Dobele file / תיק קהילה

📜The History of the Dobla Community: From Establishment to Destruction

These sources document the history of the town.DoblaIn Latvia, with a special focus on my lifeThe Jewish communityThe locality and its fate. The documents review the development of the settlement from the Middle Ages, through changing periods of rule, to population censuses that present theDemographic growthand the city's economy. A central chapter is dedicated to the periodThe Holocaust, which details the German occupation, the extermination of almost all the local Jews in 1941, and the liberation of the area byThe Red ArmyAmong other things, moving testimonies are presented aboutRighteous Among the Nationswho risked their lives to save lone survivors in hiding. In conclusion, the archive combines dry statistical data withHistorical memoryThe pain of a destroyed community.

Based on the attached sources, the following is a detailed historical overview of the history of the Jewish community inDobla(Dobele; in German:Double; In Jewish sources:Dablen), located in the districtYalgaba(Jelgava), ropeZamgla(Zemgale), in the southwestLatvia(C28-4f). (It should be noted that the sources focus on the community in Latvia and not Estonia as mentioned in the query).

Geographical background and founding of the city

The cityDoblaFounded in the 14th century byThe Livonian Order(Livonian Order), an order of Christian knights from Germany (C28-4f). The city was formerly part of the principality ofCourland(Courland) and passed under the protection of Poland, and in 1783 it was annexed to Russia (C28-1f). Between 1920 and 1940 the city was part ofIndependent Latvia(C28-1f, C28-4f).

Community organization and religious institutions

The Jewish community was organized there in the second half of the 19th century (C28-4f). The institutions established includedcemetery,Sherva Kadisha,Beit MidrashandPurification bath(C28-1f, C28-4f). From 1904 there was asynagogueAnd at its head stood a rabbi (C28-1f, C28-4f).slaughtererof the nearby city,Yalgaba, used to come toDoblaTwice a week (C28-1f, C28-4f).

The sources mention a number of rabbis who served in the city: RabbiChaim Wolpert, the RabbiAaron Glickman(who served in the 1890s) and the RabbiYekutiel Zalman Halevi, who served during World War I (C28-3f).

Demographic development

Jewish population data over the years shows significant fluctuations:

• In 1881, the community numbered 154 people (14% of the total population) (C28-3f).
• In 1897, the community reached a peak of 240 people (14%) (C28-1f, C28-3f).
• In 1910, the number of Jews dropped to 142 (7%) (C28-3f).
• In 1920, with the establishment ofIndependent Latvia, there were only 25 Jews in the city (3%) (C28-1f, C28-3f).
• In 1930, their number increased to 80 out of 2,152 residents (4%) (C28-1f, C28-3f).
• In 1935, the community numbered 72 Jews out of a total population of 2,470 (3%) (C28-1f, C28-3f).

Political activity and the events of 1905

The city's Jews took an active part in the eventsRevolution of 1905(C28-1f). Their leader was the teacherA.B. Feldman, who was elected mayor by his supporters (C28-1f, C28-4f). After the suppression of the revolution by a punitive expedition of the emperor (tsar), he was expelledFeldmanTo be executed (C28-1f, C28-4f).

World War I and the interwar period

In 1915, during World War I, the city's Jews were deported to the Russian interior along with other Jews.Courland(C28-1f, C28-4f).

Between the two world wars, Zionist ideology grew stronger in the community (C28-1f). Initially, the majority of local Jews supportedThe Revisionist Movement, but in the 1930s most of them switched to supportingSocialist Zionists(C28-1f, C28-4f). Before World War II, a number ofPioneersFrom the city to the Land of Israel (C28-1f, C28-4f).

The Holocaust Period and Rescue Operations

FollowingRibbentrop-Molotov Pact, the Red Army entered Latvia and established a Soviet regime in the summer of 1940 (C28-1f, C28-4f). In June 1941, a few days after the outbreak of war between Germany and the Soviet Union, the German army occupied the place (C28-1f). All the Jews who were in the city at the time of the occupation were murdered during the summer and autumn of 1941 (C28-1f, C28-4f).

The document presented as a "certificate" (based on a handwritten "act") contains testimony from survivors who spent three years in prisons and concentration camps under German occupation (C28-5f). The survivors who signed the document are:Epstein David Iskovitch,Wagenheim Maxim Solomonovich,Noam German Isaievich,Drizin Isaac Emanuelovich,Drizin Zalman Emanuelovich,Itzikson Grigory VladimirovichandDrizin Michael Yefimovich(C28-5f).

The document praises the rescue operation ofJano Lipka(Lipke Jano), who helped them escape from the fascist concentration camps in Riga and arranged a hiding place for them (C28-5f). They were hidden on a farm calledRashni(Resni) inDobla, at the citizen'sMaria Keller(Keller Maria), who risked herself and her children to hide them and provide them with food (C28-5f). The rescue operation was carried out with the knowledge and support of the head of the council (Starshyna),Willis Binnenfeld(Binenfeld Vilis) (C28-5f). The survivors were hidden until the city was liberated by the Red Army in August 1944 (C28-1f, C28-5f).

In memory of a JewDoblaA tombstone was erected in the Jewish cemetery inRiga(C28-1f, C28-4f).

List of sources

• C28-1f: A historical overview printed in Hebrew on the history of the city of Dobla, the organization of the Jewish community and its institutions, the events of the 1905 Revolution and the Holocaust period.
• C28-2f: A section of a 1936 Latvian city description book that includes history, demographics, detailed lists of business owners and institutions, and a map of the city of Dobla.
• C28-3f: Documents in Hebrew that include a demographic table of the population of Dobla, a review of the local rabbis, the development of the Zionist movement, and a list of historical sources.
• C28-4f: Information pages in English from the Diaspora Center that summarize the history of the Dobla community from its beginnings, through the 1915 deportation, to the destruction of the community in the Holocaust.
• C28-5f: A certificate of testimony in Hebrew and a copy of an original "Act" document in Russian signed by seven survivors detailing the story of their rescue by the Righteous Among the Nations.

C28-1f

C28-2f

C28-3f

C28-4f

C28-5f

**End of Sources Section**

**Return to Communities Table**