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Lo Tishkach

About LO TISHKACH (Hebrew phrase ‘Do Not Forget')

Jewish cemeteries and mass graves provide a vivid focal point marking the destruction of Jewish communities and for learning the lessons of the Holocaust. They stand as testimony to the history of Jewish community life across the European continent and are an important part of Europe's diverse cultural heritage.

Thousands of these sites lie unvisited and unprotected. Neglect, inappropriate commercial and industrial development, vandalism, theft and well-meaning but inexpert attempts at restoration are threatening to permanently erase what is often the only surviving reminder of the importance of Europe's pre-war Jewish communities. Without concerted action, many may soon be lost forever.

Set up in 2006 by the Conference of European Rabbis with the support of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), the Lo Tishkach Foundation European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative, aims to collate all known data on Europe's Jewish burial grounds and to incorporate this vast source of information in an online database so that it is readily and easily accessible to everyone.

This database now stands at over 11,000 individual records of cemeteries and mass graves and when complete may well contain details on close to 20,000 sites.

Lo Tiskach has identified the following Jewish burial sites in the Rezekne district. Many of the sites indicate Mass Graves which means this was a place where Jews were murdered by either the Nazis or the local police during the holocaust. Some of these sites are now memorials to those who were murdered there. Other of these sites are still active cemeteries.

If you will visit the links below you will read the story of what happened at each location. There are directions as to how to find the graves. Some of these sites can be found on the Maps page in this website. Some of these sites are also described on the Yad Vashem page of this website.

Following are the Cemeteries and Mass Grave Sites in the Rezekne District.

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INSTRUCTIONS: You will have to go to the Lo Tishkach Home Page. Their Home Page will look like the graphic above. Click on the item "Database" and a drop-down menue will show "Search Database." You can enter as a key word "Rezekne" and then wait for a while for the list. If you want to search for any of the specific Cemeteries or Mass Graves enter the ID Number from the list below on to their search page:

Gaiglava Jewish Mass Grave (ID: 10843).
Kaunata Mass Grave 1 (ID:10780).
Kaunata Mass Grave 2 (ID:10781).
Kaunata Mass Grave 3 (ID:10782).
Kaunata Mass Grave 4 (ID:10783).
Malta Jewish Mass Grave 1 (ID:10854).
Malta Jewish Mass Grave 2 (House of Culture) (ID:12191).
Malta - Pilseta Mass Grave (ID:10787).
Rezekne Jewish Cemetery (ID:5526)this is the Jewish cemetery in use today.
Rezekne Jewish Mass Grave 1 (Anchupanu mountains) (ID:10784)this was the where the most lost their lives including non-Jews. This location was used by both the Nazis and local police.
Rezekne Jewish Mass Grave 2 (at Jewish cemetery) (ID:12191).
Rezekne Jewish Mass Grave 3 (at Lescinska garden) (ID:12197).
Ruzina Jewish Cemetery (ID:10785)
Ruzina Slepokav Mass Cemetery (ID:10786)
Vecruzina Mass Grave (ID:10788)

REPORTS YOU CAN DOWNLOAD: Lo Tishkach has recently completed its surveys of Latvia Burial Grounds and you can download their excellent reports at their website. For your convenience the following links lead to their reports on the Latgale Region.

Jewish Cemeteries of Latvia: Latgale Region (2012) - 9.82MB, PDF

Jewish Mass Graves of Latvia: Latgale Region - Part 1 (2013) - 5.40MB, PDF

Jewish Mass Graves o f Latvia: Latgale Region - Part 2 (2013) - 8.32MB,PDF