Jānis Lipke

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Lipke with his wife on a Latvian special stamp (2011)

Žanis (actually Jānis) Lipke (born February 1, 1900 in Jelgava , † May 14, 1987 in Riga ) was a Latvian resistance fighter during the Second World War .

He initially worked as a showman in the port of Riga. After witnessing discrimination against Latvian Jews by the National Socialists in July 1941 , he decided to work as a warehouse worker for the Air Force at the time in order to smuggle Jews out of the Riga ghetto and hide them under the guise of this function . In this way he saved about 56 Jews from murder by the Nazis until the Red Army marched in in October 1944. In addition to his wife Johanna and his two sons, around 25 helpers were involved in Lipke's rescue operation.

In 1977, the State of Israel recognized Lipke as Righteous Among the Nations . When he died in 1987, his funeral was organized by the Riga's Jewish community. A street in Riga is named after him ( Žaņa Lipkes iela in the Moscow suburb).

On July 4, 2007, the Latvian Holocaust Remembrance Day, a memorial for the 270 people who hid around 400 Latvian Jews from the National Socialists was unveiled next to the memorial of the Great Choral Synagogue on Gogoļa iela . The outstanding role of Žani Lipke is underlined by his portrait, which is integrated into the monument.

In 2013, a memorial was opened in the immediate vicinity of the Lipke's former home on the Daugava Island Ķīpsala (Mazais Balasta dambis 9), the architecture of which is reminiscent of an ark. In addition to the presentation of a permanent exhibition, temporary exhibitions, discussion groups, readings and theater performances are held here.

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Latvia , the feature film Tēvs Nakts (Father's Night, director: Dāvis Sīmanis ) was released in Latvian cinemas in 2018 , which describes the beginning of the rescue measures for Jews by Žanis Lipke and his family.

Web links

  • www.lipke.lv Latvian and English language website of the Žanis Lipke Memorial Association (Biedrība “Žaņa Lipkes memoriāls”)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jānis Lipke on the website of Yad Vashem (English)
  2. ↑ Žanis Lipke Memorial on the tourism portal liveriga.com, accessed on April 16, 2018.
  3. ↑ Website for the feature film Tēvs Nakts , accessed on October 14, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Lipke, Jānis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lipke, Žanis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Latvian resistance fighter in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH February 1, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Jelgava
DATE OF DEATH May 14, 1987
Place of death Riga