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Obj. ID: 44125
Memorials
  Memorial at the killing site in the Railway Garden behind the White Swan Prison in Daugavpils, Latvia, 1960s, 2007

© Vladimir Levin, Photographer: Levin, Vladimir, 4.2022

Memorial Name

No official name

Who is Commemorated?

More than 1,000 Daugavpils Jews murdered on this site. 

Description:

The monument is placed at the far end of a huge mass grave site surrounded by a wooden fence with five-pointed stars. Four large mass graves are marked by concrete frames; A pathway in the middle leads from the wooden gate to the monument.

The monument is a white obelisk on a white base probably made of brick and concrete. A black marble plaque affixed to it bears inscriptions in Latvian and Russian.

The Council of Latvian Jewish Communities supplemented the Soviet-time memorial with a monument to the murdered Jews. In the corner of the right-hand (southern) mass grave, near the obelisk, there are two small black marble slabs designed by Ilana Lisagor. They bear Stars of David inscribed with the letters פ"נ and identical inscriptions in Latvian, Russian, English, and Yiddish.

Inscription:

On the obelisk:

Latvian:

Šeit atdusas
vairāk nekā 10 000
sarkanās armijas
karavīru un komandieru,
partizānu un mierīgo
iedzīvotāju, kas gājuši
bojā II pasaules
kara laikā

Translation: Here rest more than 10,000 Red Army soldiers and commanders, partisans and peaceful citizens, who perished during World War II

Russian:

Здесь покоятся
более 10 000 бойцов и
командиров
Красной армии,
партизан и мирных
жителей, погибших от
рук фашистских
захватчиков

Translation: Here rest more than 10,000 soldiers and commanders of the Red Army, partisans and peaceful citizens, who perished by the hands of fascist occupiers.

Black slabs:

Latvian

Šajā vietā 1941. gada jūlija nacisti nošāva
vairāk nekā 1000 Daugavpils ebreju

Latvijas Ebreju draudži un kopienu padome

Russian

Здесь в июле 1941 года нацисты расстреляли
более 1000 евреев Даугавпилса

Совет еврейских общин Латвии

English:

In July 1941, the Nazis executed here
More than 1,000 of Daugavpils Jews

The Council of Latvia Jewish Communities

Yiddish

אין יולי 1941 זיינען דא דערשאסן געווארן דורך דיא נאציס מער
פון 1000 דוינסק'ער יידן
ת.נ.צ.ב.ה.

די ראט פון יידישע קהילות אין לטביה

 

Commissioned by

Authorities of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (1960s)

The Council of Latvia Jewish Communities (2007)

Summary and Remarks
Remarks

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Name/Title
Memorial at the murder site in the railway garden behind the White Swan Prison in Daugavpils | Unknown
Object Detail
Monument Setting
Date
1960s, 2007
Active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Unknown |
Congregation
Unknown
Location
Latvia | Latgale | Daugavpils
| Former Railway Garden
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period Detail
Collection
Unknown |
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Iconographical Subject
Material / Technique
Brick and concrete obelisk, marble slabs
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Measurements
Height
Length
Width
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Condition
Extant
Documented by CJA
Surveyed by CJA
Present Usage
Present Usage Details
Condition of Building Fabric
Architectural Significance type
Historical significance: Event/Period
Historical significance: Collective Memory/Folklore
Historical significance: Person
Architectural Significance: Style
Architectural Significance: Artistic Decoration
Urban significance
Significance Rating
0
Ornamentation
Custom
Contents
Codicology
Scribes
Script
Number of Lines
Ruling
Pricking
Quires
Catchwords
Hebrew Numeration
Blank Leaves
Direction/Location
Façade (main)
Endivances
Location of Torah Ark
Location of Apse
Location of Niche
Location of Reader's Desk
Location of Platform
Temp: Architecture Axis
Arrangement of Seats
Location of Women's Section
Direction Prayer
Direction Toward Jerusalem
Coin
Coin Series
Coin Ruler
Coin Year
Denomination
Signature
Colophon
Scribal Notes
Watermark
Hallmark
Group
Group
Group
Group
Group
Trade Mark
Binding
Decoration Program
Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance

The German troops entered Daugavpils on June 26, 1941. Until July 7, 1,125 Jews were arrested and taken to the White Swan Prison. Later they were shot in the Railway Garden.

In 1944, Red Army soldiers fallen during the liberation of the city were buried in the same place. 

Apparently, an obelisk was erected on the site in the 1960s. In 2007 it was supplemented by a Jewish monument.

The monument to the murdered Jews was unveiled on August 21, 2007. On the same day, a similar monument was unveiled in the Soviet-time memorial to the Victims of Fascism at Mežciems (see here). 

Main Surveys & Excavations
Sources

"Holocaust Memorial Places in Latvia," a website by the Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Latvia, http://memorialplaces.lu.lv/memorial-places/latgale/daugavpils-railwaymens-garden-dzelzcelnieku-darzs/.

Meler, Meyer, Jewish Latvia: Sites to Remember (Tel-Aviv: Association of Latvian and Estonian Jews in Israel, 2013), pp. 79, 87, 91.

Meler, Meyer, Mesta nashei pamiati: Evreiskie obshchiny Latvii, unichtozhennye v Kholokoste (Riga: by the author, 2010), pp. 138, 148-149.

Rochko, Josif, Jewish Latgale: Guidebook (Daugavpils, by the author, 2018), p. 23.

Rochko, Josif, Khronologiia Daugavpilsskoi evreiskoi obshchiny, 1940–2020 (Daugavpils: By the author, 2021), p. 67.
Type
Documenter
Vladimir Levin | 2022
Author of description
Vladimir Levin | 2023
Architectural Drawings
|
Computer Reconstruction
|
Section Head
|
Language Editor
|
Donor
|
Negative/Photo. No.
The following information on this monument will be completed: