“Remembering Dvinsk” Is for Those Who Refuse to Forget

Jul 17, 2018 by Susan Rosenbluth

By Paul Rose

My great-grandfather grew up in 19^th-century Dvinsk, the name used in Yiddish for present-day Daugavpils, a city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, 143 miles southeast of Riga. Founded in the 13^th century CE as Dünaburg, the town underwent many name-changes. From about 1893-1920, it was known by its Yiddish name, Dvinsk, probably because, according to the Russian census of 1893, the population was 44 percent Jewish.

In about 1900, my great-grandfather fled Dvinsk, escaping to the United Kingdom to avoid forced conscription in the Russian Army.

I have always had an interest in learning more about his original hometown, and so it was with great pleasure that I recently discovered Remembering Dvinsk, a three-part compilation published in 2016 by the Yizkor-Books-in-Print Project of JewishGen, Inc.

Rise and Decline of a Town

Part One of the book is a copy of “Dvinsk, The Rise and Decline of a Town,” by Yudel Flor. Written in Yiddish, it was translated by Bernard Sachs and published in 1965.

Mr. Flor, who was born in Dvinsk sometime between 1875 and 1880, describes all aspects of life in the town from 1890 through 1915, when he left for Russia. He returned to Dvinsk in 1922 and stayed there until 1928.

An important Latvian commercial center, Dvinsk derived much of its income from the very large military establishment situated just outside the town.

According to the 1914 census, the town had a Jewish population of 55,680, 49 percent of the entire population. By 1939, the combined violence of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the ensuing civil war had reduced the Jewish community to approximately 12,000.

Everyday Life

Writing when he did, Mr. Flor’s interests range from how the local Jewish community was organized, including its economic and social systems, to its relationships with the authorities and the non-Jewish population. He describes at some length the social unrest which took place from 1904 to 1915.

He spends considerable time detailing the daily life of the Jewish community, which included individuals of all strata, from wealthy factory owners, middle-class shopkeepers, artisans, and laborers, and, of course, the very poor. There were righteous Jews and criminal Jews.

Mr. Flor discusses the town’s rabbinical leaders in the most respectful manner even though he personally was a Bundist. Dvinsk’s Chassidim were led by Reb Yosef Rosen, also known as the Rogover Rebbe. The leader of the Misnagdim was Rav Simche Kahana, known as the Ohr Sameach, a rabbi held in such great esteem that he was often consulted by the local Gentile community and universally admired.

If there is one lesson to be gained from Mr. Flor’s efforts it is never to forget how harsh and fragile everyday life was for most people.

Community in Turmoil

From the time of the First World War until Latvia gained independence in 1922, the Jewish community suffered terribly. For two years, the Daugava River, which flows through Dvinsk, served as the front-line with the Russians on one bank and the Germans on the other.

Czar Nicholas II considered the Jewish residents as naturally disloyal, prompting the forced removal of thousands of Jews in 1915. They were herded onto trains and sent to unknown destinations in deepest Russia.

When Mr. Flor returned to Dvinsk after Latvian independence in 1922, he found that, due to death and emigration, the Jewish community was much reduced. Although the authorities permitted Jewish schools to operate, relations in general with the Latvians were cold, and, throughout the 1920s, the town declined in importance.

In 1928, Mr. Flor departed for South Africa, never to return to Dvinsk.

Holocaust

The second part of Remembering Dvinsk is the translation of a 1975 class project undertaken by the eighth grade of the Kol Haverim Junior High School in Haifa. “In Memory of the Community of Dvinsk” consists of a series of interviews with survivors of the town and includes essays, historic photographs, and artwork by the students.

Many of the accounts are heartbreaking. They tell the story of the slaughter of the Jewish community, which began on Day One of the German occupation, carried out mainly by very enthusiastic Latvian supporters.

In the summer of 1941, the Nazis began a systematic campaign of associating Jews with Russia and Communism, both hated by the Latvian population. On June 28, 1941, two days after the fall of Dvinsk, the Nazis rounded up Jews in a synagogue, forced them out, and shot them. Other Jews were randomly murdered simply walking down the street. Ten-thousand Jews were incarcerated in the fort across the Daugava River which served as a prison. Nearly all of them were murdered.

After World War II, a handful of Jews arrived in Dvinsk. None of them had been former residents of the town. A small shul was allowed to function under the strictest supervision of the Communist authorities.

Photographs

The third section of Remembering Dvinsk is an appendix of historic photographs. Assembled by Eilat Gordin Levitan, these photographs serve as an historic archive of the town’s Jewish community from 1900 until the Shoah.

In all, Remembering Dvinsk provides a lucid account, without painting a romantic picture, of life in this historic town. For anyone seeking a comprehensive picture of Dvinsk in the late 19^th and early 20^th century, it is essential reading.

Mr. Rose, who has an avid interest in Eastern European Jewish life before, during and after World War II, resides in London and Jerusalem