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Obj. ID: 44101
Jewish Funerary Art
  Memorial at the Aizupieši Forest near Riebeņi, Latvia, 1955

© Vladimir Levin, Photographer: Levin, Vladimir, 4.2022

Memorial Name

No official name

Who is Commemorated?

Riebeņi Jews murdered on this site

Description:

The monument on the mass grave of Riebeņi Jews is situated in the middle of a forest. It stands on an edge of the grave marked by a concrete frame.

It is a tombstone, probably Jewish, in secondary use. The black polished granite stele on a pedestal bears an inscription in Russian. Its back side (the front of the original tombstone) was once inscribed with an epitaph (probably Hebrew) to the deceased person which was removed. The front side of the pedestal was also once inscribed with an epitaph (probably in a non-Jewish language), which was removed. 

Inscription

Russian

Вечная память
евреям местечка
Риебини
трагически
погибшим от руки
немецко-фашистских
оккупантов
23 августа 1941 года

Родственники

Translation: Eternal memory / to the Jews of the shtetl Riebini / tragically / perished by the hands / of the German-Fascist occupants/ August 23, 1941. Relatives.

Commissioned by

Relatives of the victims

Summary and Remarks
Remarks

6 image(s)

sub-set tree:

Name/Title
Memorial at the Aizupieši Forest near Riebeņi | Unknown
Object Detail
Monument Setting
Date
1955
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
Artist/ Maker
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Unknown |
Congregation
Unknown
Location
Latvia | Latgale | Riebeņi
| Aizupieši Forest
Site
Unknown
School/Style
Unknown|
Period
Period Detail
Collection
Unknown |
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Iconographical Subject
Unknown |
Textual Content
Languages of inscription
Shape / Form
Material / Technique
Black granite
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

All Jews of Riebeņi who did not escape to the interior areas of the USSR were murdered in the Aizupieši Forest on August 23, 1941. According to the information gathered by the local museum, 271 Jews were murdered, according to other sources, the number of victims is 381.

The mass grave was fenced already by 1947, as it is seen in photographs published by Meyer Meler (2010, p. 363; 2013, p. 285).

In 1955, the monument on the mass grave was erected “thanks to the local administration and to the victims’ relatives” (Meler 2010, p. 363; Meler 2013, p. 286). The inscription, however, mentions only victims’ relatives.

In 1959, local authorities planned landscaping and upkeep of the mass grave (Lenskis, p. 33).

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/riebini-municipality-the-aizupiesi-forest/.

Lenskis, Ilja, Holokausta piemina Latvijā laika gaitā 1945–2015 = Holocaust Commemoration in Latvia in the Course of Time, 1945–2015 (Riga: Muzejs “Ebreju Latvija,” 2017), p. 33, 58.

Meler, Meyer, Jewish Latvia: Sites to Remember (Tel-Aviv: Association of Latvian and Estonian Jews in Israel, 2013), pp. 285-286.

Meler, Meyer, Mesta nashei pamiati: Evreiskie obshchiny Latvii, unichtozhennye v Kholokoste (Riga: by the author, 2010), pp. 362-364.
Type
Documenter
Vladimir Levin, Milda Jakulytė | 2022
Author of description
Vladimir Levin | 2023
Architectural Drawings
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Computer Reconstruction
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Section Head
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Language Editor
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Donor
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Negative/Photo. No.
The following information on this monument will be completed: