Alternate names: Ventspils [Latv], Windau [Ger], Vindava and Виндава [Rus], Vindoi and וינדוי [Yid], Windawa [Pol], Ventspilis [Lith], Vindavi [Est], Wentspils, Vindau. 57°23' N, 21°34' E , in NW Latvia on the Baltic coast, 64 miles NNE of Liepāja (Libau). Jewish population: 485 (1835), 920 (1864), 1,407 (1881), 1,276 (1925) and beginning of WWI-about 5,000. Jews came to Ventspils in the second half of the 18th century from neighboring localities as well as Prussia and Lithuania. A burial society and cemetery were not established until 1831. Later a synagogue and a bet midrash were added.
- Encyclopedia of Jewish Life (2001), p. 1386: "Ventspils".
- Dov Levin, ed., "Ventspils," in Pinkas ha-kehilot: Latviyah ve-Estonyah, pp. 123-128 (Jerusalem, 1988)
- Shtetl Finder (1989), p. 112: "Vindava".
- JewishGen Latvia SIG
- Erwin Oberländer and Ilgvars Misāns, eds., Das Herzogtum Kurland, 1561-1795: Verfassung, Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft (Lüneburg, Ger., 2001).
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Mendl Bobe, Perakim be-toldot yahadut Latviyah (Tel Aviv, 1965)
Archival materials on Ventspils are housed in Muzejs un Dokumentacijas Centrs "Ebreji Latvija," Riga, Latvia.
VIDEO: Jelgava(Mitau)-Tukums-Sabile-Kandava-Kuldiga (Goldingen)-Ventspils (217KB) -Another name of this video " Beautifull Kurland". ... streets of Tukums, Jelgava and Kuldiga, see synagogues and 200 years old cemeteries. [March 2009] - VIDEO: Riga-Ventspils/Windau-Ludza-Vilnius (265KB) -This recording includes a video chronicle of the July 1, 1941, Nazi entrance into Riga. 1999 views of a group of UK tourists visiting the Riga Holocaust site and Jewish school. Conversation with a rabbi. A visit to the seaport town of Ventspils and meeting with members of that community. Views of the synagogue and old cemetery. There is a visit to Ludza ... with the Levin family. ...Dr. Kovnat's father's house. ... small picturesque synagogue and the cemetery.[March 2009]
YIVO description of Ventspils. [January 2011]
CEMETERY: Dates from 1831.
Located on Saules St., many interesting tombstones remain. In some parts, tombstones are destroyed so that the cemetery looks almost like a forest. About forty tombstones still exist. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Kahovkas 2-12 LV-1021, Riga, Latvia
See burial list All Latvia Cemetery List [March 2009] See burial list. [January 2011]