Jews in Latvia
By Leo Dribins, (Institute of Philosophy and Sociology)
First
Jews in Piltene
No documentary evidence attests to the presence
of Jews in ancient Latvian tribes up to the time of the Crusades or
thereafter. The first written reference to Jews occurs in 1306 (1309,
according to some sources) in the decree of the ruling German Livonian
master, Siegfried von Feichtwangen, forbidding any
Jew to reside in the territory ruled by the Livonian Order. The Order, the
Archbishop of Riga, and the Bishop of Kurland held the typical medieval
anti-Semitic view of the Jews as enemies of Christianity. The Crusaders also
regarded the Jews as unwelcome competitors who, by trading with farmers,
might decrease the income of the Crusaders and the clergy.
In the seventeenth century, when Vidzeme and Riga
were under Swedish rule, King Gustav Adolf, forbade Jews to engage in
commerce or to take up permanent residence. Only in the region of Piltene, which was sold to Magnus, the brother of the
Danish king, were Jews allowed to live and work. Since 1571 Jews were allowed
to acquire real estate, to build or buy houses. They enjoyed the same rights
as local homeowners. In 1585, when the Piltene
region passed into the hands of the Polish king, laws favourable to the Jews
continued to be in force. Such advantageous conditions attracted traders and
craftsmen from Germany
to Piltene and neighbouring localities. Thus began
the history of the Jews in Latvia.
Jews
in Kurzeme
Jews were officially forbidden to reside in the
Duchy of Kurzeme (Courland)
while it was under Polish rule (1561-1795). However, those landowners who
wanted to develop trade, crafts, and manufacturing were favourably disposed
to Jewish immigration. Thus, the duke's administration granted Jews the
status of resident aliens, allowing them temporary residence.
The Jews not only traded industriously but also
loaned the duke money for setting up manufacturing concerns and workshops. On
occasion, Jews were tasked with collecting taxes and customs. In this way,
the Jews in the seventeenth century facilitated Duke Jacob's economic
enterprises.
However, many German merchants and craftsmen,
fearing competition, were ill-disposed toward the Jews. Also, landlords who
gained no benefit from the Jews requested the curtailment of Jewish
activities. Frequently, Jews were forbidden to settle in cities; in Jelgava they were permitted to reside on only one street,
which came to be called Jewish Street. Consequently, most Jews settled in the
country, usually near an amicable landlord.
Little by little, the Jews became permanent
residents in Kurzeme. In 1708 they were permitted
to erect the first Jewish synagogue at Aizpute, and
in 1710 they established a Jewish cemetery in Jelgava.
Ernst Johann Biron,
who became the Duke of Kurzeme in 1737, was
benevolent toward the Jews; he even named the Jew Louis Lipman
as his chief financial adviser and business manager and shared the profits
with him. The Duke himself resided primarily in St.Petersburg
with his patroness, the empress Anna Ivanovna. When
she died in 1740, the new empress, Elizabeth Petrovna,
ordered Duke Biron to be exiled to Siberia and all
Jews to be expelled from Kurland. In 1747
the Jews were forced to leave Jelgava, but they
soon returned because they had been able to bribe the Russian officials in St. Petersburg; besides,
Jelgava needed their financial expertise.
During the eighteenth century, many Jewish merchants
arrived in Kurland from Germany - clothiers, shoemakers, glassmakers,
tinsmiths, furniture makers, inlayers, stamp makers, etc. The Jews,
particularly roofers, made a notable contribution to the building of Rundale
Castle and Peter's
Academy in Jelgava. Wealthy landowners and city
dwellers began to commission works by Jewish artisans.
A local Jewish intelligentsia began to form as
Jewish doctors who had been educated in Germany
began to arrive in Kurland. They brought
with them the reform movement haskala, which
encouraged Jews to participate in the cultural activities of their host
countries and to become integrated therein.
Marcus Hertz (1747-1803), a doctor of medicine
and philosophy who lived in Jelgava, played a major
role in popularising the concept of haskala.
Inspired by its ideas, the Jews in Kurland
were in the forefront with their demands for the rights of citizens. Since
the Landtag was unable to reach agreement on this
issue, it was only after the Duchy of Kurland was annexed to Russia
(1795) that the Jews were granted the rights of permanent citizens. Prompted
by support from landowners, Emperor Paul issued this law in 1799.
