Eķengrāve, Eckengraf (Formerly), Viesīte 
Alternate names: Jēkabpils [Latv], Jakobstadt [Ger], Iakobshtadt and Якобштадт, Екабпилс[Rus], Jekabpilis [Lith], Jakobsztat [Pol], Yekabpils, Jekobpils, Yakabpils, Yekabpils, Yakovshtat, Krustpils, Kreuzburg. 56°29' N, 25°51' E , Jēkabpils and Krustpils were twin cities, divided by the Daugava (Dvina) river. Jēkabpils was in Courland Gubernia, and Krustpils in Vitebsk Gubernia. The two towns were united as Jēkabpils in 1962 in Selonia, roughly halfway between Riga and Daugavpils. 1900 Jewish population: 2,087.
Prior to the 1917 Russian revolution, Kreutzburg (Krustpils) a small shtetl located in the Pale of Settlement. Jekabpils and Kreutzburg were separated by the Daugava River. Jekabpils fell under Courland and Krustspils under Vitebsk governance. After 1917, Kreutzburg (Krustpils) became part of Jekabpils. Prior to the Holocaust, 25% of the population of Krustpils were Jewish. Jewish Gen Shtetlink [October 2000]
- JOWBR: burial list
- JewishGen Latvia SIG
- VIDEO: Jekabpils (Jakobstadt) and Krustpil (Kreitzburg) (338KB) - Krustpils: the castle of baron Korff, destroyed cemetery, former Jewish shops and houses. Jekabpils: Old town, inscriptions and nice engravings of lions and birds on the 150 years old tombstones.
OLD CEMETERY: on Saules. Viesite Mass Grave (Ludanu purvs) in Viesīte (aka Ekengrāve, Eckengraf (Formerly), Viesīte) July 19, 1941. no sign. Take Raina Street from the gas station to the monument in the New Cemetery. Go 600m and turn left at the farm. The site is 1.5km from the 'Ludanu' farm (house not preserved). Mass grave is on one of the small hills surrounded by a swamp.
NEW CEMETERY: Nameja St. Dates from the early 19th century.
Viesite Mass Grave (Jaunie Kapi): Jaunie Kapi means 'The New Cemetery). no signs. Take Raina Street from the gas station to the memorial stone of the New Cemetery. July 19, 1941.
On Duiha River, the cemetery used by present small Jewish population (about twenty Jewish families) [date?] is not maintained but is not completely overgrown. Source: Bud Jaffe, Longwood, FL
I have 400 photos of tombstones with the inscriptions translated. There are of course broken stones. Some the writing is indistinct. Please do not write to ask me for names, at this stage, as there is no alphabetical list and a lot are just the name of the person as son or daughter of someone without surnames. This list will replace the partial list at present attached to the Jekabpils page. Arlene Beare President Latvia SIG [August 2000]
photos [March 2009]
Burial list [March 2009] and All Latvia Cemetery List and photos of 35 gravestones [March 2009] See burial list. [January 2011]
Kreitzburger Jacobstadter Benevolent Association (New York, N.Y.) Records, 1921-1977. Description: .6 linear ft. Notes: Landsmanshaft founded in 1918 by Jewish immigrants from Krustpils (Jekabpils), Latvia. It was dissolved in 1977. ... YIVO collections are in Yiddish, Russian, Polish, English, Hebrew, and other European and non-European languages. Location: YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York, NY. Control No.: NXYH89-A825 [December 2000]