♦ The first Jews were poor peddlers.

♦ They were allowed to acquire real estate in the second half of the 19th century.

♦ Their situation improved.

♦ The majority were in business in lumber, grain, and flax.

♦ There were tailors, shoemakers, tinsmiths, blacksmiths, and carters.

♦ Two factories producing matches before World war I were Jewish-owned.

♦ There were five doctors.

♦ The Jewish Socialist Party —The Bund — became active in 1905.

♦ "Bar Kochva" scout movement.

♦ Hashomer Hatzair Netzach

♦ Betar

♦ Gordonia

♦ Herzlia

♦ Zionism strengthened in 1930's

♦ 324 members of the Jekabpils community voted in the 1933 elections to the 18th Zionist Congress.

♦ Anti-Zionist Yiddishists were active in the Workers club (Arbeiterheim)

The Red Army entered Latvia in 1939 following the Ribbentrop–Molotov Accord. A Soviet Government was installed in 1940. Privately-owned businesses were nationalized. Jewish public institutions were wound up. A number of Jews joined the new regime. On June 22nd, 1941 the Soviets began to evacuate.

The few Jews who succeeded in fleeing to Russia were conscripted into the Red Army. The majority of the Jews remained behind in Jekabpils, which was occupied by the Germans on June 29th, 1941.

In September 1941, on the way to the town of Kokas where they had been sent, many who had difficulty marching were shot on the way; the rest were murdered in Kokas.

The Red Army liberated the town in the Summer of 1944. Survivors brought back the remains of the dead for Jewish burial and erected a monument in their memory in the 1950's. The authorities removed the monument and all traces of Jewish identification. After 1991, Jewish memorials were once again allowed in Latvia.

Ref:  Extracted from the Archives of Latvian and Estonian Jews held at Kibbutz Shefayim in Israel.
— with permission of Mr Shlomo Kurlandchik, Chief Archivist.

The journey from Riga takes 2-3 hours; the road is good. It follows the river; near Plavinas the scenery is particularly pretty. Visitors are well advised to take sandwiches, as there are no restaurants such as we are used to in Europe or in the USA.

The total population is 14,600. The Jewish community today numbers only sixty people, and dates from 1990. The Jewish population is mainly elderly and impoverished; there are hardly any young people living there today.

The leader of the Jewish community showed me the few remaining buildings that were owned by Jews. An office is located in the old Jewish area; the community receives rent from a street market located on Jewish land.

There is a large cemetery with many stones that have decipherable inscriptions. The cemetery is overgrown and in need of attention. Many stones are broken and many overgrown with moss. A great feeling of sadness overwhelms one. The Commission for Preservation of Jewish Buildings and Monuments is trying to fund a project for documenting sites such as these throughout Latvia.

Jekabpils is a small town and it lacks funds. The community has no synagogue, and the only sign of Jewish life is matzoh at Pesach. Through the American Yad L'Yad programme they receive some support from Congregation Beth Shalom in Naperville, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.