Memorial Name
Aglona Brethren Cemetery
Who/What is Commemorated?
96 Jews of Somerseta (Aglona) and its vicinity murdered in this forest.
Description:
The territory of the Brethren Cemetery is surrounded by a low fence and bushes. Its low gate is decorated with red five-pointed stars. Two long graves occupy its center. Each is marked by two plaques with the names of Soviet soldiers buried here. In the photographs from the 2000s, the plaques are white, while by 2024 they were changed to black marble plaques (compare photo in Meler, p. 15).
At the far edge of the cemetery, two Soviet monuments are located. The left is a concrete stele with a marble bas-relief, which depicts a Soviet soldier with a rifle supporting a wounded soldier and the dates 1941-1945. On its left side, another low granite stele commemorates in Latvian and Russian the residents of the Aglona who fell in the struggle against fascism. Judging from its style, it was erected in 1985.
The right stele made of stones bears a white marble plaque inscribed in Russian with the title “Victims of the fascist terror” and a list of 16 Russian and Latvian names. The inscription ends with the words “and 80 others” which originally meant the local Jews. The original plaque was replaced by the current one in the 2010s (compare photo in Meler, p. 15).
The Jewish memorial stone installed in 2007 is situated on the right-hand side of the stele. It is a low rock of granite of irregular form. Its polished side bears the depictions of two Stars of David and a Latvian inscription.
Inscription:
פ"נ
Šajā mežā 1941. gada jūlijā un augustā
tika noslepkavoti 96 Somersetas un apkārtnes
ebreji: Trukšānu, Lurje, Kaganu, Ovsejkinu,
Dimanšteinu, Zilberbrandtu ģimenes un citi
תנצבה
Latvijas Ebreju draudžu un kopienu padome
Translation: Here are buried. In this forest in July and August 1941, 96 Jews of Somerseta (=Aglona) and its vicinity were murdered: the Trukšāns, Lurjes, Kagans, Ovsejkins, Dimansteins, Silberbrants, and others. May their souls be bound in the bundle of life. The Council of Jewish Communities of Latvia.
Commissioned by
The Council of Jewish Communities of Latvia.