Fourth of July...Riga, Latvia 1941

Rather than post today, as so many others (ho hum) will, about the American Independence Day, I'll mention the less known fact that on this day 73 years ago, the Great Choral Synagogue in Riga was set aflame by the invading Nazis, with some 300 Jews locked inside.

(I was also prompted by this week's Sepia Saturday theme, which includes -- albeit incidentally -- walls.

Here's what the synagogue looked like a couple of years ago when I visited Riga on a family history trip. Its remains were razed and now the site is a memorial park.

Here's what the synagogue looked like once upon a time.

"Frida Michelson, a Latvian Jew who had been working near Jelgava in a forced labor crew when the synagogues were burned [there were several], reported that on her return to Riga, she was told by a friend 'who had heard it from someone else' that the halls and the backyard of the Choral Synagogue were filled with Lithuanian refugees. Perkonkrusts ['a Latvian ultra-nationalist, anti-German and anti-Semitic political party founded in 1933'] and 'other Latvian hangers-on' surrounded the building, trapped the people inside, and set it on fire."

"The burning of the synagogue was filmed by the Germans and later became part of a Wehrmacht newsreel, with the following narration: 'The synagogue in Riga, which had been spared by the GPU commissars in their work of destruction, went up in flames a few hours later.' According to Bernard Press: 'Eyewitnesses heard the people who were locked inside screaming for help and saw them breaking the synagogues windows from inside and trying, like living torches, to get outside....'"

"The holy scrolls were dragged out of the synagogues and burned. According to the Press, many Jewish wearing prayer shawls and talith went into the fires to save the scrolls, and were all killed. Ezergailis disputes this, stating that no one entered the flames trying to save the holy scrolls."

Old photos (and quoted text) from thecelotajs.com.

Other info is at haolusa.org.

Black and White Baltics

For Weekend in Black and White, I offer a shy handful of shots from the Baltics last summer.

Surreal hallway at Jaunmokupils, Latvia

On Harmony Street, Tukums, Latvia

From the train, near Vilnius, Lithuania

Alley still life, Tukums, Latvia

Ladies of the Baltics

For Weekend in Black and White I offer a handful of candid portraits taken on my August trip to Northeastern Europe.

Begging, Daugauvpils, Latvia

Shopping, Vilnius, Lithuania

Exercise, Tukums, Latvia

Alone, Vilnius

Hope, Vilnius

Fatigue, Kaunas, Lithuania

Vilnius: Walls, Doors and Windows

Vilnius Art Walls

Today, a few final(?) quintessentially Eff-Stoppish shots here (do check out my "local," i.e. American, page). There are even a handful of Baltic shots in this post.

Vilnius Streetlife

Street scenes, Tukums, Latvia

Tukums was our primary stop, home of our great-great-grandparents' families, the poor Blumenfelds and the wealthy Klatsovs.

On the square, kitty-corner to the bank which was once the Klatsov store

We met Aleksandrs, a Hobbitish fellow with a great Russian accent, who proceeded to lead us around the central square area, which is pretty much still as David B described it...grey pavings...shops new and old, wood and stone... The prominently located site of David’s maternal grandfather has been replaced by a bank.  It was still functioning as a store and owned by his uncle David Klatsov as late as 1937...however it was torn down as a derelict in 1946 because the owner – David K – had disappeared in 1941. This, Fred deduced via the Yadvashem website of Holocaust victims,  was because David and his son were killed in June ’41 soon after the Nazi occupation.  

We had a long meeting with the director of several Tukums museums, who also showed us around the otherwise closed-on-Mondays history museum.  She was fascinated by our story as there is little written record by inhabitants of the time, let alone Jews, of whom there are virtually zero remaining ...in 1880 57% of the town was Jewish. The old synagogue now functions as a sports court.

Interestingly, the Klatsov property is visible not only in a good many of the historic photos of Tukums but in the main museum display, a lazy-susan depicting the square at three times in history.  We’ver developed a whole new spin where this is not only poor David Blumenfeld’s story but that of his mother, and her wealthy family who opted to stay in Latvia and relish their success only to perish as David found success, free in America. 

Anyway we also found out to our disappointment that David’s father’s house was not actually the original building but built in 1924.  It just looked 150 years old!  

This may have been my great-great-grandmother Leah Klatsov's house

The old synagogue, now a gymnasium

Site of my great-great-grandfather BenZion Blumenfeld's house

In case you get lost in town...

Storage shed

The old Jewish cemetery

Harmony Street

Shed Door Series, Tukums, Latvia

Rundale Palace, Latvia

Spent a couple hours at this exquisite (a term I do not use frivolously) restored country palace. Originally built by the Russian Empress Anna for her lover the Duke, it was converted by the Russians to a school and a warehouse! Only in the 1970s was an effort begun to return it to its glory. 

 

The main gate

A humble boudoir; those are tiled stoves - heaters - at the side

The master bath

Entrance to the parade ground

Marcienas Muiza, Latvia

Spent one night at this idyllic country "palace" by a millpond, surrounded by farmland and birch forest. The storks commute between here and Africa.

The birch forest

Stork and dragons

Ordnung putt-putt