In 1852 there were 22,743 Jews in Kurzeme and Zemgale; of these,
4,189 lived in Jelgava and constituted 22% of the
city's inhabitants.
Jews
in Riga and Vidzeme
The first mention of Jewish merchants in Riga occurs in 1536. An
independent Jewish settlement began to form in 1638. Every day, at the close
of business, Jews had to leave the city; they were allowed to return the next
morning when the markets opened. The prohibition against living in Riga remained in force even after Riga
and Kurland were annexed to Russia.
Nevertheless, the Jewish traders who supplied St.
Petersburg with wood and the royal court with jewellery
succeeded, in the middle of the eighteenth century, in gaining permission to
live in Riga
for six weeks.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century,
there were 700-800 Jews in Riga.
As merchants and craftsmen, they played a vital role in the economic life of
the city. Many Jews campaigned for the right to gain full status as citizens
and landlords. The German city council was reluctant to make these
concessions because it did not want to share its privileged status with the
Jews. However, the Jews' petitions to St.Petersburg
were heeded, and in 1841 the Russian Senate passed a law giving the Jews of
Riga, who were permanent citizens there already, the right to be registered
in the city. The law also required the Jews to give up their distinctive
style of dress - long coats, distinctive hats, and cloaks; henceforth, they
were to appear in the streets of Riga
dressed like typical German burghers.
In 1835 the Russian government allowed Jews to
settle in the Vidzeme region (they already resided
there) and to engage in commerce, crafts, and the professions. By the middle
of the nineteenth century, there were 4,500 Jews in the Latvian part of Vidzeme, including Riga.
Jews
in Latgale
After Latgale was
annexed to Poland
(1562), laws and conditions were favourable for the Jews. However, the
majority of Jews arrived only in the middle of the seventeenth century as
they fled the pogroms organised in the Ukraine
and Belarus
by Bogdan Khmelnytsky.
These Jews spoke Yiddish, as was common in Poland, and they were more strict in their observance of orthodox traditions
than were German Jews. Most of them were small tradesmen and craftsmen, but
some were farmers. Until 1844, Jewish communities in Latgale
had their own local government officials - kagali -
who collected taxes, enforced the observance of secular and religious laws,
and maintained order.
In 1784 there were 3,698 permanently residing
Jews in Latgale. As of 1804, Jews were allowed to
live only in cities and villages in order to prevent the debt-encumbered
lands of Polish landlords from coming into the possession of Jews. By helping
their Russian and Polish competitors, officials tried to squeeze out Jews
from farming and from doing business with farmers.
Jews who were forced to move to the city
frequently became the poorest inhabitants because they had difficulty in
finding work, lived in crowded conditions, and suffered many ailments. In
1847, approximately 11,000 Jews lived in Latgale.
Jewish
Role and Life in Nineteenth-Century Latvia
In the latter half of the nineteenth century,
manufacturing and a market economy started to develop in Latvia. Supply and demand
increased. These conditions significantly enhanced the role of Jews. They
became the chief intermediaries between the city and the farming community by
supplying farmers with needed goods. Every day thousands of small tradesmen
visited their customers on horseback or on foot even to the most remote rural
areas. This interaction fostered wide contacts between Jews and Latvians.
Commerce facilitated the development of farming. The reforms of Alexander II
in 1860-1870 created a favorable environment for the Jews. For example, they
were allowed to buy property in Riga, Liepaja, and other
cities and to join the guilds of merchants and craftsmen. These factors contributed
to the growth of a well-to-do middle class.
Wealthy Jews in Riga established banks and engaged in
wide-ranging international commerce. Yakov Gindin, the owner of Riga's
alcohol manufacturing company, was extremely rich; he purchased some Arab territory
in Palestine
for those Jews who wished to return to their homeland. Jews who engaged in
the export of grain, timber, or flax became especially prosperous.
A heavy influx of Jews from Lithuania, Belarus,
Poland, and Ukraine
began in 1876. The number of Jewish craftsmen increased sharply. In Latgale, approximately two-thirds of all craftsmen were
Jews.
