The Ancestry of Lloyd Alexander

May next year will mark a decade since the passing of Lloyd Chudley Alexander, the celebrated author of the Chronicles of Prydain - a wonderful fantasy series which I read as a teenager.

Author Lloyd Chudley Alexander

Lloyd Chudley Alexander was born in Philadelphia on January 30, 1924 to stockbroker Alan Audley Alexander and Edna née Chudley. His parents were married in 1916. Alexander and his older sister Florence Elise [15.08.1918-20.01.1988] grew up in the western suburbs of Drexel Hill. The family was greatly affected by the depression. Alexander joined the U.S. army at the start of WWII. He trained and served as a military intelligence officer in Wales, where he later drew much inspiration for his famous book series. He met his wife Janine Marie née Denni [16.09.1920-02.05.2007] while attending the Sourbonne after the war. They were married in Paris on January 8, 1946 and Alexander formally adopted Denni's daughter Madeleine "Mado" Marie [08.11.1934-15.07.1990]. Returning to his native Philadelphia, Alexander started writing while working day jobs. His first books were rejected. It wasn't before 1955 that one of his works was published. "I wrote for adults for ten years. But for some reason, in the realm of fantasy for children, I was able to take up deeper Questions. To me it is liberating." In 1963 Alexander wrote "Time Cat" - his first fantasy for children and first major success. The story was inspired by Alexander's pet cat Solomon. The five books in the Chronicles of Prydain were published between 1964 and 1968, earning Alexander the Newbery honor and medal. The first two installments in the series were adapted into an animated Disney feature in 1985. Alexander recieved the Pennbook Lifetime Achievement Award, Parent's Choice Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award and  World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement. By the time of his death he had written some forty books, and had won the National Book Award twice. He passed away two weeks after his wife.

Alexander's maternal grandparents were tailor Harry Elwood Chudley and Mary Elizabeth née Gray. They were second generation immigrants, English and Irish respectfully, and were married at the Church of the Beloved Disciple in Philadelphia.

Alexander was brought up a Christian. He and his wife were members of the Holy Comforter Church in Drexel Hill, but his father was raised in a Jewish household. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Alan Audley Alexander was registered with the Amalgamated Jewish Congregation in the city. He settled in the US in 1905 and was naturalized in Pennsylvania in 1922. 
Lloyd Alexander's paternal grandfather, Solomon Elkin Alexander, was of mixed Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jewish ancestry. He was a merchant and a member of freemasonry in Jamaica. Alexander's grandmother, Frances "Fanny" Eliza Née DeSouza, was fully Sephardi Jewish.

1.Lloyd Chudley Alexander, 30/01/1924 - 17/05/2007

   2.1 Alan Audley Alexander, 05/04/1887 - 20/12/1958, married 1916

      3.1 Solomon Elkin Alexander, 30/07/1854 - , married 30/06/1873

        4.1 Thaddeus Alexander, 26/12/1831 - 08/01/1892, married 20/04/1853

          5.1 Joseph Alexander, married 03/10/1814

            6.1 Reuben Alexander 1759 - 20/03/1818

          5.2 Kate Elkin

            6.3 Solomon Elkin

        4.2 Sarah DaCosta, 11/11/1831 - 

          5.3 Moses DaCosta

      3.2 Frances Eliza DeSouza, 31/08/1853 - 15/05/1919

        4.3 Abraham DeSouza

        4.4 Louisa

   2.2 Edna Chudley, 22/12/1898 - 25/03/1963

      3.3 Harry Elwood Chudley, 07/08/1858 - 10/03/1924, married 07/08/1883

      3.4 Mary Elisabeth Gray, 30/06/1865 - 20/05/1939

        4.7 John Gray

        4.8 Elisabeth McCallum

The Fate of Pets in the Holocaust

While it may have been a tiny fraction of the suffering inflicted in the Second World War, the question of what fate befell Jewish owned pets in the holocaust is an interesting one.

