ENGLISH
The cache is hidden in Jaunjelgava Jewish cemetery next to the
Holocaust memorial (not inside of it). Container is a waterproof
glass jar.
The history of Jaunjelgava starts a long time ago. Already in the
XIII century there was an ancient Selonian castle, which was
destroyed by German Crusades of the Teutonic Order. In 1646
Elizabeth Magdalene, the widow of Friedrich, the duke of Courland,
instructed to rebuild the settlement and the next year it was
granted town status and named Friedrichstadt. In 1795 it was
annexed together with Courland, by Russia. In the 1920s there was
another name change, to Jaunjelgava.
The first Jews came to the place from the surrounding villages, and
others came later from White Russia and Lithuania. At the beginning
of the 19th century a community was organised and a cemetery was
open. By the year 1881 there were 4128 Jews (71% of the
population). From that year the community began to grow
smaller.
In 1915, during WWI the community was exiled, together with the
other Jews of Courland, to the interior of Russia. After the war
only few people returned, so that the Jews were now a minority in
the town. In 1935 there were 561 Jews, among a population of 2153,
in the town.
In June 1941 the Soviet retaliatory authorities banished wealthy
Jews and their families to Siberia. A week later the German army
attacked the USSR. In the absence of a government in the first days
of war, gangs of Latvian fascists, headed by Viktors Arajs, began
to be active in the town. The Jews were concentrated in the
synagogue and then taken to the place 3-4 km outside the town,
where they were shot to death and buried in a mass grave. According
to one version there were already no Jews in the town when the
Germans occupied it in the beginning of July.
According to another version, the Germans assembled those Jews who
were in the town after the occupation in the synagogue. On the 7th
of August a group of young Jewish men was taken to the Serene
forest, a distance of about 8 km from the town and there ordered to
dig pits. On the completion of the work all Jews were shot and
buried there. During the first weeks of the war 167 families
– 542 people were wiped out.
After the war the survivors brought the remains of those who had
been murdered, for burial in the Jewish cemetery. A monument was
set up in their memory.
LATVISKI
Slepnis atrodas Jaunjelgavas ebreju kapos, blakus holokausta
upuru pieminas kompleksam. Konteiners ir neliela stikla
burcina.
Jaunjelgavas pilsetas vesture sniedzas tala senatne. 13. gadsimta
Jaunjelgavas vieta atradas sena selu pils, ko nopostija vacu
krustneši. 1646. gada hercoga Fridriha atraitne Elizabete
Magdalena uzdeva saviem padotajiem atjaunot šo apdzivoto
vietu. Nakama gada janvari vina pieškir tai pilsetas statusu
un sava miruša vira pieminai nosauc to par
Fridrihštati. 1795. gada, kopa ar Kurzemi, ta tika
pievienota Krievijai. Pec neatkarigas Latvijas valsts
nodibinašanas pilsetai pieškirts Jaunjelgavas
nosaukums.
Pirmie ebreju iedzivotaji ienaca šeit no apkart
esošajam apdzivotam vietam, citi ieceloja velak no
Baltkrievijas un Lietuvas. 19. gadsimta sakuma izveidojas ebreju
kopiena un tika atklata ari pirma kapseta. Iedzivotaju skaits
palielinajas lidz 1881. gadam, kad tas bija sasniedzis 5820
cilvekus (no tiem 4128, vai 71% bija ebreji). Tikai velak, kad
sakas masveida ebreju emigracija no Krievijas, pilsetas iedzivotaju
skaits, un taja skaita ari ebreju, saka samazinaties.
1915. gada, sakoties Pirmajam Pasaules karam, kopa ar Kurzemes
ebrejiem kopiena tika izsutita uz Krievijas plašumiem. Pec
kara tikai neliela dala ebreju atgriezas, un Latvijas Republikas
laika ebreji Jaunjelgava bija mazakuma. 1935. gada no pilsetas 2153
iedzivotajiem 561 bija ebrejs.
1941. gada 14. junija padomju represivie organi deporteja no
Latvijas vairakus tukstošus gimenu. Nedelu velak pec
deportacijam nacistiska Vacija uzbruka PSRS. Kara pirmajas dienas,
mainoties varai, pilseta aktivizejas vietejas nacistiskas grupas.
Vairaku slepkavibas akciju rezultata tika iznicinati visi pilsetas
ebreji. Pec vienas versijas, vaciešiem ienakot julija
beigas, pilseta vairs nebija neviena ebreja.
Saskana ar citu versiju, vacieši sadzina sinagoga tos
ebrejus, kas bija palikuši pilseta pec okupacijas. 7.
augusta vini izvelejas pašus stiprakos un jaunakos ebrejus,
aizveda vinus uz Serenes mežu (8 km no pilsetas) rakt bedri.
Kad milziga bedre bija izrakta, iedzina taja visus ebrejus, kur
vinus nošava un apraka. Kara pirmo nedelu laika tika
iznicinatas 167 gimenes – 542 cilveki.
Pec kara beigam izdzivojušie parapbedija nogalinato
mirstigas atliekas ebreju kapseta. Vinu pieminai tika uzcelts
pieminas komplekss.
Informacjas avots:
Jaunjelgavas ebreju kopienas vestures lappuses