During the reign of Alexander II in the 1880s,
Jewish rights were curtailed again. Jews who were not permanently registered
in a city were expelled, and registration requirements were made more
stringent (e.g., only those belonging to specified professions could
register).
Latvia's
spiritual leaders did not support anti-Semitism and continued to socialise
with Jews. On December 11, 1881, Krisjanis Valdemars wrote in the newspaper “Baltijas
Vestnesis” that Latvians and Jews were two orphaned
people who should support each other. He also invited readers to learn from
the Jews how to prosper.
In Latvian society as a whole, two opposite
attitudes developed toward the Jews - sympathetic and supportive, on the one
hand, critical and negative, on the other. The same dichotomy prevailed in
many European countries.
Jews
in the Revolution of 1905
At the end of the nineteenth century, 142,315
Jews lived in the territory
of Latvia. They
comprised 7.4% of the total population. In Rezekne
and Ludza, 54% were Jews; in Daugavpils, 46%; and in Bauska,
42%. Jews were represented in almost all social classes and groups. For
example, 10% of the students at Riga Polytechnic Institute were Jews. In Riga and Daugavpils
several thousand Jews were common labourers. The concepts of socialism took
root among them and various craftsmen. A Jewish Workers' Party called the
Bund was established in 1897 in Vilnius; local
Latvian chapters spring up in Daugavpils
(1899), Riga (1900), and subsequently in Liepaja, Jelgava, and Ventspils. By 1904
there were approximately 1,000 members of the Bund in Daugavpils.
From the first days of the Revolution of 1905,
many Jews united with Latvian and Russian revolutionaries to topple the tsar.
Five Jewish youths were among the 70 demonstrators who were shot on January
13, 1905, at Riga's Iron Bridge.
All in all, the revolutionary struggles of
1905-1907 gave birth to friendship and co-operation between Latvian and
Jewish democratic powers.
Jews
in World War I
Shortly before World War I, the rapid expansion
of manufacturing in Latvia
created the need for more workers. Thousands of Jews arrived to fill the
need. At that time there were approximately 170,000 Jews in Latvia - of these, 80,000 were in Latgale; 68,000 in Kurland, and 21,000 in Riga.
At the beginning of the war, the resident
Jewish citizenry declared their loyalty to Russia; however, in the spring of
1915, when the German army defeated the Russian army and forced it to retreat
from Poland and Lithuania, Anti-Semites and chauvinists spread the rumor that
Jews spying for Germany were responsible for the German victory; in this way,
incompetent Russian generals sought to exculpate themselves from their
defeats.
On April 17, 1915, Grand Duke Nicolay Nikolajevich, the Russian commander-in-chief, ordered all
Jews to be expelled in twenty-four hours from the front-line areas in the
Duchy of Kurland. More than 40,000 Jews were evacuated from their homes. When
the German army occupied Kurland and Zemgale, those Jews who had managed to escape deportation
greeted the occupiers as liberators. The German attitude toward the Jews at
that time was relatively tolerant.
In the summer and fall, the front reached the Daugava
River. Because of the
relocation of industries caused by the devastation of war, there was a
massive exodus of Latvians and Jews from Riga
and Daugavpils
to the inner Russian provinces. Under duress or voluntarily, about 127,000
Jews left Latvia
during the war. Only one-third of them returned after the war. Multitudes
perished in exile or during the Russian Revolution, but some remained in
Soviet Russia.
Jews
during the Latvian
Republic (1918-1940)
Role in the War for Independence. When the Republic of Latvia
was proclaimed on November 18, 1918, the resident Jews became full-fledged
citizens for the first time. Like other Latvian minorities, they had the
right to vote, to hold public office, to form political parties and
organisations, to run their own press, and to fashion their own cultural
autonomy.
Eleven Jews were members of the National
Council, and the lawyer Paul Mintz was Government
Comptroller (from June 1919 to June 1921) in the administration of Karlis Ulmanis.
More than 1,000 Jewish soldiers (including a
student battalion and children's company) fought in the Latvian army during
the War of Liberation, notably in the battle against the White Guards' army
of Bermondt-Avalov in Riga
and Liepaja,
as well as against the Bolshevik Red Army in Latgale.
