Kagansky Maxim Menashe (1908–1945)

Maxim Kagansky was born on 23 June 1908 in Liepāja, into a merchant’s family. His father’s name was Lev Leib, his mother’s name was Beti (née Urganda). His brother, Jēkabs, was a lawyer. From 1916 he attended the Reform Gymnasium in Liepāja.

In 1921 he entered the Russian stream of Liepāja State Secondary School, graduating in 1926. He was active in the Latvian Central Organisation of Scouts (LCOS), serving as leader of the 52nd troop. In 1926 he began studying law at the University of Latvia, graduating in 1931. From April to October 1930 he was a trainee at Liepāja District Court, and subsequently worked in the office of sworn advocate E. Zebergs. From 8 June 1932 he served as assistant to sworn advocate E. Zebergs in Liepāja, and from 17 May 1933 as assistant to sworn advocate A. Lipschitz, also in Liepāja. In 1936–37 he fulfilled compulsory military service in the Latvian Army, serving in the 1st Liepāja Infantry Regiment. From 22 February 1939 he was a sworn advocate in Liepāja.

During the German occupation, in June 1942, he was placed in the newly created Liepāja Ghetto, where he served as assistant to the chairman of the Jewish Council of the ghetto. In August 1942, when the Liepāja Ghetto was liquidated, he was transferred to the Riga Ghetto. He was later deported to Germany, to the Stutthof concentration camp (now Sztutowo, Poland). He died there on 3 May 1945.

A senior alumnus (philister) of the Jewish student corporation Hasmonea.