Historic Jewish communities, roots travel, palaces and beach resorts in western Latvia

this podcast was recorded prior to the events of October the 7th [Music] 2023 good morning David a jolly good morning to you Mark we're in the back of a van well we're in the middle if you're going to be accurate about well we're not in the front seat if I'm going to be pedantic about it we've not been arrested no we're not being carried away well we get carried away regularly if you listen to our podcast a short while ago you'll have heard that we visited the absolutely gorgeous fascinating compact capital of lvia Ria and this podcast for the next 3 hours will be called motorways of lva one of the interesting things about once you get out of major cities and this is true all over the world as you get down to a lot of roads where there's just one L in each Direction and obviously three vehicles in front of us there's a large white truck and we will be spending a considerable amount of time hoping that that truck turns left or right as we head straight out to the lvan coast so I was having a very leisurely morning woke up nice and late had a beautiful breakfast at the Radison blue re Den if I've pronounced that correctly a lovely hotel with a little room for Shabbat as well they have a hidden room for people who are Jewish and are Kosher observant and Shabbat observant in the corner behind reception there's boxes of I think matah there are some snacks various types of things that you would find in maybe a deli in a smaller town where there are not that many Jewish people and if you're Shabbat or Sabbath observant there is a hot plate in there and I think I saw an N or a Shabbat Kettle yes as they are called very nice and very surprising to what's a Grecian earn about 50 drar a week Euros now so there you go so why are we in the back of the van David please forgive me for any mispronunciations of the lvan language during the course of this podcast we're heading out to the coastal Port of leaya which for many Jewish people listening to this and not just Jewish people but anybody who headed from Europe over the period of say from the 1870s up until the uh second world war May well have left Europe from the port of leaya and so if you look back perhaps if you're listening to this in America uh documentation from your grandparents from your great-grandparents you may well find that their port of departure was indeed this city on the coast of leire one of the reasons that we're headed there is me being a little bit self-indulgent that this this is where my family lived my mother's mother's family my great-grandfather my great grandmother and the same way that we went to Conan a few episodes ago to visit where Mark's grandmother came from so we're doing the same here and hopefully you will enjoy and find interesting Roots travel here in lva to join us on this journey which will also take in palaces coastal towns and a whole lot more that this beautiful and small country has to offer did you bring your coat not a coat why have you found out it's going to rain no but Lea p is also known as the city where wind is born it's almost like a twin city with Chicago yes did you bring your coat I've got a warm thing good I don't want you catching a chill bab oh darling right so time for quiz question so it's a two-part quiz question and it's a fashion question because David and I are obviously icons of fashion I'm a fashionista I don't even know what it means but I am one dressed in those shorts I'm not so sure the first part of the question is who invented jeans the second part of the question is which Italian city is linked with the invention of genes the answers at the end of the Pod this is the Jerusalem Post podcast travel Edition find us on Facebook Instagram and Twitter at Mark davidp or mail us at Mark davidp pod atgmailcom hello my name is Elana Ivanova zsum I'm the director of the leapa Jewish Heritage Foundation we are doing research of Jewish Heritage of leapa of Kurland and now we are in the museum of the lead Jewish Community we see some stands that are dedicated to the very start of the Jewish community in leop tell us a little bit about the history of the Jews of leopi the first Jews appeared there accidentally starting already with the 15th century by crossing the area buying Amber selling Amber we would say that the start of the Jewish Community is 1799 when kurand becomes the kurand guer of Russian Empire the kand governor in 1799 the Russian saav gives the Jews the rights to to buy land build synagogues prayer houses and own premises and so on and we considered the founding of the Jewish Community 1799 as with many other places it was trade that brought people here how does the community develop presumably in those days it was a few men not women so did they bring with them their wives they couldn't find local Jewish women because there weren't any here how did the community grow in those early days usually there was somebody who came over to check the situation the land the conditions the possibilities to start business develop business and then they usually brought families and then member of the family brought his brother with his family and so one family brought another and you know the Jewish families usually were very big so there is another question where did they come from we have investigated we know that a lot of them came from Lithuania but not less came over from Prussia so that is why the German language became one of the main languages in communication how big did the Jewish community of leopay get and how influential was it in the overall City let's say before World War I it made 13% of total inhabitants it was quite big I think there were about 13,000 of course 25 5% of business was in the hands of Jews what about Jewish life what existed here synagogues kosha butchers what was the life like for the Jews it was a real real Jewish life without any special headquarters for Jews it was everything was mixed so not far from the community premises where we are today so there Wasim hospital just opposite the street there was a Orthodox Church to my mind they was a really real in the 20s and 30s of the 20th century it was a sample of well too living I mean in the sense of respect between people of different nations of different minorities and you said at the peak there were 11 synagogues here yeah 11 synagogues and prayer houses the horal the main synagogue was close to the marketplace the horal synagogue invited prominent C to sing non-jews often attended the concert they loved it very much given the German influence here and given that leopay was outside of the pale how religious was leopay as a city or was it quite liberal it was quite liberal I would say although there was a part of Jews who were very religious but the majority was Modern n [Music] [Applause] [Music] tell us about your early memories of leaya tell us about your childhood here I was born in 1946 it was already occupied by Soviet Union I grew up with the stories of my mom about the preol I imagined myself a very beautiful city very kind and peaceful life later when I came came across with the reminiscences of survivors it gave me a proof to believe that this what my mom told me was true your parents were survivors of the Holocaust here a lot of survivors don't talk about their experience do you remember your parents telling you much about the wartime here no they didn't talk about at all father never spoke about the Holocaust when I grew up already being a student and I already is a mother and a grandmother so my mom from time to time shared reminiscences about this terrible times so now it's time for you to tell your parents story when the Nazis entered the city on the 29th of June 1941 there were 5 and a half thousand Jews blocked surrounded by the Nazis so there was no way out the Jews have been attacked by the local collaborators and the first extermination of Jew started already in July Robert was a friend of my father before World War I he worked as a janitor and he was a sportsman and he was a a very nice real laian guy strong handsome my father learned from one of his classmates that the ghetto will be liquidated for me it was very important to put the puzzle together why did my father and my mom run away from ghetto leaving his mother his mother-in-law his beloved niece from France and other relatives and running away in the hiding the shelter to Robert and Yanna SED and now I understand that for him it was most important not to be killed like a wordless animal [Music] my name is Igor glazunov my real Jewish name is Igor bosski I was born in 1941 in the women prison in liaa the first days of bombing of leapa it was a hell and there were very big difficulties for civilians to escape from the city so na came up to the people who were at the railway station uh out of the column he the Nazi officer selected Jews the whole family of iger's father and since then they never met them again so on four Fourth of July they were killed in park rhes the first shootings took place there and thanks to a special research group that works with uh victims of well World War II it cleared out that they were found buried killed in Ryan's Sparks and then rear at the Jewish cemetery so on the same day it's the 29th of June his mom is Russian his grandmother maternal grandmother they all were taken to the women prison by the Nazi officers thanks to the point that his mother was medic person so thanks to it they survived although in all the cameras there were about 20 25 people like carrying in a barrel on the 26 of July 1941 he was born in the women prison two days after his birth without any commments his mother and maternal grandmother received an iice permission from the Nazi authorities to stay in town and live there uh since they didn't know Lan they didn't speak the language so his grandmother decided that they have to leave the city for the for a Countryside because she was from a Countryside herself and she knew how to live in a Countryside and the grandmother decided that there they could survive during war times so they went out to to a farm and thanks to white German Fogel who had his farm they lived his farm until [Music] 1945 we've heard about leaya before the war we've heard these tragic sto is that also have a happy ending there's a community there's a community center tell me about the life today for the Jewish Community since the Revival of the Jewish community in 1999 we tried the beginning to follow the tradition of prevoo because the survivors were alive they were with us they shared their reminiscences but of course uh we follow all