Vater (Water) Eva (Ewa) Lazarevna (born 17 September 1922, Riga) – physician, researcher and publisher of materials on the history of Latvian Jewry.
Eva Vater studied at the Riga Jewish Public Gymnasium, which was transformed into Secondary School No. 19 following Latvia's incorporation into the USSR. She graduated on 17 June 1941. Water participated in the activities of the Latvian Labour Youth Union (LDJS). At the outbreak of the Second World War, she left with other Komsomol members, first to Pskov and then to Chuvashia. She worked at a fruit and vegetable state farm, later moving to Kotel’nich (Kirov Oblast), where she worked in a kindergarten. From 1 January to 9 May 1942, she trained on Red Cross reserve nurse courses. Upon completion, she was assigned to Hospital No. 31/58 in Kotel’nich, working in the operating theatre.
On 8 June 1942, she was drafted into the Latvian 201st Rifle Division, later renamed the 43rd Guards Rifle Division for its service near Moscow. At the Gorokhovets training camps near Gorky, she completed a three-month course and, from 12 September 1942, served at the front as a medical instructor. She was awarded the medals “For Courage” and “For Battle Merit.”
In July 1945, she returned to Riga and enrolled in the medical faculty of the Latvian State University. She graduated in 1951 – in the first cohort of the Riga Medical Institute. She was posted to head the health department in the Malta district, where she worked as an obstetrician-gynaecologist for four years. In 1955, she became head of the obstetric and gynaecology department in Kuldīga. From 1966 to 1991, she worked as an obstetrician-gynaecologist at the medical unit of the VEF industrial association.
From 1945 onward, she published articles in newspapers such as Padomju Jaunatne, Vefovets, and journals including Veselība, Sieviete, and Draugs. On 2 June 1998, she was awarded an Honorary Diploma by the Cabinet of Ministers of Latvia for contributions to the Latvian people (signed by Prime Minister Guntars Krasts).
In 1998, Eva Vater repatriated to Israel. Vater was one of the founders of the Latvian Jewish Cultural Society (LOEK) and actively participated in its work. She collected materials on Jews rescued during the Holocaust in Latvia and those who saved them. Her articles were published in the Latvian press, including Veselība and Neatkarīgā Latvija. She also spent several years gathering data on Jewish medical professionals in Latvia.
Her efforts resulted in the bilingual (Russian and Latvian) encyclopaedia Jewish Doctors of Latvia, 1918–1996 (Riga, 1997). Supplementary materials were published in Additions and Amendments (Tel Aviv, 1999), identifying around 5,000 individuals. Her next project led to the book Jews of Latvia in the Struggle Against Nazism (Tel Aviv, 2004), with Additions (Tel Aviv, 2005), listing about 4,500 names. In the afterword, editor Boris Burle highly praised her meticulous and dedicated work in documenting Latvian Jews.
In 2006, she compiled material (names, facts, photographs) about pre-war Jewish schools in Riga.
Literature:
– Lidija Freimane, “Never Difficult” in: Ārsta sirdsapziņa, Riga: Liesma, 1971, pp. 102–111
– Lyudmila Sakne, “A Coat Over a Tunic” in: Bez Hipokrata zvēresta, Riga: Avots, 1984, pp. 153–184
– Lyudmila Sakne, “To Live by Conscience: On the 85th Anniversary of Eva Water’s Birth,” in: Patiesie stāsti, 2007, No. 13 (3–16 August), pp. 24–27.
Family:
Gita-Elena Water (née Levinson) (b. 5 May 1884, Riga – d. unknown, Riga) – mother; dentist and pianist; graduated from the Saratov Conservatory in 1917 and gave private lessons.
Lazar Water (b. 24 December 1868, Grodno, Poland – d. unknown, Riga) – father; craftsman, glove cutter, and typesetter for the newspapers Segodnya and Segodnya Vecherom.
Eva’s parents and close relatives were executed in Rumbula during the Holocaust.
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