Jewish girl with her dog,
prewar France -USHMM

There was no consistent Nazi policy for treatment of Jewish owned pets before the spring of 1942. The question arose quiet often when dealing with the segregation or deportation of Jews, since they owned pets just as commonly as any other group. Most often, Jews were banned from bringing their pets along and had to find foster families for their dogs, cats or birds within a very short time. This was the case, for example, in the uprooting of Jews from the shoreline of the Netherlands in 1941.

As long as the deportation had been announced a few days prior, finding a solution for domestic animals was the responsibility of the owners. But in an event of sudden mass-deportation or sealing of a Jewish neighborhood as a ghetto no time was given for such actions, and the problem thus became very much that of the authorities. In Eastern Europe, for example, Jews sometimes naively brought their pets along to the roundups prior to Einsatzgruppe executions, believing they were being resettled.

Jewish man with his dog, France -Yad Vashem

Sometimes pets were put in the care of willing locals, but when there was no immediate solution at hand, as was most often the case, owners were forced to leave their dogs and cats in their empty homes with the hope that someone would find them. During the round up of the Jews in Baden and Saarland, receipts were kept by the Germans for pets that were turned over to obliging neighbors, while in the notorious overnight roundup of Parisian Jews at the Vélodrome d'Hiver, French policemen were instructed to leave the pets they find with the concierge for lack of any clear German orders on this matter. The abandoning of hundreds of domestic animals at once could pose a serious sanitary problem.

Jewish couple with their dog, Lodz ghetto -Yad Vashem

In the process of sealing off Jewish neighborhoods as ghettos, a lot of pets were also confined within the walls - even though incoming transports carried no animals. The presence of dogs was particularly problematic, since they could attack the German soldiers during house raids. Dogs were therefore often shot. In the Lodz ghetto, however, a different solution was devised. All pet owners were forced to register their animals with the local authority under German orders. Records testify that several hundred dogs of various breeds were found in the ghetto in spite of the harsh conditions. Following the registration, all dog owners were informed that a compulsory rabies inspection by the German sanitary police was to be held on July 22, 1940 at number 8 Kośielny street. A fee of two Reichmarks was even charged per dog. All animals that were brought in for inspection that day were put to death due to an alleged "prevailing outbreak of rabies." Dogs were then strictly banned in the ghetto, and the inhabitants were ordered to bring in any strays to the Ordnungsdienst. Harboring a dog would result in collective punishment for all house tenants. In the great hunger that ensued the severe food rationing and overpopulation of the ghetto, stray animals were sometimes consumed by the starving inhabitants. At least on one occassion, the Germans intentionally fed Jewish workers cat meat, as recorded by diarist Tamara Lazerson on November 13, 1942 in Kaunas, Lithuania.

Lithuanian Jews, prewar
-Yad Vashem

Killing of pets as a mean of terror was also practiced by the Nazis. During the Kristallnacht several dogs and cats were killed by the rioters, sometimes cast out of windows in high story buildings. On January 14, 1942 all Jews in the city of Kaunas, Lithuania, were ordered to bring their pets to the small synagogue at Veliuonos Street. There the animals were shot by German soldiers and their carcasses left to rot for months by order of the Nazi authority, as Avraham Tory, a secretary of the Jewish Ältestenrat, reported in his diary.

It was only after the Final Solution was set into motion that the Nazis presented a clear policy for Jewish owned pets in Germany and the annexed countries. The decree banning Jewish ownership of pets was published on May 15, 1942. According to the new act, all citizens and foreigners obligated to wear the yellow badge, as well as their cohabitants, were to deliver their domestic animals by May 20 at special collection points for euthanizing. Alternatively, they could present a veterinary certificate confirming that their pets had been put to death. According to the announcement made in the Jewish newspapers, failure to comply would result in measures by the Gestapo. Handing over the animals to third parties or foster care was strictly forbidden.

Jewish baby with kitten,
prewar Poland - Yad Vashem

The euthanizing of the collected pets was carried out by veterinarians of the German Animal Protection Association (Tierschutzverein). A questionnaire addressing domestic animals in each household had already been filled in major cities prior to the implementation of the decree. In smaller towns, Jews were ordered to file a report with the local Jewish authority regarding the domestic animals in their possession.

Czech Jewish girl with her cat,
prewar -Yad Vashem

Unlike earlier decrees, this ordinance did not address only Jewish citizens by racial definition, but also their "Aryan" partners in intermarried households, regardless of the registered owner of the pet. In Berlin, the publishing of the decree lead to a stream of pleas from Jewish and non-Jewish pet owners alike. At the Jewish hospital on Iranischestrasse 4, where pets were collected for euthanizing, columns of intermarried Germans reportedly protested against the act. Some owners sent photographs of themselves with their cats and dogs, others spent days at various city and state offices in search of exemption, which only a few received. Diarist Victor Klemperer and his gentile wife Eva chose to euthanize Eva's beloved cat Muschel on May 19 rather than hand him over to an "even crueler fate at the hands of the Gestapo." In Prague, survivor Helen Lewis witnessed a collection point for pets, describing a heartbreaking scene where both owners and their caged dogs and cats were greatly distraught and crying. Her Jewish friend, of mixed marriage, was allowed to keep her husband’s poodle provided she wasn’t seen with it in public.

Young Jew playing with a dog,
prewar Germany -Yad Vashem

There were some who chose to ignore the order. In 1943 the widow of a German Jew from Berlin reported to Rabbi Martin Riesenburger during the funeral ceremony of her husband: “We had a parakeet. When we received the decree stating that Jews were forbidden to have house pets, my husband just couldn't part with the animal… Perhaps someone denounced him, for one day my husband received a subpoena to appear before the Gestapo… After many fearful weeks I received a postcard from the police, stating that upon payment of a fee of three Reichsmarks I could pick up the urn containing my husband.” Rabbi Riesenburger was himself forced to have his thirteen year old Spitz euthanized.

The pet decree was undoubtedly a strong hint of things to come. As was evident until its introduction, the question of Jewish owned pets could easily be solved by allowing the animals to be put into foster homes. The inclusion of intermarried households in the decree also strongly suggests that this was an intentional act of agonizing Jews and those associated with them. Many survivors, children most often, remembered this decree as one of the cruelest. Very few pets were recovered after the war. Cats in particular lingered around their former homes, even ruins, perhaps because of their less dependent nature. In Denmark, many neighbors tended Jewish pets after the mass escape to Sweden.

The Year of Jewish Beauty Queens

Erzsébet Simon was born on February 15, 1909 in Keszthely, Hungary, on the shores of Lake Balaton. Her father was the district chief medical officer, Dr. Sándor Simon [1869-08.07.1944]. He was an esteemed member of the Jewish community, son of Samuel and Rozalia née Hoffmann. Erzsébet’s mother, Janka née Hoffmann, was the daughter of Bela and Rozalia née Heidenfeld. Erzsébet, whose Hebrew name was Elisheva, was nicknamed “Böske.” She was a doelike beauty with blue eyes and blonde hair. At the age of twenty she would gain worldwide fame. 

Miss Europe, 1929

It was in early 1929 that Simon was picked out of over a hundred participants in the annual Miss Hungária competition. Winning the pageant came as a surprise to her, as she later admitted: "I don't know why I won. There are many more beautiful than I in Budapest.” Soon after, the newly crowned beauty queen was sent to Paris to represent her country in the very first annual Miss Europe beauty pageant. The competition was established by Belgian-born French journalist Maurice de Waleffe [15.07.1874-03.03.1946], who also founded the Miss France beauty pageant a decade earlier. The event was held in the great Paris Opera house on February 18, and inspired great public interest. Simon, who had from a young age dreamed of becoming an opera singer and taken extensive singing courses, had hoped participating in the pageant would help her find means to become a pupil at the Conservatoire de Paris.

Simon, 1929

Seventeen delegates from all the corners of Europe took part in the competition, which lasted four hours, at the end of which Erzsébet Simon was crowned the most beautiful woman in Europe. Reportedly, she was the only candidate not wearing any makeup. For the coming month Simon was greatly celebrated in France. She met the president and the crème de la crème of French society – politicians, celebrities and artists. She declined multiple offers from leading theaters and several marriage proposals. Returning home to Budapest on March 13, she was welcomed by a jubilant crowd at the train station. Hundreds of people had gathered to witness her return to the fatherland. A speech was given by the mayor, who congratulated Simon on behalf of the capital for her victory against the delegates of Hungary’s opponents in the Great War. Simon expressed her gratitude over the warm welcome and her joy over having glorified her country and her Hungarian people. "I'm very happy to be home again" she concluded. Someone in the crowd yelled "Miss Palestine" and "filthy Jew" at her, but was ignored. A cheerful ball was later thrown in her honor.

As the local press reported, Simon would only sign autographs once, on March 17. On this day she was publicly attacked by a large group of Hungarian nationalists, who hooted her and called her an "ugly Jewess" and "not Hungarian.” Police intervened and scattered the crowd. Later, nationalist students rioted outside her apartment, shouting slurs against Simon and Jewish people. A cinema that showcased her picture was also vandalized. After these events Simon decided to retire from public life, as advised by her father. She had already laid to rest her dream of singing and withdrew from the Miss Universe pageant, much to amazement of the world, claiming she was afraid of the long journey to America. Playing a part in her decision was perhaps also a letter she received from Bishop Christopher Edward Byrne [21.04.1867-01.04.1950] of Galveston, Texas, where the International Pageant of Pulchritude was to be held. The Roman Catholic clergyman urged Simon to abstain from participation in the competition, which he described as a “vulgar advertising stunt”, for the sake of her modesty and self-respect.

The same letter was received by another contestant, Vienese beauty Elizabeth “Lisl” Goldarbeiter. Goldarbeiter, an only child, was born in Vienna, Austria, on March 23, 1909 to Izsó [03.05.1877-12.03.1945] and Aloisia née Schimek. Having read an advertisement in the newspaper in early 1929, Goldarbeiter’s cousin applied her name to the Miss Austria beauty pageant. Goldarbeiter, who had just graduated high school, was then chosen out of 1,200 entrants and forty three finalists, thus becoming Miss Austria of 1929.

Miss Universe, 1929

Goldarbeiter’s father Izsó (Isidor), the son of Mór (Moriz) and Roza née Buchner, was a fashion trader from Szeged. Her paternal grandfather was burnt alive by rebels during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. Her father was blonde and blue eyed, and she inherited his light complexion with the darker hair of her brunette mother. She reportedly never used any cosmetics. By her own account she was a practicing Jew.

Goldarbeiter, 1929

The Bishop’s letter did apparently not go entirely unnoticed in Goldarbeiter's case as well- she was accompanied to the annual International Pageant of Pulchritude in Galveston, Texas, by no other than her 49 year old mother. It was the first year international beauty queens could participate in the pageant. Miss and Mrs. Goldarbeiter's ship, the Rochambeau, set sail from Le Havre and arrived at New York on May 11. Journalists were already awaiting the mother and daughter at the port. A few days later the jury at Galveston reached a unanimous decision, crowning Lisl Goldarbeiter the first ever Miss Universe. “I’m very happy” she told the cameras, “and I hope I succeeded in giving the proud American people a good impression about the Austrian women and Vienna.” Apart from the title, Goldarbeiter also claimed a prize of $2,000. A banquet was held in her honor at the hotel Galvez. Suddenly world famous, she was now bombarded with offers from Hollywood and other studios, to which she shyly replied “Papa must decide.”

Miss and Mrs. Goldarbeiter, 1929

Goldarbeiter toured the Europe extensively following her return. During her visit to Romania she too fell victim to antisemitism. A mass of curious onlookers had gathered at the train station in Bucharest, where the young Miss Universe was expected to meet miss Romania, Magda Dimitrescu. As Goldarbeiter stepped into the crowd she was approached by a gang of Romanian nationalists who hurled rotten eggs at her, shouting antisemitic slurs and "Magda is our weight!" Miss Romania repotedly grabbed the frightend Goldarbeiter and lead her to safety as police intervened. One policeman was seriously wounded by the crowd. The women escaped by vehicle and found shelter in the Bucharest cathedral. Goldarbeiter decided to return to Austria the very same day and cancelled their planned visit to the mountain resort of Sinaia. Dimitrescu was instead invited to visit her in her homeland. The incident made front page news in the US, where the grim reminder of the ever growing antisemetism in Europe was recieved with unfamiliar shock. Like Erzsébet Simon, Goldarbeiter eventually dismissed publicity and sought a quiet family life.