Jewish holidays and we celebrate them and we organize different events you can see here on our stand the photographs people are happy and there is a special attention to the needy people and thanks to our partner the foundation uniting they get a very good support in their daily life so the Jewish Community itself tries to premot different activities and since uh last year we started a new project in our foundation it is my Jewish roots Revival this is meant for younger Generations those who are let's say 16 and up to 40 those who had no Jewish traditional knowledge about their Jewish roots we help them to find their Jewish roots we help them to prove that they have Jewish roots we find documents then we help them with investigation and believe me even for younger people those who are 19 20 it's opening another world that they ever didn't know and then when they tried to imagine what could happen to this Jewish Community if there would not be a holocaust no World War how flourishing how interesting how Vivid would be the life of not only Jews of Le but other minorities who were quite a lot there German polish Lithuanian and this is of great importance for the F to know to learn to respect and like a daughter of survivors there is no sense to blame someone and to find those who are guilty in it but to find out to protect the future Community future Generations that from any hatred that may cause something similar if you're somebody who's interested in finding out about your roots in Le like David is or if your family went through the port of laaya on their way to their journey to America or the UK or anywhere else how do they get in contact with the community to find out about laaya the research is done by Le Jewish Heritage Foundation they can just visit our website leay Jewish heritage. LV tell us about modern leaya modern leaya is a modern city at the same time who has preserved its past and I would say it's improving and it becomes more and more attractive and more and more beautiful leaya before World War I was something similar a small Switzerland city today you will see not so many as we wanted but still modern buildings with preserving the past like yugan style that is mixed mixed with using more material modern material and modern style but it's very well integrated in the old traditions of the city development the wonderful Beach wonderful Park I adore the city when I made sightseeing my intention always was I want to show you the city so that you fall in love with the city and you want to come back I'm not going to tell you the chronology of it what was look to the left look to the P right side I'm going to tell the life stories who lived in this house where did they go they went to the market what did they buy what did they do at the market they tested pickled they tested Co slow smoked meat or whatever so this was the life today we are testing strawberries the best strawberries in the world I want to say thank you to the three of you we haven't heard from your sister Elena but thank you thank you igore Elana thank you and I want to say a very special thank you to the 26 righteous Gentiles from the Le region one of the highest percentages of righteous Gentiles recognized anywhere in Europe during the Holocaust period because without them we wouldn't be able to have this conversation with you today thank you [Music] [Applause] our last stop in leaya is sha the site where the community of leaya was essentially wiped out 5,000 members of the Jewish Community Soviets lvans Roma and even people with mental illnesses were all shot by the Germans and by the local paramilitary Force here for David this spot will have an ex extra special meaning members of his family from leaya will have been bought here I think some of them may have even been filmed here yeah there's a unique piece of film it's one of if not the only piece of film where you see Jews having been lined up uh made to undress you actually see the execution the shooting taking place it's a piece of film that that yadvashem uh has it was filmed actually by um I believe a German officer at the time in December of 1941 in the space of two maybe 3 days 2,700 people were shot on the sand dunes where Mark and I are standing now and among them the levental brand and leow Families my second third cousins and their relatives and their names are plain for everybody to see if you go to the Jewish Community Center in Lea to our right we have the sea tranquil and beautiful yet no more than 50 m from the sea a place where pure evil reigned but as we learned in our previous podcast from Ria from the director of the ghetto and Holocaust Museum in Ria a very powerful message he said yes of course we have to remember the 6 million and in my case the family members of mine that perished here and Mark has told you before about the stories of his his family in previous podcasts but the most important thing is to remember that we must Celebrate life that we must learn in his words tolerance and as we heard from Elana today her preferred word is respect you're listening to the Jerusalem Post podcast travel Edition find us on Facebook Instagram and Twitter at Mark davidp or mailers at Mark davidp pod atgmailcom hello welcome to rala Palace my name is OLS and I'm the guide in the museum and this Palace was built