Four Jewish soldiers, including Joseph and Samuel Hopi, received the Order of
Lacplesis (the highest military honour), and eleven
Jews were awarded the Three-Star Order (the highest national honour). Fifty
Jews gave their lives for Latvia's
independence. In the 1930s monuments were erected in Riga's
Smerli Cemetery and the Jewish Cemetery in Liepaja to honour the
fallen Jews.
Jewish Contribution to Latvia's Development. Jewish life
changed drastically in independent Latvia. Many thousands moved from
the villages of Latgale and Kurland to Riga, where they enjoyed
a wider scope for economic enterprises. Between 1920 and 1935, the number of
Jews in Riga
increased from 24,000 to 44,000. While the number of Jewish small artisans
and small traders decreased, the number of service employees and blue-collar
workers, as well as medium- and large-scale proprietors, increased.
According to the census data of 1925, 36.27% of
private proprietors and 8.4% of businessmen were Jews, although Jews
constituted only 5% (95,600) of the population. There was a high proportion
of Jews in commerce, the timber industry, the textile industry, flax
processing, and the export trade. Before the declaration of Latvia's independence, Jews had
saved up considerable capital in gold and West European currencies whose
value had increased. Even returning refugees had some income. Moreover,
resident Jewish capitalists had wide contacts with American and British
businessmen and bankers who gave them aid or loans at advantageous rates. All
these resources were invested in renewing and modernising Latvia's economy. Jewish-owned
factories and firms were highly competitive. Banks established by experienced
Jews laid the foundation for Latvia's
banking and credit system. Five of six banks established and managed by Jews
were highly successful; the sole unsuccessful one completely settled accounts
with all depositors. To be sure, there were also some unscrupulous operators,
but they were not typical of Jewish businessmen as a whole.
After 1920 many Jews became wealthy enough to
afford houses, summer homes, cars, and luxurious apartments. Still, a
considerable number of indigent Jews received assistance from Jewish
foundations and other religious organisations.
Jewish Political
Parties and Organisations.
Jewish political organisations represented a
wide spectrum of views regarding Latvia as a nation and the chief
mission of Jews. Many Jewish organisations declared Latvia to be their only homeland
and vowed to work on its behalf. Such, for example, were the Society of
Jewish Liberators of Latvia (founded in 1928) with over 700 members and the University of Latvia's student group Vetulia.
Jewish political parties participated actively
in Latvia's
Constitutional Assembly and four Saeima elections,
in which they presented their candidates as members of Parliament.
The sympathies of poor Jews were attracted to
the illegal Communist Party. In 1921 the Jewish section of the Latvian
Communist Party was established. It sponsored the legal, Jewish cultural
centre Arbeiterheim (Workers' House), which had
approximately 3,000 members in Riga, Daugavpils, Liepaja,
and Rezekne. Because these Jews were inimical to
the Latvian state and sympathetic to Soviet Russia, the Workers' House was
shut down in 1923.
A Zionist-organised trip to Palestine had a positive historical
significance; more than 5,000 Latvian Jews emigrated there. Zionists were
also instrumental in establishing the state of Israel. In 1933 the future Prime
Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, visited Riga and encouraged Jews to return to their
ancestral homeland.
Jewish Education and Culture in Latvia.
As a result of implementing the December 8,
1919, law on the education of minorities, the Hebrew society, with the aid of
the Latvian government's financial support, established its own Jewish school
system. The number of Jewish elementary schools increased from 21 in 1914 to
100 in 1933; the number of secondary schools during
the same period
increased from 4 to 18. Eighty-two percent of Jewish children studied in
these schools. Initially, lessons were conducted in Russian and German, but
by 1930 45.82% of pupils had their lessons in Yiddish, and 36.05% in Hebrew.
The proportion of Hebrew continued to increase.
In general, the education level of Jews was
high. In 1936, 10.6% of all secondary pupils were Jewish; in 1931, 8.77% of
all students were Jewish. Among the graduates of the University of Latvia
between 1920 and 1937 12.8% were Jews.