Miss Judea, 1929

Oldakówna, 1929

Latvian newspaper
caricature, 1930

The first Miss Europe and first international Miss Universe contests in 1929 sparked a sensation around the world. Beauty pageants sprung up like mushrooms after the rain all over the globe, and Jewish communities were in no way an exception. Noteworthy was the coronation of Poland's "Miss Judea", which caused a bit of controversy within and without the Jewish community. On  February 3rd the editors of Warsaw's Jewish daily newspaper Nasz Przeglad announced the upcoming beauty pageant to find Poland's most beautiful Jewess. The ideal candidate would embody, so the newspaper declared, the "characteristic features of the Polish Jewish female type". Over the course of six weeks 131 women entered the competition, of whom eleven made it into the finals. Only one blonde bright-eyed contestant was found among the finalists - miss Roma Gliksman. In an interview before the final judging at hotel Polonia started, miss Gliksman expressed her feeling of disadvantage on account of her apparent physical shortcomings. The winner of the pageant was 19 year old miss Zofja Ołdakównę, who applied under the pseudonym Judyta. She was described by the jury as bearing the perfect physical hallmarks of the "Jewish race" and noted for her "Sephardi looks." However, in a poll the newspaper ran among its readers Oldakówna was only ranked in the sixth place, with just 10,205 votes in her favor. The readers, who were instructed to choose the candidate best delineating ethnic Jewish beauty, favored miss Marja Łobzowska.

Łobzowska, 1929

In Latvia, the city of Daugavpils chose its own Miss Judea. The title went to the young Sarah Gamze.

Gamze, 1929

Meanwhile, in Palestine, another Jewish beauty queen assumed her throne. Chana Meyuchas was born in Jerusalem on March 22, 1900, the daughter of Yossef and Margalit née Pines. Her father was head of Jerusalem’s Jewish Council (ועד הקהילה בירושלים). The Meyuchas family was of Sephardi origin, and had lived in Jerusalem since the 16th century. Chana, pale and blonde haired, married Avraham Polani, one of the leading citrus growers in Palestine. In March 1929, Mrs. Meyuchas-Polani won a beauty pageant in Tel Aviv and was crowned "Queen Esther of the land of Israel" for the upcoming Purim celebration. The contest was witnessed by a crowd of four thousand.

Zmira Mani

Miss Jerusalem, 1929

Sarah Chelbi-Lazar

Miss Petah Tikva, 1929

Chana Meyuchas-Polani

Miss Palestine, 1929

Mrs. Polani's coronation was the talk of the town, overshadowed only by the passing of a German Zeppelin in the city skies amidst the holiday fete. Some even suggested sending her to the International Pageant of Pulchritude in Galveston. Over eighty thousand people attended the Purim festival in Tel-Aviv in 1929, and a large crowd gathered to witness Polani being escorted by a colorful entourage to the gaily decorated City Hall. There she was welcomed on the front balcony by mayor Meir Dizengoff [24.02.1861-23.09.1936], who gave a warm speech. “Today you are crowned the queen of Tel-Aviv, and your kingdom reigns from the Jordan river to the borders of Jaffa. This great audience bows before your beauty and welcomes you not only as the queen of Tel-Aviv, but as queen of the entire land of Israel. As is costume in Europe – you are now Miss Palestine!” The crowd chanted cheerfully "Long live the queen!" as Mrs. Polani lead the festival.

