I am by no means an expert in Jewish genealogy, but occasionally I have had the opportunity to search for information about Jews as well. This time, I’ll write about a specific case where I searched for details about a family from Tukums. Where did I look for information, and what was I able to find?
Databases
If you're searching for information about Jews in pre-war Latvia, the first resource to turn to is the names.lu.lv database, developed by the University of Latvia. It contains over 90,000 names of Jews who lived in Latvia. The fates of more than 59,000 people have been identified. If you're able to find the person you're looking for by surname or place of residence, be sure to check the list of sources. These will indicate where to find additional details in the archives.
The next recommendation is to check the database pases.arhivi.lv. For beginners, it’s important to note that this database primarily contains information about people who lived in Riga or the surrounding region at some point. The passports were issued by the Riga prefecture.
For many rural residents, passports were issued by local parish councils, and these are sometimes available in the relevant parish council's collection or the regional police collection in the archive.
Also, not all passports of Riga residents can be found in the database. Passports entered the archive when a person replaced their passport and returned the old one, or upon their death. In these cases, the passport was returned to the issuing authority and ended up in the archive. Many other passports remained with their holders, and never made it to the archives. For instance, passports of those who emigrated during the war did not end up in the archives, as these were used for their journeys abroad.
The third recommended database is the foreign passport database, which can be found on the website www.ciltskoki.lv in the "Dažādi" (Various) section. Here, you'll find the archival file number, allowing you to request the file at the archive. However, this database does not include all passports issued for foreign travel. You can search for additional passports in the Ministry of the Interior's Administrative Department's fund No. 3234.
1935 Census
This time, I was searching for information about a Jewish woman whose birth year and place were known.
From an entry in her foreign passport, I learned that the person I was looking for lived in Tukums. Next, I found her personal card from the 1935 census. It's worth noting that this census includes both records by place of residence and individual personal cards. All these documents are available for viewing in the archive in fund No. 1308.
The personal cards are sorted into separate files by gender and nationality. In this case, I searched among the cards of non-Latvian women and quickly found the one I needed.
In addition to the information I already knew, I discovered that the woman in question was already a widow by 1935. She didn’t work herself, but her son provided for her. The son worked at L. Silberman’s shop in Tukums, on Vecmoku Street, which has since been renamed Talsu Street. It’s likely that the street numbering has also changed.
House Registers
The personal card indicated a specific address where the woman lived. I was then able to check whether the house register for this address was kept in the archives. The house registers of Latvian cities and districts are stored in fund No. 2110, and the Tukums house registers can be found in inventory No. 10.
The house register for this address was preserved, and from it, I learned when the mother and her son moved to this address and where they had lived before. I also found out that the owner of the house was Leibe Zilberman, in whose shop the woman's son worked.
In November 1936, the family moved out, but unfortunately, the new address was not recorded.
1941 Census
In the 1941 census, out of the eight apartments at this address, five were empty. It was noted that they belonged to a consumer cooperative. Apparently, the house had been nationalized, as the owner was now listed as the Tukums City Housing Department.
From articles found online, it's clear that in the summer of 1941, Nazi occupation authorities declared Tukums “Judenfrei,” meaning free of Jews. The census likely took place after this, and the Jews who had been exterminated simply disappeared without a trace, with no mentions in house registers or census records.
Those who were murdered lie in mass graves near Tukums, close to Lake Valgums. Only a very few managed to escape by leaving the town in time. The creators of the names.lu.lv database have been unable to determine, and it seems impossible to find out, whether the woman and her son I was searching for managed to escape or if they lie in the mass graves as well.
In this research, I noticed for the first time just how many apartments in Tukums were uninhabited in 1941. I hadn’t paid attention to this before, but it will certainly raise suspicions in the future.
Do you have similar stories or suggestions? Write to me if you'd like to share!
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