Jews distinguished themselves in various
fields. There were many notable Jewish scientists, as well as the eminent
historian Shimon Dubnov, who wrote a ten-volume
history of the Jewish people, and philologist Judel
Marx, who compiled a ten-volume Yiddish dictionary in the United States. Many Jews were
prominent in medicine - for example, the surgeon Vladimir Mintz.
Jews during the Authoritarian Era
of President Ulmanis.
After the coup d'etat
of May 15, 1934, Jewish activity diminished as political parties and many
organisations were shut down. Still, patriotic and Zionist societies
functioned freely. Especially active was the Zionist youth organisation Betar, which provided military training for combat in Palestine. The
government of President Ulmanis supported Zionists
and their goal of returning to their homeland. However, the government's
course toward national capitalism curtailed Jewish economic activity to a
certain extent. For this and other reasons, Jewish dissatisfaction with the “Ulmanis Era” increased despite a general improvement in
their standard of living.
Events of 1939 alarmed the Jews in Latvia and caused them to fear Hitler's
possible aggression against the Baltic States.
Thus, the Jews were hoping to receive aid from the Soviet
Union. They had an illusory, erroneous concept of the Soviet Union, and they were unaware of the Stalinist
campaign of terror, which exterminated tens of thousands of Jews.
Many Jews supported the October 1939 treaty
between Latvia and the
Soviet Union; even in June 1940, when the Soviet army occupied Latvia, quite a few Jews greeted it joyfully,
expecting the Red Army to defend Latvia against the German Nazi
army. This reaction proved that Latvia's authoritarian government
had been unsuccessful in persuading the majority of Jews to make common cause
with the Latvian nation.
Jews
during the Soviet Occupation
Already in 1940 many Jews began to experience
the devastating effects of the Soviet occupation. Their private property was
expropriated, their civic and religious societies shut down. In the mass
deportations of June 1941, about 5,000 Jews were transported to the USSR,
where most of them perished. Of all the ethnic groups under Soviet rule, the
Jews were the most repressed. Regrettably, among those who perpetrated these
acts of political repression were also Jews; however, the majority of the Chekist Jews had immigrated from
the Soviet Union and had no links, directly
or indirectly, with the Jews of Latvia.
When the German army made a sudden incursion
into Latvia in June 1941,
only 15,000 Jews managed to escape deportation to the USSR. The majority remained in Latvia
and died in the Holocaust. Approximately 5,000 Latvian Jews fought in the
Soviet army against Nazism; 2,000 of them died in battle. In 1944 and 1945
approximately 14,000 Jews from the East and West returned to Latvia.
It was extremely difficult for them to resume their lives since their homes
were occupied by strangers and thousands of their murdered relatives lay in
mass graves.
After World War II many Jews came from the USSR on work assignments and in search of a
more welcoming society because anti-Semitism was less pronounced in the
Baltic States than in the rest of the Soviet Union.
By 1970, there were 36,000 Jewish inhabitants in Latvia;
of these, 30,574 lived in Riga.
The new Jewish intelligentsia was widely
respected. It included the chemist Solomon Hiller, who founded the Institute of Organic Synthesis; the eminent doctors
Zelik Cherfas and Anatoly
Bluger; the film director Herc
Frank; and the 1960-1961 world chess champion Mihail
Tal. The local Jews suffered severely from the restrictions of the ruling
Communist Party, which forbade the Jews to restore their schools and to
conduct cultural events in their native language. As a result, starting in
the 1960s, the Jewish anti-Soviet movement gathered strength.
Jews
during the National Awakening Movement
Latvia's
patriotic grassroots movement for democracy and independence, the National
Awakening, also attracted many Jews. For example, the professors Mavrik Wulfson and Abram Kletskin, the lawyer Ruta Mariash, the journalist Igor Movel
were elected as deputies from the Latvian Popular Front Party. In October
1988 the Congress of Latvian Jews was held in the former Jewish Cultural
Center Building (6 Skolas Street) for the
purpose of establishing the Latvian Jewish Cultural Society and renewing
their cultural autonomy in Latvia;
the activist Esfira Rapina
was elected president.
Under the leadership of Hone Bregman and with the support of the Latvian Jewish
Cultural Society, a group was formed that established in 1989 the Jewish
Secondary School in Riga.
