Present-day Latvia is divided into four regions

Today's Latvia is divided into four regions, Kurzeme, Zemgale, Vidzeme, and Latgale. Kurzeme in the northwest and Zemgale in the southwest previously made up Courland (Kurland) gubernia (province)  under the Russian Empire. The largest towns were Libau and Mitau. Vidzeme, also known as Livonia, has Riga as the capital. It extends northeast, bordering Estonia, and was Liflandia (Livland) gubernia under the Russian Empire. It included the towns of Walk, Wenden and Wolmar. Latgale, also known as Latgalia, was part of Vitebsk gubernia under Russia. The largest towns were Rezekne and Dvinsk.

Kurzeme and Zemgale - Courland

From 1562-1795 Courland was a semi-independent duchy linked to Poland, but with a prevailing German influence. The local Jewry was closer to German Jewish than to Lithuanian Jewish.

Vidzeme/Livonia

The Livonian Order insisted that Jews should be forbidden from engaging in commerce or acting as farmers, which was interpreted by local authorities as a ban on living in the country at all. The result was that Jews were regarded as aliens, and nobles exploited the situation by levying various residence restrictions, license fees, etc. for hundreds of years under the rule of Poland (1561), Sweden (1621) and Russia (1710). There was a rather modern Jewish community from 1840.

Latgale/Latgalia

Latgalia had been part of Poland since 1562, and came under Russian rule in 1772 after the  first Partition of Poland. Latgalia was included in the Pale of Settlement that was established in 1791. Latgalia was home to Yiddish speaking Jewish communities (the Jewish intelligentsia spoke Russian) identical to those in Lithuania-Byelorussia.

JEWS IN COURLAND

(Zemgale and Kurzeme in Modern Latvia. Courland was Kurland in German and Kurlandia in Russian)

This is the most ancient Jewish community in Latvia.  Courland was never part of the Pale of Settlement. From an early stage it consisted of two separate political entities.

The Province of Piltene (Pilten) included the districts of Grobin and Hasenpoth and part of Windau district. It is generally accepted  that the first Jews arrived in Piltene around 1571 under the protection of Duke Magnuss, who obtained Piltene as a gift from his brother, the King of Denmark, to whom Pilten province was sold in 1559 along with the districts of Grobini (Grobin), Hasenpoth (now Aizpute), and part of Windau (now Ventspils) district. When the Piltene district was sold to the Polish king Stefan Batory in 1685, Polish legislation was extended to the Jews of the Piltene region and its neighborhood. The outcome was that while Courland was an independent Duchy under protection of Poland, Piltene was an enclave under the direct rule of the King of Poland. Even before selling to Denmark, the Bishop of Pilten allowed wealthy Jews to settle and contribute to the region’s development. Since Pilten lies near the sea, Jewish merchants probably settled there from Prussia. Politically, Piltene was ruled directly by Poland while Courland Duchy, with its capital in Mitau, was ruled by local nobility. The reason for the special interest in Piltene province was that all-season seaports such as Libau (now Liepaja) and Windau, were of utmost trade importance, even competing with Riga, whose port did not operate in winter. In Pilten there were no taxes imposed on Jews until 1717 (a charge of two talers). Then there were decrees of expulsion between 1727 and 1738 which were ineffective (as distinct from 1492, Spain). In 1708 the first synagogue was permitted to be built in Aizpute (Hasenpoth).

Jews became permanent inhabitants of Courland in the 18th century. Especially favorable was the ruling of Duke Ernst Johann Biron (1737-1747, then 1762-1769, the favorite of Russian Empress Anna Ivanovna), who even nominated a Jew, Louis Lipmann, to be his chief financial advisor. In the 18th century many skilled Jewish workers and artisans (construction workers, roof-makers, inlay workers, tailors) arrived in Courland from Germany, as well as a number of medical doctors, the latter forming a core of Jewish intelligentsia, actively confirming and bearing the ideas of Jewish Enlightenment (Haskala). One of the founders of the Haskala movement in Courland was the medical doctor and philosopher Marcus Hertz (1743 - 1803). The German way of life dominated in Courland, having a great impact on the Jews. It is important to stress that mostly German (and not Yiddish) language was the spoken language of the Courland Jewish community and it continued until World War II.