like summer residence for Duke of kand in 1736 so this Palace represents the Barack style who was the Duke of corand the Duke of kland was Ernest Johan Fon Buran one of the Baltic Germans as a mostly nobility in this region with Germans tell us a little bit about what his responsibilities were the area that he covered was he basically a king of corand no he was just a Duke of kand because this duy of kand was under polish Lithuanian common Wells so basically the main person in kland was the Polish King he was just like a almost employee of King the house is in magnificent Condition it's very large very Grand obviously there's been quite a turbulent history in lva in the last 100 plus years how has the house remained so beautiful the one of the reasons is that the rala palace is located in the middle of nowhere there's nothing around this Palace like a big cities or big objects you know that's why it's surv and this Palace is unique for all baltics because it's totally authentic 18th century represents the Baro and Roco Styles what's the connection between the Duke this Palace and Russia Duke of kland Ernest Johan the first owner of this Palace was a favorite of Russian Empress Anna yanova he was actually an official ruler of Russian Empire for 10 years since 1730 till 1740 are we seeing in this Palace similar Styles maybe to things that we might see if we were able to in peaceful times in St Petersburg in St Petersburg Yes actually because the architect was Franchesco relli and that was the same architect who designed those famous ruler residencies in Russia like Winter Palace peterhof Katherine's Palace there are so many stunning rooms in here do you have a favorite room and why um oh gosh my favorite room maybe it's the audience cabinet that the pink audience cabinet with neoc classical style Furnitures because I just love the color and the neoc classical style Mark and I quite some years ago were in Kiev in Ukraine and we went to a museum of toilets and we saw some very interesting small toilets tell us a little bit about the facilities that you have here there's a different of course we have a very special bathrooms for the Duke he owns three bathrooms one of them are very well equipped with a SE BS C chair B there was even a heat for the rooms but during parties for example in the White Hall there was a powder rooms and in 18th century they can use those powder rooms as the toilets if somebody during the party need to go to the toilet they just call for his chambermaid she brings a chamber pot and um they can make this business in the powder rooms and then they may just take it away where are the kand family today and what happened to the kand why are they no longer here and what happened in that period in between the DU of Kurland existed till the end of the 18th century when last Duke Peter Baron in 1795 abdicated the throne and one of the reasons was that he had four daughters and no Sons then the that of kand becames a part of Russia and Russian nobility owns the palace 1920 in 1920 the state took over this building and then this building was used in very different ways for example her was elementary school for local kids apartments for the teachers of this school after World War II when this was the part of of Soviet Union there was even a grain storage in one part of the building and basketball yeah well Basketball Hall yes that was the uh during the school in the marble Hall which was originally used like a hall for family meals and one of the grandest staff rooms for teachers you will ever see so what about today it's a home that people visit it's an art gallery it's a concert hall what are you trying to do with this place I would like to say that it's everything you know it's a museum of course first of all there's lots of different exhibitions there's U Gardens of course one of the most beautiful gardens in baltics and one and actually the biggest rose gardens and all baltics of course Museum organize different concerts every year the place for culture of society how can people find out more about the museum and possibly book a visit here and the homepage r.net Olaf thank you very much indeed thank you for your visit I hope you enjoy your time rala thank you all we we've left our hotel we've driven maybe 2 or 3 kilometers from the hotel and we've come to the forest it's very quiet other than bird song but this area we've arrived at has a story behind it my name is petrice I'm a GU of r a teacher as well and we are in rumola in place where 25,000 Jews of Ria perished in 1941 and 45 45 this is beautiful place and uh I always wonder how people do most incredible and crazy things in beautiful places this is what they did this is what Naes did at the end of the war in brief tell us the story it happens so that um the first of all Nazis gathered all the Jews of Ria in ghetto separating those that were able to work uh they were working as slaves and nationalized properties and then realizing that there is nothing to do with others decision was made just to kill them organizers of this crime were the same that did the Babar crime in Kev for instance fre hakel and they organized it in the very same way as well so people were told to walk they walked several kilometers thinking believing they walk to the train station because one of the biggest cargo