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Jewish History

History of Jewish Rezekne by Esther Rechtschafner

1- Introduction

2-Historical Background of Jews in Rezekne

3-Jewish Life in Rezekne at the End of the Nineteenth Century

4-Jewish Life in Rezekne at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century

5-Rezekne and World War One

6-Rezekne After World War One

7-Rezekne and the Holocaust

8-Rezekne After World War Two

9-Conclusion

10-Appendix 1

11-Appendix 2

12-Bibliography and Footnotes

Secular History

Historical Background of Jews in Rezekne
by Esther Rechtschafner

The city is located in the central eastern part of Latvia, in the section of the country known as Latgale, near the intersection of the Lenigrad-Warsaw, Moscow Wentapelis railway junction. The city changed hands a few times: in 1561; the local government was then under the rule of Poland-Lithuania. With the first division of Poland, it became part of Russia. It became the capital of the district of Vitebsk, in 1802 [2] .

The Latvian name of the city is Rezekne, the old German name is Rositten, and the old Russian name is Rezhitsa [3] , the Jewish name is Rezhitse [4] , other used names are Rezehne, Rezhitza, Rezitza, Rjeshiza, Rjetschiza, and Rzezyca [5] .

Rezekne was considered one of the important Jewish communities in Latvia [6] . Jews in Latvia were culturally influenced by German Jewish culture, Lithuanian and Belo Russian Jewry, but assimilation didn't develop here as in Western Europe [7] . The languages that the Jews spoke were Yiddish and Russian [8] .

The Jewish community in Rezneke was founded in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. The Jews were then expelled from the neighboring village of Makashani (a distance of about 18 kilometer away). They took the "Holy Ark" with them, and placed it in the "Brick Study-Hall", which they built and organized}. A "Study-Group for learning Mishaot" was began in 1786 [9] . At this time the Jewish population of the city was about five hundred, which was about seventy-five percent of the total population [10] .

Before the Jewish Cemetery was consecrated [11] , and for a short period afterwards some people asked to be buried in the old cemetery in Makashani, for in addition to this being the burial place of their families, there were many rabbis and holy people buried here. This practice ended in the 1880's. However, this old cemetery was looked after up to the late 1930's [12] .

From its' beginning, this Jewish community, became an important segment part of the city. The Jewish population was constantly changing. In 1815 the Jewish population was 1,072, which was 90% of the total population [13] . In 1847 there were 542 Jews in the city [14] .

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