Courland became part of Russia in 1795. The Russian Emperor Paul I, under the pressure of Haskala Jews, promulgated a law in 1799 whereby Jews in Courland obtained legal status as permanent inhabitants, while subject to double taxation. This allowed the possibility of taking part in local government elections and stimulated integration of Jews into German society in Courland gubernia. In 1852, there were 23,743 Jews in Courland gubernia, and 4,189 in Jelgava (Mitau), comprising 22% of the inhabitants. In 1780, the first Jewish school with three teachers was established in Mitau.

Courland Jews in the 19th century  

Laws for Jews were passed in 1799, 1804, 1835. In 1835 a new legal code was published allowing permanent residence to the Jews living there with their families and registered locally according to the last census of the population. The same rules were applied to the Jews in the city of Riga and the town of Shlok.

Jews paid 500 rubles per person to avoid conscription into Russian army.

In 1844 Kehillot were officially abolished and finally in 1893, Jews moved to Courland and Livonia (Riga) from the difficulties in the Pale. More than 40% were involved in artisan/industrial professions, while 35% were involved in trade. The port of Libau had a special role in trade. By World War I, about 25% of all industrial enterprises in Libau belonged to Jews. 

Culture/Education

From 1850 to 1855, secular Jewish schools were supported by the state in Libau, Mitau, Goldingen, and Tukums, and also religious schools (talmud torahs).  In 1897, there were seven state schools for boys, 22 private and 142 religious. In 1853 there was  a book by the first Jewish historian, Reuven Wunderbahr. By the end of the 19th century German language was prevalent, but there was also literature in Yiddish and Hebrew. There were two great rabbis in Bauska (Boisk),  Mordehai Eliasberg and Rav Kook.

JEWS IN LATGALIA

(Latvian: Latgale, German: Lettgallen, Russian: Latgalia)

A quite contrasting Jewry settled and developed in Latgalia, the southwestern part of the country. Latgalian Jews were very similar to the Jews from the Lithuanian-Byelorussian region, in the Lithuanian and Polish kingdoms. After the liquidation of the Livonian Order (1561), Poland overtook the province and governed it under the name Inflantia until 1772. No exact data is available on the first Jews, who likely arrived from Poland in the early 17th century after pogroms in Vilna, Sandomir, Brest, etc. between 1605-39. A considerable number of Jews arrived in Latgalia in the mid 17th century escaping from the pogroms and massacres of Bogdan Chmelnitsky and Cossack Raids (1648-1653) in the Ukraine and Byelorussia. These Jews were Yiddish-speaking and Orthodox, living in a self-governing community (kahal). The Census of 1766 recorded 2, 996 Jews in the region (not including children). Many of these Jews were peddlers.

In 1772, after the First Partition of Poland, the Latgalian province of about. 5,000 Jews belonged to Russia. In 1784 about 3,700 Jews lived in Latgalia. The three Latgalian districts of Ludza (Lutsin), Rezekne (Rezhitsa) and Daugavpils (Dvinsk, Dinaburg) were, after 1802, part of Vitebsk province (gubernia), within the Pale of Settlement. Jews were expelled from rural places to towns and subject to double taxation.  From 1804 Jews were allowed to live only in cities and small towns (shtetlach). As distinct from Courland and Riga, the economy of Latgalia was poor, being  located in the east, far from the Baltic Sea and close to Russia. In spite of poverty they maintained their traditional way of life and had many children,  increasing the growth of the Jewish population, which was up to 11,000 in Latgalia in 1847. Under Czar Nicholas I (1825-1856) there was obligatory conscription into the Russian army, followed by the cantonist tragedy, especially when the special powers  of Recruit Kidnappers were established.