Latvia Jewish Records

Historical Background
The history of the Jews in Latvia dates back to the first Jewish colony established in Piltene in 1571. Jews contributed to Latvia's development until the Northern War (1700–1721), which decimated Latvia's population. The Jewish community reestablished itself in the 18th century, mainly through an influx from Prussia, and came to play a principal role in the economic life of Latvia.

Under an independent Latvia, Jews formed political parties and participated as members of parliament. The Jewish community flourished. Jewish parents had the right to send their children to schools using Hebrew as the language of instruction, as part of a significant network of minority schools.

World War II ended the prominence of the Jewish Community. The Holocaust killed 90% of Latvia's Jewish population. Under Stalin, Jews, who formed only 5% of the population, constituted 12% of the deportees.

Today's Jewish community traces its roots to survivors of the Holocaust, Jews who fled to the USSR to escape the Nazi invasion and later returned, and Jews newly immigrated to Latvia from the Soviet Union. The Latvian Jewish community today is small but active.

JewishGen
JewishGen.org is an excellent resource to aid you in your Jewish research not only in Latvia, but throughout Eastern Europe. To register for a free account click here. All JewishGen records are free and accessible to all registered users; however, additional search features that may aid you in your research are available to donors who give $100 or more. To make a donation to JewishGen, click here.

JewishGen Latvia Database

The JewishGen Latvia Database is a multiple database search facility with access to over 175,000 indexed records. In addition to vital records (1854-1921), the database also includes indexes of Yizkor book necrologies, the 1897 All-Russia Census, voter lists, passport issuance books (1919-1941), enlistment registers and family lists, and much more.

JewishGen Town Finder

The town finder is a useful online gazetteer for locations in Eastern Europe. Note that wild card searches are not supported. To view an entry page, click on the Jewish star to the left of the town name. Entry pages provide jurisdictions for before WWI, the interwar period, after WWII and modern-day. Alternate names and Yiddish and Russian spellings are also included. In the center, you'll find a map and a list of additional Jewish communities located nearby. Finally, under Additional Information and in the green box at the top, you'll find links to references and additional resources that may help you in your research.

Digital Images
Raduraksti has Jewish records available online for the following locations: Aizpute, Bauska, Daugavpils, Glazmanka (now Gostiņi), Grīva, Grobiņa, Ilūkste, Jaunjelgava, Jēkabpils, Jelgava, Kuldīga, Liepāja, Ludza, Malta (now Silmala), Piltene, Rēzekne, Ribinišku (Riebiņi), Rīga, Sabile, Saldus, Sasmaka (now Valdemārpils), Skaistkalne, Subate, Tukums, Varakļāni, Ventspils, Viļaka, and Višķi.

For help navigating the Raduraksti website, please see the Raduraksti: Online Records "How to" Guide.

Cemeteries
Click here to access a web site, which includes names of people buried in selected Latvian and Lithuanian Jewish cemeteries. Most of the tombstones do not have surnames, just the given name, patronymic and year of death. Comparable database for Belarussian cemeteries will be available in the future.

Sources in Print
Bogdanova, Rita. and Ruvin Ferber. "A Website List of Latvian Jewry Prior to World War II." In AVOTAYNU Vol. XXIV, no. 3 (Fall 2008); pp. 9-11.