Dobele, a town and district centre in the Republic of Latvia. First mentioned in 1334. From 1795, part of the Russian Empire as Doblen in the Mitava district of the Courland Governorate. From 1918 to 1940, it belonged to the Republic of Latvia, and from 1940 to 1991, to the Latvian SSR.

In 1881, Dobele was home to 154 Jews (14% of the population); in 1897 — 240 (14%); in 1910 — 142 (7%); in 1920 — 25 (3%); in 1925 — 64 (6%); in 1930 — 80 (4%); and in 1935 — 72 Jews (3%).

A Jewish community had existed in the town since the mid-19th century. A cemetery was established in 1897, and a synagogue was built in 1904. A mikveh was also present. In the 1890s, Dobele's rabbi was Aharon Glickman; during the 1900s–1910s, it was Yekutiel-Zalman HaLevi.

In 1905, Jews of Dobele actively participated in the revolution. The revolutionary council appointed the teacher L.-B. Perelman as mayor of the town. After the uprising was suppressed, Perelman was sentenced to death.

During the First World War, most of Dobele’s Jews left the town.

In the 1920s–1930s, the town’s rabbi was Dovid Kantor. A Zionist circle was also active during this time.

Following the occupation by Wehrmacht forces in early July 1941, the Jews of Dobele were executed. After 1945, a memorial to the murdered Jews of Dobele was erected at the Jewish cemetery in Riga, bearing an inscription in Yiddish.