train stations is about this direction and probably uh they were guessing their destination but they didn't meet it when they realized it's their last walk it was too late uh there was police uh guarding and there was no escape to the left or right so they were commanded to uh drop their belongings in piles uh to dress down and what I cannot really understand understand why didn't they escape uh during the way or why didn't they resist because imagine 25,000 people and they were guarded by hundreds of policemen and um approaching the pit they had to dress down and laid down on um people that were just killed or maybe deadly wounded and they had to wait for for their own bullet this is just blowing my mind as we were coming here you were telling us that during the Soviet era in lvia the communist government didn't really want to recognize the site didn't really want to put memorials here we're here in 2023 it's still quite sparse but there are now a number of memorial stones and monuments here can you tell us a little bit about them and their history in ltia we in fact mostly lived in a fragile balance all the different religions and ethnic and National background people everybody had its own place uh when Soviets occupied ltia they also arested and killed Jews because um starting with Stalin himself they were pretty anti-semitic themselves and for this reason after the war they didn't recognize Holocaust as a separate crime uh Rus Jewish Community tried to place memorial stones in these Massacre places several times but they were even persecuted for this reason uh Stones were removed until under kusov things changed gradually and they could at least uh talk about crimes against Soviet people not crimes against Jews not Holocaust as a special and separate crime of course everything changed with the restoration of our independence early '90s and government of lva especially under presidency of m v fber did everything to put back this story into our history books into people's minds to understand also our participation of latians themselves in this crime and to never repeat it again so for this proper monuments were built all over the country as we were walking around here you mentioned that you used to bring groups of school children age maybe 10 to 12 how do you explain this place to children so young who have no personal connection yes it's uh never easy but um I tried to explain them on example I just said imagine yourself you live good life you have parents grandparents you have what you have and suddenly some power comes and uh takes you away everything your freedoms your parents and finally your life and so uh sometimes when coming to with children here and telling the story I asked our driver to stop a distance before to make our kids walking this distance walking quietly thinking and trying to imagine how it is that you walk not knowing where and finally it appears to be the last walk in your life [Music] lvia fact file Ria has an International Airport which acts as a hub for state-owned airline air Baltic air Baltic fly direct to Tel Aviv and also fly to most European cities Istanbul and Dubai Turkish Airlines Lanza and transavia fly direct to Ria allowing for good connections to the US the 22 bus will take you from the airport to the city center for just €2 One Way Ria has three methods of public transportation tram trolley bus and bus a 3-day ticket for all three costs around €8 Latvia has car share schemes that allow you to obtain a car using an app and leaving the car at your destination details on the Latvia travel website we stayed in the Radison blue redena which contains a room for Shabbat observe and guests the elizabeta hotel is also Shabbat friendly other recomend commended riao hotels include the Radison Oldtown Radison blue Dal Gava and the Parkins Barona and valara the five-star prominade hotel in leaya with its Piano Restaurant is a good choice for the area Yura has the five-star btic Beach Hotel and Spa with the IL solle restaurant with fantastic beach view Latvia has a temperate climate the western coast possesses a more maritime climate with cooler Summers and milder Winters while Eastern Parts exhibit a more continental climate with warmer Summers and harsher winters the currency of lvia is the Euro € 100 will cost you $19 lvan Cuisine typically consists of agricultural products with meat featuring in traditional dishes fish is also commonly consumed due to laia's location on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea whilst there are no Kosher restaurants Kabab meals can be booked by appointment you're listening to the Jerusalem Post podcast travel Edition with Mark Gordon and David [Music] Harris oh Mark it's good to be the king sometimes oh so L as they say we are at the Baltic Beach Hotel and Spa in yala which is a coastal town probably 20 minutes 30 minutes Train Drive outside of Ria it is beautiful the town is the ultimate peaceful Seaside town as we were coming in Charlotte who spent the day with us was looking around and saying notice how people are walking at a much slower Pace than they do in Ria or any other major city this is a very long narrow City on the one side it's bordered by a river and on the other by the Baltic Sea and Vila who we met in our podcast has been photographing some of the houses here