Latvijas Vēsturnieku komisijas raksti - 23.sējums

Uldis Lasmanis. Holokausts Jēkabpils pilsētā
101 Autora intervija ar Jefrosiņju Rusāni un Vilmu Apsaloni 2005. gada 16. jūnijā un 2006. gada 24. augustā;
Telefonintervija ar Haju Rotbartu, laulībā Zilbere, 2005. gada 17. jūnijā un tieša saruna Jēkabpilī
2006. gada 12. septembrī.
102 Telefonintervija ar Imantu Auziņu 2005. gada 25. jūnijā, 2006. gada 15. septembrī un 16. oktobrī;
Dokumentācijas centrs “Ebreji Latvijā”, III 1351.
103 Autora intervija ar Osvaldu Kukuru 2006. gada 15. augustā un 20. septembrī.
Holocaust in the Town of Jēkabpils
Uldis Lasmanis
Summary
Jēkabpils, a village named after Duke Jakob, acquired the status of a city in 1670. It is one
of the newest cities in Latvia. Jews were allowed to inhabit it only after 1796, i.e. after the
dukedom had been already annexed to the Russian Empire. The settlement of Jēkabpils
always has been situated on the bank of the trading route of the River Daugava (on the
upgrade of the large riffles). There cargos from the barges were moved along the river for
30 kilometers to the nearest city Jaunjelgava (former Fridrichstadt) using the horse teams.
That is the reason why until opening the new railway route Riga–Orla the main occupations
of the Jews living in Jēkabpils was organizing the land transport route, accommodating the
rafters, and merchandizing. The latter and craftsmanship were the main professions of the
Jews even until 1935 when there were 793 inhabitants of Jewish nationality. It was one
of the few towns in the country where the size of the Jewish community did not decrease
during the years of Latvia’s first independence. That is why one can find several synagogues
and a Jewish elementary school in Jēkabpils.
The beginning years of World War II were significant with the rapid approach of Wermacht
and with indetermination of the fascist attitude towards the inhabitants of Jewish nationality.
The further narration of the tragic events is mainly based on the memories of the eyewitnesses
and on the cases of the Soviet tribunals – no documents have been preserved
of the Jēkabpils District police office.
Although Jēkabpils is situated on the western coast of Daugava – on the side of the
attacking Wermacht army, approximately half of the Jewish people managed to leave the
city before the army reached it. The main reason for that is the incapability of the German
assault team to seize the bridge until 28 June 1941. After that everything went according
to the scheme observed in other towns of Latvia.
Either the commanders of the German divisions Reinhard, Kriger, Kirhner or the director
of the posterior logistics colonel Petersen gave a quick order to the not long before organized
local self-defence troops to arrest all the remaining Jews and gather them in the two
synagogues located on the corner of the Pasta and Akmeņu streets. This happened at the
285