Metadata: Jewish People's House Society
Collection
- Country:
- Latvia
- Holding institution:
- Latvian State Historical Archives
- Holding institution (official language):
- Latvijas Valsts vēstures arhīvs
- Postal address:
- 16 Slokas Street, Rīga, 1048
- Phone number:
- +371 20 017 505
- Reference number:
- 5657
- Title:
- Jewish People's House Society
- Title (official language):
- Jewish People's House Society
- Creator/accumulator:
- Jewish People's House Society
- Date(s):
- 1934/1936
- Language:
- Latvian
- Extent:
- 3 files
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection contains documents of the Jewish People's House Society. It includes minutes of meetings of the liquidation commission; applications for payment of debts and correspondence with various organisations about donating money to the society; correspondence with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Latvia on the liquidation of the society and the transfer of inventory.
The Jewish People's House Society was registered on 4 October 1932 and was located at 3 Jezusbaznicas Street (formerly Spaso-Tserkovnaya 3) in Riga. This building, together with furniture and other implements, was rented by the Society in the fall of 1932 from its owners Nison and Boruch Garfunkel. The press reported on events held at the Jewish People's House: for example, on 18 March 1934, the Jewish Workers' Theatre presented for the 6th time the highly successful play "Wandering Stars" by Sholem Aleichem, staged by Mark Razumny. In 1933 the "Friend of Children" Jewish Society distributed hot meals to children from needy families. On 3 December 1933, a concert by R. Mikulitskaya and L. Fischer-Ferry took place. The program included Russian, and Jewish music, Italian arias, and songs, L. Ratner was at the piano.
After the coup d'état of Karlis Ulmanis on 15 May 1934, which ended democracy in Latvia, the Jewish People's House Society, like other left-wing Jewish institutions (including Yiddish organisations and organisations associated with the Bund), was closed. On May 18, under the leadership of a representative of the Riga Prefecture, a very detailed listing of the inventory in the rented building of the now former Jewish People's House Society was compiled (in addition to furniture. The list includes, for example, a small ash sled, a broken jar, a robe, a floor brush, etc.). On 31 August 1934, the first meeting of the Latvian officials of the Society's liquidation commission took place, which clarified the issues of the Society's debts, inventory, etc. For example, the minutes of the meeting of the commission dated 3 October 1934 state that the former chairman of the Society, Mayer Kacherginsky, has a radio apparatus that belonged to the liquidated Society. It was decided to ask Kacherginsky to immediately hand over the radio to the commission. Kacherginsky replied that he had given the radio for repair to Leibovitz's firm, a receipt for payment for the repair is attached. According to the minutes of the meeting of the commission dated 5 December 1934, the meeting was attended by the former secretary of the liquidated Society E. Niselson, who said that the members of the Jewish People's House Society were also members of the following organisations: "Peretz Club" Society, "Bund" Social Democratic Party, Society of Jewish Parents in Latvia, "Tsukunft" Jewish Student Society, the Jewish Central Society of Teachers and others. The commission also noted that the 10th City Library, the Society of Jewish Parents in Latvia, "Friend of Children" Jewish Society, the 3rd Jewish Branch of "Working Youth" Society and the "Pioneers of the Workers" Society were the sub-tenants of the premises of the Jewish People's House Society.
- Archival history:
- After World War II materials from the interwar period, along with earlier materials, were part of the Central State Archive of the Latvian SSR. In 1962 it was decided to reorganise the archive and it was renamed the Central State Historical Archives of the Latvian SSR. The materials predating the period of Soviet rule were deposited in this archive, predecessor of the current State Historical Archive.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- A Jewish cultural society with a similar name "People's House" (Volksheim) also operated in Latvia. One of the chairmen and active participants of this society was Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Khodakov, a member of the Agudat Yisrael Party that, thanks to its right-wing views, enjoyed the confidence of the Ulmanis regime. As a result, the Volksheim society was closed only in 1940.
- Access points: locations:
- Riga
- Subject terms:
- Aid and relief
- Aid and relief--Philanthropy and charity
- Music
- Theatre
- Yerusha Network member:
- Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People
- Author of the description:
- Jana Makarova