Named after the famed historian Shimon Dubnov, the
school opened with 390 students; by September 1990, enrolment had increased
to 507. It was the first new, post-war Jewish school in the territory of the
former USSR.
On September 19, 1990, the Latvian Supreme
Council adopted a declaration, which was highly significant in promoting good
will between Latvians and Jews - ”On the Condemnation and Inadmissibility of Genocide
and Anti-Semitism in Latvia.” This declaration provided for the honouring of
Holocaust victims by the erection of memorials at locations where mass
executions had occurred. One such memorial, for instance, was erected to
commemorate the atrocity on July 4, 1941, when a Jewish synagogue in Riga was torched, along
with all the Jewish worshipers inside.
Another conciliatory move in July 1990 by the Republic of Latvia's Cabinet of Ministers under
the leadership of Ivars Godmanis
was the return of the Jewish Cultural Centre Building (on Skola Street)
to the Jewish community so that the various Jewish social and cultural organisation could continue their work. Here, too, the
prominent historian Margers Vestermanis
based his Jewish History Documentation Center, which raised awareness of the
Holocaust in Latvia and
presented, both to Latvia
and the world at large, accurate information about atrocities committed
against the Jews.
In fairness, it should be noted that many
Latvians risked their lives to shelter and save about 300 Jews from
extermination. Most notable of these is the family of Tanis Lipke, who saved the lives of 50 Jews. Recently (May
2000), the Purins family and the Kupsis family were among those honoured by Israel
as “the righteous among the nations,” and several others (B.Rozentals,
J.Arcehovka, and J.Berzins)
received the Three-Star Order (in July 2000) for sheltering Jews.
The
Contemporary Jewish Community
Only after Latvia regained its independence
in August 1991 could the Jews freely choose their future course in accordance
with the personal and national interests. Some emigrated
to Israel, others moved to
Western countries where their relatives had settled during the Diaspora, but
the majority elected to remain in Latvia.
In April 1997, according to census data, 14,600
Jews were living in Latvia;
44.3% of them are Latvian citizens. Approximately 600 Jews with Latvian
citizenship are residing in Israel.
Jewish participation in social activities is
extremely high; approximately 6,000 Jews are members of some organisation or
association. To cite just a few - the Riga Jewish Community (formerly, the
Society of Jewish Culture); Latvia's War Veterans' Association; the Charity
Association Vizo-Rahamin, which renders various
kinds of assistance to the elderly, sick, and poor; the Jewish medical
society Bikur Holim,
which runs its own hospital in Riga; the sports society Makkabi
(Maccabees); and Latvia's Jewish Youth Association.
The Jewish community publishes its own monthly newspaper Gesharim
(Bridges).
The Jewish religious community in Riga has established
numerous clubs and social organisations. Natan Barkan, the Chief Rabbi of Latvia
and Riga, is
held in high esteem. In the 1930s he was a soldier in the Latvian army.
During the Soviet occupation, he illegally continued to practice and
propagate his faith. In the 1960s he emigrated to Israel,
where he obtained religious training and served voluntarily in the Israeli
army. Since his return to Latvia
in 1990, he has been the spiritual leader of Latvia's Jewish community.
Many Jews in independent Latvia are prominent businessmen.
They include Ilja Gerchikov,
the general director of Dzintars; Sol N.Bukingolts, president and chief executive officer of “Investa Source”; Kirov Lipman,
Chairman of the Board of Metalurga in Liepaja;
Isaac Morein, president of Commerce Bank; Mihail Malkiel, director of the
sanatorium at Jaunkemeri; outstanding medical
specialists, such as Yuli Anshelevitz
(heart disease), Raphael Rosenthal (kidney diseases), and Victor Westerman, chairman of the Society for the Prevention of
Tuberculosis.
Outstanding
Jews in Culture
Adolf Metz (1888-1940) is widely known in
Latvian music as a violoncellist and, after 1922, as a professor of music at
the Conservatory of Latvia. His star pupil, violinist Sarah Rashin, was prominent in the 1930s. They both died in the
Holocaust.
