Ēniņa Margarita ; Son: Eniņš Fritz

Ēniņa, Margarita Eniņš, Frič Sproģis, Jānis Margarita Ēniņa was in her 50s and lived with her unmarried son Frič in a private house in Liepāja, which was occupied by the Germans on June 29, 1941. Ēniņa was well acquainted with the Jewish Fleishman family, owners of a butcher shop. In December 1941, after the Liepāja Jews were ordered not to leave their flats until the next announcement, Ēniņa and her son accepted in their house the younger son of the Fleishman couple, 16 year-old Abram, and his friend Israel Alite. During the day the boys were hidden in the cellar and at night they slept in one of the rooms. The hosts cared for all the needs of the Jewish youngsters who came without any money or valuables. While in hiding, Abram Fleishman learned about the tragic fate of his parents, Gershon and Sara-Minna Fleishman, who were murdered in a large-scale Aktion in December 1941, shortly after Abram saw them last. His elder brother Sholem was killed even earlier, in July that year. Once in a while the Eniņs and their secret tenants were visited by Kolya Mandelkorn, a young local Jew who lived quite openly, thanks to his non-Jewish appearance and to the family of his Latvian girlfriend. In July 1942 he advised Abram and Israel to change their hiding place, for safety reasons. The Jewish youths made contact with their prewar Latvian friend Jānis Sproģis who agreed to hide them temporarily. Although only 18 years old, Sproģis lived alone in a little private house in the vicinity. His parents were living in the nearby village. They never found out about their son’s dangerous undertaking. Abram and Israel stayed with Sproģis until the end of 1942 and returned to the Eniņs, following their friend’s advice not to remain long in one place. Until the end of the war, in May 1945, the two young men rotated between the Eniņs and Jānis Sproģis and thus survived. Their friend Mandelkorn was denounced and murdered, and his Latvian girlfriend sent to a concentration camp. Afterthe war the rescued remained in Latvia and kept in touch with their rescuers. On October 28, 1999, Yad Vashem recognized Margarita Ēniņa, Frič Eniņš, and Jānis Sproģis, as Righteous Among the Nations.