this is the place to come this is the lvan equivalent of I don't know her in Israel the Riviera the Riviera French Riviera French Riviera the Italian Riviera you name it it's very very relaxed and over dinner I was saying to both of the ladies and to you that looking out at the sun that's been really pouring in the people in the water at 10:00 at night you would think that we are closer to the Equator than the North Pole and yet here we are the Baltic Sea Finland is just you know a couple of hours across the water there it's unbelievable it's totally unexpected and wonderful it's a really lovely place to unwind we're in the IL restaurant it has a very long balcony that overlooks the sea and we've been here maybe 2 hours watching the sun set and it's taking its time to set like you say it's 10: :00 and the Sun is still up it's still light outside it's a really nice place to come for an evening dinner we are at the end almost of three Amazing Days in lva for those of you that listen to our Ria podcast a month or so ago they'll recognize this voice this is Vila who has been instrumental in setting up this trip for us Vila we've been out side Ria now and we've been to leaya yala we've been to Ruma I'm getting good at this Ruma Ronda they all sort of rhyme what is it that yourself and Jewish travel lvia are trying to bring to tourists who are going to see these types of places to my mind the most important thing that I want to say that lvia is all the country is easy to travel on your own it's easy to travel with Samaran services but uh different small towns different places are easy reachable they have a lot of a lot of interesting history and definitely should be planned on your trip to lvia we mentioned the places that you arranged for us to visit and of course everybody has already heard us reporting from those places are there some other highlights that you would like to mention maybe other places that people should consider visiting in the country yes Definitely dog of Pils I guess that's the place this the second largest city in the country and also this is the place extremely rich of Jewish Community previously before the World War II but that was the largest Jewish Community with some great names coming from d p or normally known as D that's rabie rachov that's most famous person it's RAF cook so I guess uh d b f for play for those people who are not familiar say the name slowly so they can look it up on a map or online it's daa pills d a u g a v p i LS and we learned that pills means Castle right yes that's correct so it's a castle on the river daava that's how it's called daav pills and yeah but apart of that lvia is really rich in amazing nature we have a huge Seaside we have a lot of forests Rivers so so I guess everyone can find something for him in lvia to stay in different mansions to experience farmhouses that's you know you can plan a really long holidays here David got the opportunity to go back to his family's town of origin in leapa and a lot of people that will come here will be wanting to trace back sto stories that they found through genealogical research through what their families have told them if someone's coming to lvia and they're not necessarily from Ria how much time should they plan for a trip that would include seeing the SES of Ria but then going out to find out about their family I guess here we have two periods to plan so first of all if you know where your family is then it's easy but a lot of people they just know very roughly so I would say that you you have to start planning your trip at least one year in advance if you want to do a family research if you just want to visit the places then of course you're welcome to buy the ticket and to fly in and I would say that you should plan at least 3 days in Rea and then at least 3 days outside of Ria because the country it seems small but the distances they quite big and in order to see everything and to take some time I look we are talking about the spiritual trip we're talking about racing Family Heritage so I don't think that you should be in a real rush and especially that L is a nice place to spend your time so from 5 days to one week that would be the time if you're trying to see something more deep vilia you're not lvan you're Lithuanian and you've got another business dealing with travel to Lithuania maybe in another podcast sometime down the road we'll talk about that as well what is it about ltia that turns one what is it that gives you this o this desire and also the fact that you're working within the Jewish sphere to a large extent I would start from the fact that Latvia and Lithuania these are two remaining Baltic tribes so we are not that different secondly I've been in this business for for many years uh and I guess that in terms of inviting people to come we always invite to see all Baltic states so I think that lvia lethania or even Estonia separately they are a little bit too small to be seen in the world so I think that we should talk together and then and then baltics would be more known but talking about lva and Ria in particular I think that Ria has this amazing blend of capital city with a huge City Center historical City Center then the seaside which is just half an hour from the city center and the best restaurants I'm sure that good restaurants