Strelis Emīlija

Fimbauer, Anna Strelis, Emīlija Zvirgzdiņa, Anna Anna Fimbauer lived in Liepāja and for many years worked in the home of the Raikins, a Jewish family. After the Germans occupied Liepāja on June 29, 1941, Isaak Raikin was deported to Rīga, while his wife, Berta, and two-year-old son Gershon were imprisoned. On February 12, 1942, Berta escaped from captivity with her son, and the two returned to their apartment in the city, where Fimbauer was waiting for them. At night, Fimbauer accompanied them to her small apartment in another neighborhood of the city, but when they were almost there, Berta fell and broke her leg. With great difficulty, Fimbauer managed to drag her to her one-room apartment on the second floor and put her in bed. That night, Fimbauer called on her friend, Emīlija Strelis, a nurse, who bandaged Raikin’s broken leg and treated her for several weeks. When it was no longer possible to hide the Raikins in her small apartment, Fimbauer moved them to a small closet under the roof of the apartment building. Fimbauer and Strelis provided them with their needs. Also most helpful was Anna Zvirgzdiņa, a fisherman’s wife and long-time acquaintace of Berta’s. She supplied the Raikins with food, which was in scarce supply in those days. On November 23, 1943, Isaak Raikin came to Fimbauer’s home, after having escaped from the Rīga ghetto when it was being liquidated. He joined his wife and son in the storeroom, and the three Raikins crowded together in the small space, remaining there until the end of 1944. When Fimbauer was forced to vacate her apartment, she managed to obtain false papers for the Raikins as war refugees, and together they all moved to the countryside, where they remained until the liberation on May 8, 1945. Later, the Raikins immigrated to Israel and kept in close touch with Fimbauer, Strelis and Zvirgzdiņa, who had risked their lives to save a Jewish family. On January 30, 1972, Yad Vashem recognized Anna Fimbauer and EmīlijaStrelis as Righteous Among the Nations. On April 29, 1976, Yad Vashem recognized Anna Zvirgzdiņa as Righteous Among the Nations.