history and Holocaust of the Jewish community in Vilani
• C44-5f – An official document in Russian documenting the murder of 680 civilians in Vilani and testimonies of the atrocities
• C44-6f – Handwritten testimony in Russian, photographs of a memorial to the victims, and a map of murder sites in Vilani
• C44-7f – Handwritten Semitic lists of Jews from Vilani from 1941, including addresses and numbers of people
• C44-8f – A handwritten Semitic list of Jewish residents of Vilani, including details about their place of residence and fate
• C44-9f – Additional handwritten Semitic lists of families and individuals from the Jewish community
• C44-10f – Handwritten Semitic lists of residents of Villani or victims of the Holocaust
• C44-11f – Handwritten Semitic lists that include numerical data and "alive" scores
• C44-12f – Photocopy of a postcard from Latvia and a handwritten note in Yiddish or Hebrew addressed to the Bialik Club
• C44-13-2f – Testimony printed in Russian describing the massacres, torture, and atrocities in Vilani
• C44-14f – Pages from the book "Aholei Shem" including biographies and details about the rabbis of Villani

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