they stay in R for for years and we have a number and number of places that are really remarkable that should be seen so if you are Foody then it's a third reason to come Vila from Jewish travel lvia thank you for everything over the last three days thank you for coming and I have to say that wasn't possible without a huge support of lvan government and lvan uh National tourism agency who are looking forward welcoming Israeli Travelers welcoming Jewish Travelers as well as a lot of other travelers from the world I think that it's time for lvia to be top destination as I hope that you have seen in those couple of days that we really have something to show to the world Have you listened to the Jerusalem Post podcast travel Edition I'm dve Harris and together with my co-host Mark Gordon we bring you the best from the world of travel and tourism we have people who literally fly to Park City just to do the ski minion and it has that Heavenly taste that you don't really find nowadays in the market when was the last time you went to a restaurant and they bought you a picnic basket about eight courses in a Dracula tour that's a very unusual honeymoon option really the Jerusalem Post podcast travel Edition brings you the joys of travel and tourist ISM so why not subscribe today wherever you get your podcasts cheers Mark cheers David oh so that's pretty much it David back home the plane beckons we are heading in that direction I'll do an emotional thing in a minute I guess but how have you find it it's your first visit to lva and we saw Ria in the previous pod but now we've seen latva not just the capital for me Ria was a little bit more like going to a capital city there was the obvious Jewish part this was I I think a little bit more heartwarming it had unfortunately a number of Stories of the Jews that were horrifically murdered in leaya and in Ruma but then from each of these places we we got moments of hope we spoke with survivors we spoke with tour guides and people that bring children to these sites and now we've been able to see that even in a place like yalo with a beautiful restaurant around the corner there's a new kabad center and a synagogue and Jewish life is thriving not just in Ria but in the country itself I'll add to that and as you know if you've been listening through this podcast that this has been a very personal trip for me when we were recording the lovely people in the apire playing the piano and singing you didn't hear all the voices that were in the room but the people who were singing I was looking at them and thinking just Round the Corner in the area that the Jews lived it might well have been that Generations ago my great great grandparents would have sat around a piano just like that sung yish songs maybe sung Hebrew songs and that for me was a very special moment and to see that despite everything there is still a community maybe an aging Community but there is still a community in leopa that was a Wonder wonderful moment if you've been very upset during this podcast Mark and I apologize because as in the rer episode the deputy chairperson of the municipality said it's kind of incumbent upon Latvia and on people like Mark and myself to tell the story of the Holocaust but I think it's also very important for Mark and myself not only that we tell those tragic stories but also that you realize that this part of the world is not just about those six terrible terrible years but hundreds of years of History before that of synagogues of rabbis of learning of art of culture of History all of it part of the fabric of the Jews that we are today a few thank yous thank you to Villia from Jewish travel lvia who has organized this trip for us unbelievable and has been amazing and been our guide and been with us throughout the whole trip also Charlotte from travel lva or Leah as it's known locally for setting up a lot of the meetings the accommodation the flights everything feeding us oh yeah and some very very top class grub the food in this country is great Mark must be time for a quiz question or quiz answer it is I asked you about jeans jeans what jeans trousers oh okay there's a lady called who has some trousers no denim jeans as they were and I asked for the name of the person with the Lavan connection that invented jeans and for all of you out there that said Levi Strauss you're not entirely wrong but you're wrong the actual answer is Jacob W Davis who was born Jacobs EES in Ria he partnered with Levi Strauss to manufacture jeans o there was a second element to this as well which Italian city does the fabric come from for jeans and you can get it from the name jeans Genoa Genoa and you know the answer no I don't other than Wikipedia in front of me folks it's been an honor to present this podcast to you we hope you've enjoyed it we hope you've laughed and cried your way through this one please continue to follow us you can do that by subscribing at Mark davidp pod across social media and our email is Mark davidp pod gmail.com and you can subscribe on Google podcasts Apple podcasts Spotify spreer and any podcast provider also of course give a lovely review if you can and give us five stars let's say goodbye goodbye farewell and we'll see you in a couple of weeks time with the next podcast from the Jerusalem Post podcast travel Edition [Music]