Moses and Manischewitz, 1929

Phanye Moses

Queen Esther, 1929

For the following month, Mrs. Polani was expected at a handful official events, where she was addressed as ‘Her Majesty’ and ‘The Queen’. One of her first and most anticipated duties became hosting her American counterpart, the winner of a Purim beauty pageant that was put together in New York by the editors of Yiddish daily "Der Tag" and the Jewish National Workers' Association on April 6th. Miss Phanye Raquel Moses [1907-] of Brooklyn, and her Lady-in-Waiting miss Esther Manischewitz of Cincinnati were received with great honor by Mrs. Polani, and for the coming days toured the land together. 

Berta German

Miss Israelita Mexico, 1929

But Mrs. Polani was hardly the only Jewish beauty queen in the holy land that year. In fact, every major Jewish town in Palestine had picked its own beauty queen for the Purim festivities: Zmira Mani, a Yemenite-Jew, was crowned the queen of Jerusalem, Batya Eisenstein was the queen of Haifa, Sarah Chelbi-Lazar was the queen of Petah Tikva and Dinah Avramov was the queen of Rishon LeZion. Some Hebrew scholars condemned the events, maintaining that they went against Jewish values and exposed the participants to unwanted attention. Avraham Sharon called the phenomenon a part of a piquant popular culture he opposed. The Miss Palestine beauty contest was cancelled the following year, but local pageants on Purim became a tradition.

Finally, on November 7th, one might say unfashionably late, the Jewish Union of Mexico held a beauty pageant of its own. The winner was a young emigrant from Kovno, Lithuania, who moved to Mexico a year prior to be reunited with her parents. Berta German was picked out of twenty-two contestants and crowned "Miss Israelita Mexico".

Miss Europe 1929, Erzsébet Simon, married textile wholesaler Pál Brammer after returning to Budapest. But their marriage quickly fell apart and ended in a divorce. She later married theater director Dániel Jób. Both survived the holocaust, while Simon’s elderly parents perished. She died in Budapest on October 28, 1970 and was buried next to her husband in the Jewish cemetery. 

Miss Universe 1929, Lisl Goldarbeiter, married necktie manufacturer Fritz Spielmann in 1930. He left her following the rise of the third Reich because she was Jewish. Goldarbeiter and her mother survived the holocaust, but her father perished in Mauthausen, as did much of her extended family. In 1949 she married her cousin Marci Tänzers and lead a quiet life in Budapest until her death on December 14, 1997. 

Miss Palestine 1929, Chana Polani, had two children. She died on Febraury 2, 1990 and is buried at the Yarkon cemetery near Tel Aviv. 

The fate of Miss Judea 1929, Zofja Oldakówna, remains unknown. She likely perished in the holocaust alongside most candidates of that beauty pageant.

The Man Who Barked

Fedor Adrianovich Jeftichew was born in 1868 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Like his father before him, he suffered from Hypertrichosis – an abnormal growth of hair on the body. He was brought to the United States in 1884 by famous showman Phineas Taylor Barnum [05.07.1810-07.04.1891]. Barnum hired sixteen year old Fedor as a sideshow performer and had him bark and growl at viewers as part of his act. He created a background story, according to which a hunter had discovered young Fedor and his father Adrian living in a cave in the forests of Kostmara, and renamed him Theodore Petrof. Theodore had, according to this story, gone to school for a short time, but did not posses the required faculties. In reality, Fedor spoke fluent English, Russian and German. He became known as “Jo-Jo the dog faced boy” and traveled extensively through Europe, north America and Australia. Fedor died from Pneumonia in Salonica, Greece, on January 31, 1904. The Russian clergy refused to have his body autopsied.

Fedor in his deathbed

The Starless Woman in Riga

One day in late August, 1941, a woman left her apartment at Letgales iela 17-19 in Riga. Taking the first few steps on the pavement must have demanded a great deal of courage. She walked down the long streets leading to the central market, trying her best to look unsuspicious and blend in with pedestrians. Her two small daughters were at home. She had to do it for their sake. Her husband was gone. Finally she saw the enormous pavilions at the marketplace. She stepped into the crowd. And then she was caught.

 Wreckage of Soviet vehicles at the central market in Riga, July 1941.

