Preili Holocaust Memorial Memorial site
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Located in the Preiļi Jewish Cemetery on Cēsu Street.
The architect of the memorial is Sergejs Rižs. It was opened on August 8, 2004. The memorial was created on the initiative and with personal funds of the former Preiļi resident, engineer and public figure David Zilbermanis (USA). In 2015, another monument was added to the memorial – an arch, installed at the entrance to the cemetery in the form of a symbolic gate.
The memorial is located on the edge of the Preiļi Jewish cemetery, next to the place where, in the summer of 1941, after the arrival of Nazi German troops with the involvement of local collaborators, about 800 Jews from Preiļi and the surrounding area were killed. As evidence of the events of this time, there is the diary of the Preiļi Jewish girl Šeina Grama (1926-1941), which she began writing on June 22 – the day the war between the USSR and Germany began – until August 8. Šeina, together with her family and other surviving Preiļi Jews, was killed next to the Jewish cemetery on August 9. Thanks to the help of Vladislavs Vuškāns (1887-1953), a resident of Preiļi, 6 Jews from Preiļi managed to survive the German occupation in hiding. The stones of the monument are engraved with entries from Sheina Gram's diary, as well as words of gratitude to the Jewish rescuer Vladislavs Vuškāns. At the foot of the monument is an urn with the identified names of 750 Jews killed here.
Used sources and references:
Melers M. History of the Latvian Jewish Community and Holocaust Memorial Sites. Riga: Museum “Jews in Latvia”, 2013.
Ročko J. It happened in Preiļi.// Problems of Holocaust research in Latvia (Articles of the Latvian Historians' Commission, volume 23). Riga: Latvian Institute of History Publishing House, 2008.
Bogojavļenska S. Šeina Grama's diary (Preiļi, July–August 1941) — a historical and universal testimony of the era.// Problems of Holocaust research in Latvia (Articles of the Latvian Historians' Commission, volume 2). Riga: Latvian Institute of History Publishing House, 2001.
I would like to become something... Diaries of Latvian Jewish girls. 1934-1941. Riga: Jumava Publishing House, 2021.
Vilcāne I. The Righteous Among the Nations from Preili – Vladislavs Vuškāns https://preili.lv/209061/taisnigais-starp-tautam-no-preiliem-vladislavs-vuskans/
Educational programs
The educational program of the Museum of History and Applied Arts of Preiļi "Thinking about the Holocaust means thinking about yourself"
The lesson takes place in two parts. In the 1st lesson of the program, students visit the exhibition "Museum stories for Latvia" of the Museum of History and Applied Art of Preiļi and learn about the history and culture of the Jewish community of Preiļi. By getting acquainted with the diary of Sheina Gram, a Jewish girl from Preili, which she started writing on the day Nazi Germany invaded the USSR, the students form an emotional connection with the tragic reality of the Holocaust in Preili in the summer of 1941. Lesson 2 is a field trip to the Preilii Holocaust Memorial, during which students learn about the Holocaust tragedy, Jewish saviors, and preserving the memory of the victims in Preilii today. The goals of the program are to strengthen the understanding of the events of the Second World War and the Holocaust in Latvia, using local history, as well as to promote the development of a tolerant and compassionate personality. Topics related to the subject of history are discussed in the lessons, such as the events of World War II in Latvia, the Holocaust, Nazism, collaborationism.
The program is available in the "School bags" offer.
