Small Riga Ghetto

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others, such as Dr. Poljak, Jakob Brahms, the industrialist Rafael Feldhuhn
and others, who happened to be abroad at the time, did not return to Latvia.
The establishment of Soviet power in Latvia then changed the situation of
the Jews in general. The Jewish population of Riga increased to more than
50,000 as Jews moved in from the provinces. The larger merchants in the
provinces did not wait for their businesses to be nationalized, but moved to the
large cities before the Soviets could notice them. Likewise, the Jewish intelligentsia
of the provinces, whose professional skills were no longer wanted,
found work in the large cities. On 14 June 1941 the Soviets began a large-scale
resettlement of the bourgeoisie to the Russian interior. This involved about
3,500 Jews in Riga and about 5,000 in Latvia as a whole, which amounted to
5% of the entire Jewish population. The list of resettled individuals reveals that
many very wealthy people, for instance Misroch Sr. and Schmuljan Sr., were
able to stay, whereas minor citizens such as craftsmen who were satisfied with
the Soviets, or even people who were devoted to the Soviets and held responsible
positions, were resettled. Only 1.25% of the entire Latvian population
was affected. It is worth noting that the Latvians spread rumors to the effect
that the resettlement lists had been drawn up by the Jews, which was absolutely
untrue, since a far larger percentage of the Jews than of the Latvians
was affected. The false accusations were only a pretext to retaliate against the
Jewish population.
With the introduction of the Soviet system in Latvia, the economic situation
of the Jews changed as well. For a short time the wealthy individuals such as
factory owners still had the possibility of transferring their fortunes to foreign
countries and selling their movable property. Their real estate, however, was
nationalized. The small and medium-sized merchants were able to hold on to
their businesses and workshops until the outbreak of the war. During these
years it was possible for them to earn a great deal of money. But already people
were no longer interested in money in itself; instead, they invested it in
valuables and other material assets. During this period the Jews, like others,
had more property than ever before. Although the number of Jews in Latvia at
that time was only about 94,000 – that is, 5,500 fewer than before – the Jewish
community nonetheless entered World War II from a very strong economic
position.