Gavartin (Gawartin) Khaim (Chaim) Abramovich (born 5 July 1914, Varakļāni) – barber.
In 1928, after completing four years of primary school, Khaim Gavartin began working as a shop assistant apprentice in the private shop of Lifshits in Dzēlzava (Madona District). In 1930, he returned to Varakļāni and worked as a barber in the private workshop of Gotkin until 1934. From 1934 to 1935, he worked in Aryev’s barbershop at 43 Gertrudes Street, Riga. Following military service in the Latvian Army, he resumed work at Aryev’s shop in 1937. From 1938 to 1941, he worked in Pulvemacher’s private barbershop at 4 Avotu Street, Riga. In 1940, he completed the 8th grade at an evening school in Riga.
After the outbreak of the war,Khaim Gavartin was to be evacuated inland. However, the evacuation train was attacked by German forces; he was wounded and taken to a hospital in Pskov. He was later transferred with a Red Cross train to the city of Syzran. After recovering, he moved to the Bukhara region of the Uzbek SSR, and later to Leninabad in the Tajik SSR, where he served as a hospital barber at Hospital No. 4453. His future wife, Sonya Gavartina (born 1924), worked in the same hospital as a therapeutic exercise nurse. The young couple later relocated with the hospital to Dniprodzerzhynsk, and in 1944 returned to Riga. From 1945, Gavartin worked in various barbershops in Riga. He retired in 1975.
Gavartin’s father, Abram Gavartin (1874–1918), was executed by White Army forces near Varakļāni. His brother, Leib Gavartin (1900–1918), was killed on the front near Rēzekne while fighting for the Red Army. His mother, Sarra Gavartina (née Dimant) (1875–1941), and siblings – Itzhok Gavartin (1902–1941), Shmuel Gavartin (1904–1941), David Gavartin (1903–1941), Ester Pas (née Gavartina) (1901–1941), Chaya Novomysl (née Gavartina) (1911–1941), and Chana Zagorye (née Gavartina) (1912–1941) – were executed in 1941 in Varakļāni. His brother, Moishe Gavartin (1905–1957), spent his final years in Riga. His sister, Mina Novak (née Gavartina) (1902–1968), emigrated to the USA in 1924 and died in Denver in 1968.
In 1977, Gavartin and his wife emigrated to Israel to join their daughter, Rina Zilber (née Gavartina) (born 1951).
Family:
Sonya Gavartina (born 1924) – wife
Isa Gavartin (born 1945) – son
Rina Zilber (née Gavartina) (born 1951) – daughter
Leiba Zilber (born 1948) – son-in-law
Abram Gavartin (1874–1918) – father
Sarra Gavartina (née Dimant) (1875–1941) – mother
Leib Gavartin (1900–1918) – brother
Ester Pas (née Gavartina) (1901–1941) – sister
Mina Novak (née Gavartina) (1902–1968) – sister
David Gavartin (1903–1941) – brother
Chaya Novomysl (née Gavartina) (1911–1941) – sister
Chana Zagorye (née Gavartina) (1912–1941) – sister
Itzhok Gavartin (1902–1941) – brother
Shmuel Gavartin (1904–1941) – brother
Moishe Gavartin (1905–1957) – brother