Liepāja, city (since 1625), administrative centre of a district, Latvia. Known since 1253. From 1609, part of the Duchy of Courland; from 1795, part of the Russian Empire. In the 19th–early 20th centuries, known as Libau, city of Grobin Uyezd, Courland Governorate. From 1918 to 1940, part of the Republic of Latvia; from 1940 to 1991, part of the Latvian SSR.
Jewish Population:
1795: 19 Jews (0.4%)
1850: 1,218
1863: 1,700 (17%)
1881: 6,651 (22.5%)
1897: 9,454 (14.6%)
1911: 10,308 (12%)
1915: 7,163 (16.4%)
1920: 9,758 (19%)
1925: 9,851 (16.2%)
1930: 7,908 (13.8%)
1935: 7,379 (12.9%)
Jews were permitted to live in Liepāja from 1799. That same year, a community was established and the first synagogue built (modern-day 5 J. Joachim Street). The first mention of a choral synagogue is from 1802. By 1803, a Jewish cemetery existed. Additional synagogues were opened in 1814, 1828, 1873, 1879, 1890 (Hasidic), and 1911 (“Poalei Tzedek”).
In the early 19th century, Avrom Boyar served as rabbi; 1833–1840 – Moishe-Itzhok Levi; 1840–1844 – Tzvi-Hirsh Burenstein; later – Mendel Izraelson; 1856–1882 – Yosef Herzenberg. In 1881–1890, Dr. Gigel Klein (Germany) was rabbi, alongside Avrom Geler, Yaakov Denezon (from 1887), Meir Atlas, L.O. Kantor (1890–1904), and Dr. Aron-Ber Nurok (from 1907).
Jewish charitable and educational institutions were established in the 19th–20th centuries: a school (1851), hevre kadisha (1867), charitable funds, Talmud Torah (early 1830s), “Bikur Cholim,” “Hovevei Zion” (1885), women’s charity “Pomosh,” orphanages, and vocational schools. By the early 20th century, multiple Jewish schools operated, including elementary, secondary, women’s, and vocational institutions.
In 1930, 48% of Jews in Liepāja worked in trade, 29% in industry, 7% as lawyers, journalists, and other professionals, and 1% in agriculture. The Jewish community also operated banks, cultural societies, youth organisations, and charitable associations.
World War II and the Holocaust:
On 27 June 1941, Wehrmacht forces occupied Liepāja. Mass shootings began the same day and continued throughout July and autumn 1941. In December 1941, approximately 2,700 Jews were executed. In July 1942, a ghetto housing over 800 people was established; it was liquidated in autumn 1943, with survivors sent to Salaspils concentration camp. By May 1945, the last approximately 300 Jews in Latvia, including those relocated from Riga for defensive construction, were executed. After liberation on 9 May 1945, about 20 Jews remained alive in Liepāja.
Post-war Community:
In the 1950s–1960s, a few hundred Jews lived in Liepāja. In 1989, a Jewish community was re-established (presidents: Vladimir Ban, 1989; Leonid Rozenberg, 1993; Ilana Ivanova, 1996). A Jewish Sunday school opened in 1993 (director: Rozalia Sukhar), and in 1994 a pensioners’ club was established (chair: Miron Tishman). Other community institutions include a family club and ulpan classes. Memorial days are observed annually on 4 July and 17 December.
Notable Individuals from Liepāja:
B.P. Blank
Ya. Weksler
A.Yu. Davidov
D. Idelson
G. Lurie
G. Mannheim
V.D. Medem
S.M. Nakhimson
I. Neuman
L.S. Rabinovich
M. Stern
Y.-D. Strashunsky
R.A. Falk
B. Fisher
L.S. Stern
S.P. Shubin
Mikhail Lvovich Kantor (1884–1970, Paris) – literary figure. From 1920 he lived in Germany, and from 1923 in France. Editor of the journals Zveno and Vstrechi, co-compiler (with G.V. Adamovich) of the first anthology of émigré poetry Anchor (Paris, 1936).
Maxim Solomonovich Kiselev (1902–1963) – Major General (1944), commander of an artillery corps.
Gerasim Alexandrovich Levin (1900–1941, Moscow) – writer, repressed.
Anna Semenovna (Simonovna) Prismanova (Prisman) (1892–1960, Paris) – poet and writer; from 1922 lived in France.
Avrom-Mikhl Sharkansky (1869–1907, New York) – poet and playwright; from 1891 lived in the USA, author of numerous plays in Yiddish.
М.L.Кantor