Amitan (née Minkina) Khava Leibovna (Born 30 December 1916, Vitebsk)

Economist

Education and Career

1920s – Moved to Riga with her parents.

1936 – Graduated from Riga City Secondary School.

1941 – Evacuated to Gorky Oblast, worked at a defence factory until 1942.

1942–1945 – Inspector at the Regional Executive Committee in Kuibyshev.

1945 – Moved to Moscow, entered the Institute of Economics, and graduated in 1949 while working temporary jobs.

1949 – Returned to Riga, worked in the planning department at the Lenin District Industrial Combine until 1950.

1959–1964 – Accounting clerk at the Riga State Circus.

1964–1965 – Economist at “Latvselhoztechnika”.

From 1965 – Became a homemaker.

Family and Holocaust Tragedy

Khava’s parents and sisters were murdered in the Holocaust in 1941:

Leiba Minkin (died 1941, Riga) – father
Riva Minkina (died 1941, Riga) – mother
Lea Minkina (1919, Riga – 1941, Riga) – sister
Gita Minkina (1927, Riga – 1941, Riga) – sister

Her brother, Kopel Minkin (born 1918, Vitebsk), was living and working in Riga in the 1960s.

Marriage and Children

Khava was married to Evna Amitan (born 1914, Riga). They had two children:

Gita Amitan (born 1953, Riga)

Lev Amitan (born 1955, Riga)

Emigration to Israel

In 1964 Khava Amitan applied for emigration to Israel, on invitation of her husband’s brother, Abram Amitan, who had emigrated to Palestine in the 1930s in search of work. In 1968 she was granted permission to emigrate with her family.

Family Members

Evna Amitan (born 1914, Riga) – husband
Gita Amitan (born 1953, Riga) – daughter
Lev Amitan (born 1955, Riga) – son
Leiba Minkin (died 1941, Riga) – father
Riva Minkina (died 1941, Riga) – mother
Kopel Minkin (born 1918, Vitebsk) – brother
Lea Minkina (1919, Riga – 1941, Riga) – sister
Gita Minkina (1927, Riga – 1941, Riga) – sister
Abram Amitan – brother-in-law (husband’s brother)