-National Library of Latvia

Raya Ribnik

Raya Ribnik was born in Dvinsk on September 6th, 1899, to tannery worker Ruben Kurenitz and Hanna-Liebe née Gindin. She had a younger sister named Maria. Raya’s father moved his small family to Riga in search of work. There she met a young hairdresser, Abram-David Ribnik. They married in April 1929 and had two daughters. Ronia was born in 1930 and Lea in 1933. Latvia came under Soviet occupation in 1940, when Lea was barely seven. Raya’s husband was arrested and imprisoned at the Sarkankalna Hospital in Riga. They were not alone. Many Latvians suffered terribly under the soviet reign. But fate had worse in store.

Crowds cheering the Germans

The Wehrmacht captured Riga on July 1 from the retreating Soviet army. The city suffered heavy damage from the German artillery. The bell tower at St. Peter’s church went up in flames, and the city center, the house of Blackheads and the townhouse were reduced to burning rubble. On the next day, crowds cheered and saluted as the liberating army marched into the city in all its might. Women dressed in traditional Latvian costumes greeted the soldiers with flowers and food.

 

St Peter's church aflame after being hit by German artillery.

The "Bolsheviks and Yids" were blamed for the fire.

-National Library of Latvia

Burning synagogue in Riga,
filmed by the German army

Within a few days, the synagogues of Riga’s forty thousand Jewish inhabitants were set on fire. Rumors claimed that people were burned alive inside. The newspapers were filled with reports of “Jewish terrorism,” anti-Semitic caricatures and articles. A group of Jews was selected and forced to bury the corpses of victims of the Soviet regime. As orchestrated by the Germans, the Latvian Jews were singled out as Soviet sympathizers and national enemies. Many individuals were arrested in their homes, assaulted and subsequently killed. A curfew was imposed upon the Jewish community, as well as Russian and Polish citizens. Their telephones were disconnected, and they were banned from using the mail.

On July 29 the German Feldkommandant in Riga published the following order in the newspapers:

“All Jews are hereby and henceforth required to wear the mandatory distinguishing mark (yellow colored Star of David). Offenders will be punished mercilessly.” 

Further warnings were published the next couple of days. Following the introduction of the yellow star badge, Latvian Jews were officially banned from using public transportation, entering public grounds such as libraries, sports facilities, parks, taverns, entertainment venues, schools, universities, museums, cinemas, theaters, swimming pools, etc. All able-bodied Jewish men and women were assigned to forced labor.

Crowded Jewish store
in Riga, August 1941.

Abram-David was captured by the German Security Police on August 13 and was executed. Raya was now left alone to support their two daughters and her elderly mother. Food was scarce and money was short. Jews were only allowed to buy at a few stores with an ever dwindling supply and steeping prices. A ghetto was being put together by the Germans at the Moscow District in the city. The Latvian newspaper Tēvija praised this plan, that would once and for all separate the Jews of Riga from the Aryans. Harried and helpless, Raya decided to sneak into the central market. There she could get food and perhaps sell what few valuable things she still possessed. She removed the yellow star badge from her cloths before leaving. 

A small notice in the German newspaper Deutsche Zeitung im Ostland dated August 28 states that a Jewess without a Star of David had been caught at the central market in Riga. What fate befell Raya remains unknown. It was merely noted that a “better use" had been found for the starless woman. Did she ever see her daughters again?

Frume Masarsky

A month later, on September 28, a man named Mordecai Weinberg was caught committing the same offense. He had removed his star badge and walked on the sidewalk. A week later, on October 4, the starless Frume Masarsky née Ginsburg, mother of seven, was also caught while walking on the sidewalk without a badge. Starless Hirsch Kurland was arrested the following week, and “a procedure was initiated against him”. Finally, on October 25, the Germans locked all the Jews of Riga up in a small ghetto. By that time, several thousands had already been executed by the Germans and their Latvian collaborators. The vast majority of the inhabitants of the ghetto were killed in shooting pits in the nearby forest a month later. Raya’s mother and daughters were probably among them.