Barkans Anton & Barkane Helena

Barkans, Antons Barkane, Hēlena Spiridovich, Hēlena Baltovs, Modests Baltova, Malvina Antons Barkans (b. 1910) and his wife, Hēlena (b. 1911) both Catholic, lived with their little daughter in the village of Jēči, 4 km from the town of Kārsava. Antons worked at the nearby railway station and his wife looked after the house and their daughter. On July 4, 1941, the area was occupied by the Germans, and on August 23, an Aktion was carried out in Kārsava, in which the Jewish population was liquidated. Among the few who survived was Lev Udem, a young businessman, who managed to flee and under cover of darkness arrived at the home of Fred Bankovich*. Since Bankovich was already hiding three Jews in his home, he moved Udem to the home of the Barkans family. Until the start of the cold season, Udem hid in the barn, and in the winter he stayed in the heated rooms of the house. In the summer of 1942, Bankovich offered to take Udem into his home, and in his stead to bring to the Barkans, Sonja Minkin and Judif Zilber, who until then had been hiding in his home in Kārsava. The two of them, in particular seven-year-old Judif, were in desperate need of the fresh air in the village, since they had been forced to spend nearly a year in hiding. The Barkans decided to pass Judif off as a friend of their daughter’s, so that the Jewish child was able to move freely around the farm. Sonja, on the other hand, only left the house when no one was around to see her. Towards September 1942, Sonja and Judif returned to their hiding place in Bankovich’s home, after Rachel, Bankovich’s wife had given birth to a son in hiding. Since the infant’s crying was liable to give away all those in hiding, Bankovich turned for help to his neighbor, Helena Spiridovich, who had given birth two weeks earlier, and she agreed to take Rachel and her baby son into her home, so that the mother could continue nursing him. Every morning Spiridoviča would take a walk with her baby daughter, and in theevening, with little Alfred, Rachel’s son. Rachel hid in Spiridoviča’s home in a camouflaged bunker, and Bankovich visited his wife and son to bring them food and other necessities. Throughout the occupation, some of the foodstuffs for Bankovich’s wife and son, as well as for the other three hiding in his home, were provided by Modests Baltovs (b. 1901) and his wife, Malvina (b. 1905), his Catholic friends from the village of Mazā Zeļčova. In the spring of 1942, when intensive searches were being conducted in Kārsava, and Bankovich feared his home would be searched and he would be arrested, the Baltovs took Sonja and Judif into their home and hid them until the danger passed. Kārsava was liberated on July 27, 1944, and the five Jews, who had been saved through the joint efforts of the three local families, were freed. On December 25, 1995, Yad Vashem recognized Antons Barkans and Hēlena Barkane, Hēlena Spiridovich, and Modests Baltovs and Malvina Baltova as Righteous Among the Nations.