The Burning of the Jews of Jelgava, 1941

Jelgava, Latvia
July 1941

The Germans occupied the town of Jelgava at the end of June, 1941. In the following month they began to wipe out the town's Jewish community. At one point, one of the synagogues was burned to the ground with Jews inside:
"Many of them were forced into the synagogue and burned alive in it." (Churban Lettland by Max Kaufmann, 111) 
As the synagogue burned, the rabbi refused to leave the building. Other Jewish townsmen were forced to stand by outside and witness the it burn.
Abram Leiser was one of those killed. He was the butcher and a friend of the rabbi. (Latvian Jews)

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