REZEKNE: Latgale

• JOWBR: burial list
• Pinkas HaKehilot, Latvia and Estonia (1988), p. 233: "Rezekne"
• JewishGen Latvia SIG

• Rezekne Shtetlink: Located in central eastern Latvia in the section \known as Latgale near the intersection of the Lenigrad-Warsaw, Moscow-Wentapelis railway junction. Alternate name: German is Rositten, Russian is Rezhitsa, and Yiddish is Rezhitse, Rezehne, Rezhitza, Rezitza, Rjeshiza, Rjetschiza, and Rzezyca. Culturally German Jewish, Lithuanian, and Belarussian, the Jewish community was founded in the late eighteenth century. Jews expelled from the neighboring village of Makashani (18 km away) took their Aron Kodesh to the "Brick Study-Hall" in 1786 making the Jewish population about five hundred or 75% of the total. Before the Rezekne Jewish cemetery was consecrated, people were buried in the old cemetery in Makashani, the burial place of many rabbis and zaddiks until the 1880's. Makashani cemetery was tended up to the late 1930's. Jewish population: 1815 was 1,072 ( 90%) and 1847 was 542 Jews.

  Jewish Community of Rezekne, 14-54 Valdemara St., Rezekne, Latvia [March 2009] ‘Green' synagogue at Krāslavas St 5  is one of the very few East European pre-war wooden synagogues to survive. This domestic-scaled building with arched windows on the lower floor retains most of its interior fittings and furnishing. Aglazed gallery rises above the main entrance. Built in 1845, this last surviving synagogue in Rezekne was one of 10 in in 1897, serving a Jewish population of nearly 6,500. The building underwent major repairs in 1939, but its condition has deteriorated; and the Jewish community has declined in numbers. An international effort to restore the building has been underway since 2003: a World Monuments Fund preservation plan triggered USD $40,000 from local government to repair the roof and some timbers and prevent further water damage. Full conservation will require a further USD $200,000 (2003 prices). For more information. [January 2011]

Excellent website with history, photos, photos, folklore and more for the settlements such as Rezekne, Daugavpils (Dvinsk), Livani, Preili, and Ludza within Latgale Region. [March 2009]

VIDEO: Rezekne- Karsava-Rezekne (435KB) - Rezekne cemetery at the sunny evening of October 1998, Jewish quarter at night. .. home of Veisman family. Then came to Karsava: site where the synagogue was, the cemetery, old Jewish houses. Again Rezekne: synagogue, old quarter.[March 2009]

REFERENCE: B'nai Rezitza Association (New York, N.Y.) Records, 1956-1974. Description: .7 linear ft. Notes: Landsmanshaft founded in 1893 and incorporated in 1927 by Jewish immigrants from Rezekne, Latvia (formerly Russian, Rezhitsa, until 1917).Location: 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-A779 [December 2000]

OLD CEMETERY: The city's first known Jewish cemetery, at 7-9 Kalpaka St, was founded in 1803. The current one was founded later in that century at Cenkones St 18-20. 2004 Memorial Wall is a large, simple structure in a landscaped area of its own with the names of 6,423 Jews, all victims either of the Holocaust or of the Gulag, as well as 46 Latvian and German rescuers of 33 Jews. For more, see www.liepajajews.org/wall_web1/info.htm

NEW CEMETERY: at 91 Upīša St was founded in 1886. photos. [January 2011]

The cemetery is about 50 yards wide and 300 hundred yards long with a creek in a deep gully on the western side adjacent to the Catholic cemetery. Original entrance was on the northwest end, but now is at the other end. Many of the stones are only set in the soil. Many have toppled. Softer stones lose surface material due to weathering. Seasonal vegetation is a problem, obscuring graves. photos. [January 2011]

A big cemetery located on a high hill located in the suburbs of the city, the cemetery is in good condition. The oldest tombstone dates from the middle of the 19th century. About 300 stones still remain. Some can no longer be read while others have been damaged or stolen. (In transcribing the list, Arline Sachs assumed that the father's name was the last name, when no other one was given, therefore some of the last names may be wrong.) Source: forwarded by William S. Brown. Names collected by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. [date?]

Cemetery photo and photos . burial list [March 2009]

The Jewish cemetery of Rezekne [May 2013]

See burial list All Latvia Cemetery List [March 2009] See burial list. [January 2011]

MASS GRAVES:

In town near Barku Cemetery. Dates from August 1941. no signs. Drive from Kaunata toward Jaunsloboda. Before Jaunslobody, turn left and continues 50 m to the Barku cemetery in the valley.

From the village of Kaunata, take the road on the Katkovski side. On the right side of the road is a place called "Parusniki".

MASS GRAVE: KAUNATA mass grave 1. no signs. Take the road from Rezekne to Dagda to a crossroad sign "Kaunata- 2km". Turn after the sign to the mass grave. August 1941.

MASS GRAVE: KAUNATA mass grave 2 in town center with no sign.

MASS GRAVE: Malta - Pilseta Mass in the town of Simala with no sign, located at "1 Maija Street" 76 in the basement. September 1941.

MASS GRAVE: Rezekne - Anchupani Mass Grave. (August 1941 through some time in 1943.) In Rezekne district and town on the Anchupani hill with no signs. Drive in Rezekne down Riga Street around the sign "Rezekne". Turn left and drive approximately 500 meters to the "Hill of Anchupani", the former shooting ground.

MASS GRAVE: Ruzina Slepkav Mass Grave. July 1941. no signs. Take road P59 to Tiskadi and then the road to Silmali across the Leicupe River. (1.9 km.) Turn right and go 50 m.