KRASLAVA, town (since 1923), district centre (Republic of Latvia). Known since the 14th century. In the 16th–18th centuries, Kraslav was part of the Duchy of Livonia within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. From 1772, it was part of Russian Empire, the town of Kreslavel, later the township of Kreslavka in the Pskov Governorate, from 1778 – the Polotsk Governorate, from 1796 – the Belarusian Governorate, then – the Dvinsk District of the Vitebsk Governorate. In 1920–40, it was part of the Republic of Latvia, and 1940–91, it was part of the Latvian SSR.
In 1766, there were 840 Jews living in K., in 1847 –1,483, in 1868 – about 2,000, in 1887 – 3,160, in 1897 – 4,051 (51%), in 1920 – 1,446 (41%), in 1925 – 1,716 (38%), in 1930 – 1,550 (36%), in 1935 – 1,444 Jews (34%).
The Jewish community was organised in Kraslava in 1764. In the first half of the 19th century, the rabbis of Kraslava were Naftali Zioni, Moise Klitsner, from 1860 – Yosef Ravinson (1828–?), from 1893 – Avrom-Yosef Lurie (1861–?).
At the end of the 19th century, there were followers of the Hovevei Zion movement in Kraslava. In the early 1890s, a Jewish trade union of brush makers was created, followed a few years later by a branch of the Bund, and in 1901 by Poalei Zion.
In 1903, after the pogrom in Kishinev, members of the Bund and Poalei Zion created a self-defence unit consisting of about 250 people.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Levinson opened a private Jewish school for boys in Kishinev. In 1903, Bikur Choelim was established. In 1910, there was a Jewish charity for the poor and a loan and savings society in Kishinev. In 1913, Jews owned a pharmacy, two warehouses for pharmaceutical goods, a bathhouse, two bakeries, two jewellery shops, two bookshops, two hotels, two barbershops, a photography studio, a watch repair shop, and 25 shops (all the three grocery stores and three haberdasheries). Among the Jews of Kraslava, there were two tailors, two seamstresses, and a lumber merchant. In the 1920s and 1930s, branches of various Jewish parties and organisations operated in Kraslava. In 1930, a Jewish kindergarten was opened, and in the early 1930s, a primary school with instruction in Hebrew.
In the 1920s and 1930s, the rabbi in Kraslava was Y. Ravinson's son-in-law, Moyshe-Dovid Shub. The rabbi of the Hasidic community was Yakov-Kopl Klyatskin.
On 3 July 1941, Wehrmacht troops occupied Kraslava. On 29 July 1941, the Jews of Kraslava were deported to the Daugavpils ghetto. The few remaining Jewish families (mainly craftsmen) were shot in September 1941.
After liberation, about 40 Jews returned to Kraslava.Through their efforts, the mass grave was tidied up and a memorial sign was erected. In 1947, a synagogue was opened (10 Shkolnaya Street). The rabbi was Isaac Khaimovich Padva (1885–?). The synagogue was attended by 50–70 people.
In 2003, several Jews lived in Kraslava.
Born in Kraslava: N. L. Aronson, M. R. Borok, M. S. Vovsi,A. Pann, B. Steinman, H. T. Eidus; Mikhail Gerasimovich Imanitov (1897–1937, Leningrad), doctor, director of the Leningrad Institute for the Improvement of Doctors, head of the Leningrad Regional Department of Health Care, repressed.