Survivor and Descendants of the
Legacy of Jungfernhof [Mazjumpravmuiža]
On November 14, 2021, Karen Frostig established the first meeting for descendants and living survivors of the Jungfernhof concentration camp. At our first meeting, we sat together in amazement, finding each other after 80 years of learning one or two stray facts about family members deported to Riga. It was a great moment to sit with survivors who could speak directly about their experiences at the Jungfernhof concentration camp.
Today, we represent a group of more than fifty members from six countries: US - fourteen states, Germany - three cities, Argentina, Israel, France, and Sweden. We meet monthly as a group of 15-20 members. Typically, three survivors attend each meeting.
Meeting on Zoom. March 13, 2022. From left to right: Peter Stern, Karen Frostig, Karen Sime, Jennifer Sime, Steve Frankel, Pat Herbst, Howard Reissner, Fred Zeilberger, Marc Reissner, Alan Stern.
The Mass Grave
Between December 1941 and March 26, 1942 around 800 inmates died from brutal treatment, disease, or were taken to nearby woods and randomly shot by the Kommandant of the camp. Because of extreme temperatures during this harsh winter, the ground remained frozen for many months. The dead bodies couldn’t be buried and were piled up along a shed. In February 1942, they were taken to a nearby field and dumped into a blown-up mass grave.
In 2019, Karen invited Dr. Richard Freund, world-renowned Holocaust archeologist, to come to the site, using non-invasive ground penetrating radar to search for a mass grave. During the summer of 2021, digital indications of two mass graves were identified.
Our Mission
We gather as the descendants and survivors of the Jungfernhof concentration camp. We constitute a representative body of the victims and survivors of the deceased. As descendants we are committed to preserving the sanctity of the site. We hope to accomplish the following:
To form a collective voice to represent and preserve the memories of our families and the 3985 victims of this camp
To honor living survivors of the camp
To share testimonies and stories, bearing witness to the past
To promote educational goals concerning the history of intolerance that led to the deportations, internment, dehumanization, and murders
To work with officials in Germany, Austria, and Latvia, to support the process of creating a meaningful and lasting memorial at the site.
Meeting on Zoom. February 20, 2022. From left to right: Karen Frostig, Richards Plavnieks, Alfred Zeilberger, Robert Mai, Howard Reissner, Pete Sterns, Steve Frankel, Fred Zimmak, Marc Reissner, Pat Herbst, and Kim Yashek.
We are currently developing a directory for our members. We also have a number of committees that enable descendants to make a contribution to the project:
Compiling a group directory
Greeting committee, welcoming new members
Collecting new content, unpublished testimonies and video interviews from family survivors
Writing a group statement to be read at the 2024 commemorative event
Enlarging the Heirloom Gallery, collecting more heirloom objects and stories
Collecting copies of “last letters,” to be translated and uploaded to the site.
Mapping intersections, chance histories within the group
Searching for other descendants (especially in the US, UK, Australia, Argentina and South America, and South Africa).
DAY OF REMEMBRANCE AT BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY
April 9th and 10th, 2024
Close to 30 descendants and three survivors participated in a two-day program of remembrance at Brandeis University. People traveled long distances across the US and even from Germany for this event. The program was multifaceted. Two programs designed to foster participation, were the evening, Community Conversation program about exile, deportation, migration and loss, and The Ceremony, an event the featured a large Mourning Shroud, naming 3836 victims who were deported to the camp, and who died from inhumane treatment or were killed at the camp, or in a nearby forest, or in a slave labor assignment at another camp.
At the ceremony, close to thirty descendant families of all ages, plus one survivor, stood together. Patricia Anastos read a statement written by the group.
Descendants standing around shroud. Photo: Karin Rosenthal
Day of Remembrance, April 10, 2024
Opening Remarks for Camp Jungfernhof Survivors and Descendants Group
My name is Trish Anastos and this is Steve Frankel and Fred Zimmak.
We represent a group of about 50 people who are either survivors or descendants of victims who were deported to concentration Camp Jungfernhof outside of Riga, Latvia, in 1941. Dr. Karen Frostig started this group in late 2021. At that time, there were seven survivors and now, we have four, which we consider a blessing to have as contributing members of our group. Today, we are honored to have Pete Stern, a survivor, with us in person; you may have heard him speak earlier. We also have two survivors who are participating by video. This Day of Remembrance at Brandeis University, is the first time our group has met in person. People have traveled from nearby neighborhoods, across the country from California, and even Germany.
As a group, we represent a collective voice with a mission to preserve the memories of our families and honor the 3985 victims of this camp, as well as the sanctity of the site of Camp Jungfernhof. In our group discussions, we:
- Honor living survivors of the camp.
- Share testimonies and stories, bearing witness to the past
- Support the process of creating a meaningful and lasting memorial at
the site, through Karen’s work in Riga.
But we are not anchored only in the past; we are still evolving and finding our future direction. We are:
- Learning how to talk about our own experiences as the next
generation and what that means today.
- Seeking connection with others who have shared ancestral histories
at Jungfernhof to discover missing details about our ancestors. We
have deep been able to capture much of the history and the details of
what happened to many of the deportees.
- Finding the courage to speak up about our beliefs, act accordingly,
and support others who do the same.
While this group shares a common bond, we are also a very diverse group of individuals. We live in seven countries, and about a dozen US states; we are a wide range of ages from 20 something to 90 plus; even our religious beliefs are different; some of us, including me, were not raised as Jews; some are Christians, Mormon, and other faiths. But we are a group with a unified purpose.
Like all concentration Camps, Jungfernhof is unique, but unlike many others, the site itself is almost forgotten from its role in the Holocaust. Today there is no physical evidence of the camp. Remnants of buildings were restored to reference the Manor not the camp. Some were used as work stations. There is substantive evidence of a mass grave at the former site of the camp supported by active testimony from survivors. Hence, the goal to create a memorial for German and Austrian Jews at this site.
Dr. Frostig has created the Locker of Memory website where you can find her research, survivor interviews, and creation of videos that captures the history of the victims and their journeys. We are grateful to her for her commitment to bring us together as a group, create a platform to communicate our history, as well as her dedication to create a memorial at the site to honor all German Jews who were deported to the camp. And, we are glad to meet all of you and look forward to speaking with you after this event.
Time was made for each descendant in attendance to read the name(s) of murdered relatives, whose names appeared on the Mourning Shroud. We stood in a circle around the shroud as we passed the microphone. For the first time in history, we uttered the names of victims out loud. Rabbi Benjamin Chaidell recited the mourner’s kaddish for the dead.
At this moment, everyone leaned in. We were a group remembering lost members of our families together, as a group. We had been meeting monthly for two years, talking about the difficulty of finding material to confirm scanty facts we held dear. We were gathered together as a community of remembrance. Surrounding a burial shroud, we experienced the precious act of remembering as a group. The room was silent. Each name was uttered with clarity, dignity, and determination.
None of us ever imagined this day would come. We were the messengers. We performed our duty with love. We spoke the truth about the past. It was a moment of healing.
From Fred Zimmak…
First evening when all the names were shown as video, I most of all wanted to run away. The music made it so very terrible for me. I always get bad fantasies and feelings. The same with the poem about Violete, a slave child. Most of the time I can put this very far back in my brain, but not this time.
The mourning shroud made a big impression on me. It was not dark, but light! It was great that Ilya brought soil from Jungfernhof, and we spread it out under the mourning shroud. Symbolic are the souls from our relatives, they were with us.