Obj. ID: 40706
Memorials Memorial to the Lipke Family, Righteous Among the Nations, in the Šmerli New Jewish Cemetery in Riga, Latvia, 1990
To the main object: Šmerli New Jewish Cemetery in Riga, Latvia
Memorial Name
No official name
Who is Commemorated?
Jānis (Žanis) and Johanna Lipke, Righteous Among the Nations.
Description:
The monument is a half of large stone (the other half is placed on the Lipke's grave). Two metal plaques and a Star of David are affixed to it. The upper plaque has a citation from Mishna Sanhedrin (chapter 4, mishna 5) in Hebrew and a Yiddish dedication. The lower plaque has the citation and dedication in Latvian.
Inscription:
Hebrew
כל המקיים נפש אחת
כאילו קיים עולם מלא
Translation: Whoever saves one life, it is considered if he saved the whole world (Sanhedrin chapter 4, mishna 5).
Yiddish
אייביק וועלן לויכטן די נעמען פון
יאניס /זשאניס/ און יאהאנא
ליפקע,
וואס האבן אין די יארן 1941 – 1944
געראטעוועט 55 יידן
Translation: The names of Jānis (Žanis) and Johanna Lipke, who in 1941–1944 saved 55 Jews, will radiate light forever.
Latvian
Kas izglābis vienu dzīvību, tik
tiesam ir izglābis visu pasauli
Mužos gaismu izstaros
Jaņa / Žaņa / Lipkes un
Jahannas Lipkes vāros
1941.–1944. gadam sie varonīgie
cilvēki izglāba 55 Ebreju
No ebreju reliģiskās draudzes
Translation: Who saved one life, saved the whole world (Sanhedrin chapter 4, mishna 5).
Will radiate light forever, Jānis (Žanis) Lipke and Johanna Lipke; in 1941–1944, these heroic people saved 55 Jews.
From the Jewish religious community
Commissioned by
The Riga Jewish Community
7 image(s)
sub-set tree:
Jānis (Žanis) Lipke and his wife Johanna helped 55 Jews to escape from the Riga ghetto and helped them to hid. 44 Jews, helped by Lipke, survived.
On June 28, 1966, Yad Vashem recognized Žanis and Johanna Lipke as Righteous Among the Nations.
Meler, Meyer, Jewish Latvia: Sites to Remember (Tel-Aviv: Association of Latvian and Estonian Jews in Israel, 2013), pp. 333-334.
Meler, Meyer, Mesta nashei pamiati: Evreiskie obshchiny Latvii, unichtozhennye v Kholokoste (Riga: by the author, 2010), p. 358.