In popular music, Oscar Strok,
the “King of Tango,” charmed pre-World War II audiences throughout Europe with his melodies. Starting in 1936, Leonid Zahodnik (1912-1988) won acclaim for his leading roles at
the National Opera. After the war he helped to train the new generation of
singers, including Laima Vaikule
and Zorzs Siksna.
Numerous choirs and orchestra directors studied
under Mendel Bash. He trained approximately 60 outstanding musicians,
including Imants Kokars.
Another influential music teacher was a pupil of Jazeps
Vitols, Lija Krasinska, who from 1945 to 1993 taught music theory and
music history. Likewise, the piano virtuoso Herman Braun (1918-1979) trained
an entire generation of concert masters.
Inese Galante is a world-class opera singer. After a brilliant
debut at the National Opera, she continued to perform both at home,
especially at the opera festival in Sigulda, and
abroad at the Mannheim and Dusseldorf opera houses.
A survey of Jewish musicians would be
incomplete without mention of Tovij Livschitz, who founded and directed the Latvian Chamber
Orchestra for 26 years.
The Jewish contribution to Latvia's theatre is equally
noteworthy. Director Pavel Homski
has done much to establish a theatre for young people, and the incomparable
Adolf Shapiro brought it to its zenith of fame. In the Russian theatre,
outstanding personalities include veteran actress Jekaterina
Bunchuk and director Arkady
Katz, whose performances from 1960 to 1980 were especially popular. In our
day, the director of the Valmiera theatre, Felix Deitch, is beloved by actors and theatre-goers alike.
Eminent personages in the film industry are
director and script writer Herc Frank, whose 1965
film “The Year in Review” marked the beginning of realistic and objective
documentaries in Riga.
Among his films that have achieved international recognition are Lifetime
(about E.Kaulins), Forbidden Zone, Supreme Court,
and Jewish Street. Abram Kletskin is widely
respected in Europe as a film critic; he has also done much to champion
freedom of expression for Latvia's
journalists.
In architecture, Paul Mandelstam has gained
distinction with his buildings at 8
Dome Square, 1 Smilsu Street,
and 51 Elizabetes
Street.
Famous artists include Alexander Dembo, who is a professor at the National Academy of Art,
and designer Herbert Dubin (1919-1993).
These and other Jews have made a lasting
contribution to Latvia's
treasure chest of culture. In this sphere the designation “a Latvian of
Jewish origin” is particularly apt for numerous scientists, doctors,
teachers, and athletes.
Outstanding
Jews in Science, Politics, and Sports
Mechislav Centnerschwer (1874-1944) - professor of physical chemistry
at Riga Polytechnic Institute and the University of Latvia; member of the
Polish Academy of Sciences; director of the Institute of Physical Chemistry;
died in Warsaw during the German occupation.
Mordechai Dubin (1889-1956) - leader of Riga's Jewish
congregation during Latvia's first period of independence; leader of the Agudat Israel Party; deputy in the First, Second, Third,
and Fourth Saeimas; personal friend of President Karlis Ulmanis; arrested and
exiled in 1941 by Soviet authorities; died in a concentration camp.
Solomon Hiller (1915-1975) - chemist;
founder and director of the Organic Synthesis Institute of the Latvian
Academy of Sciences; professor at the University of Latvia and Riga
Polytechnic Institute; academician of the German natural science research
academy Leopoldina; developed of anticancer drugs.
Max Laserson
(1887-1951) - eminent specialist in international law; participant in shaping
legal theory in Latvia;
professor at Columbia University in the United States.
Paul Mintz (1868-1941)
- specialist in law; Professor of Criminology at the University of Latvia;
headed the committee that prepared the Latvian Criminal Code (1919-1921);
State Comptroller in the administration of Karlis Ulmanis; died at Taishet
concentration camp.
Mordechai Nurok (1879-1962) - chief Rabbi of Jelgava; leader of the Mizrahi Movement; deputy in the
First, Second, Third, and Fourth Saeimas; organiser
of the World Jewish Congress; member of the Knesset from 1949 to 1962;
Minister of the Postal Service (1952) in Israel.
Mihail Tal
(1936-1992) - winner of the European chess championship in 1957, 1961, 1970,
1973, and 1977; winner of the world chess championship in 1960 and 1961.
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