Priede Emma

Priede, Emma Emma Priede, a Latvian, was born in 1899, and resided in Riga at Lacplesa Street. She worked as a janitor and a caretaker in her own apartment building and in two adjusting buildings. Emma was married and had two children. Her family members and she were practicing Baptists. In the spring of 1942 a man who introduced himself as Rudi Ankravs, a businessman, rented a basement at Lacplesa Str. 29. It was one of the buildings that Emma was responsible for. He equipped it with plaster, tools and various instruments, and then brought there a sculptor, Elmar Rivosh. From that day on Emma heard the sculptor’s hammer knockings from morning till late at night. A few months passed and Emma started noticing that the sculptor never leaves his workshop, staying in the basement at night as well. Besides, Rudi, who once used to appear there every other day, was not seen for quite a while. Emma decided to pay Rivosh a visit, under pretext of treating him with a homemade pie. The sculptor was at first scared by her attention but then, seeing Emma’s good intentions, he confessed that he was an escapee from the Jewish ghetto, where in December 1941 his wife and two little children had perished. Rivosh warned Emma that her help to him would endanger her. Back home Emma started praying which helped her to comprehend the situation and to decide what to do next. From that day and until Riga was liberated from the Nazis by the Russian troops, she provided Rivosh with food and cared for his other needs: she brought two old cauldrons that were transferred into a stove, supplied Rivosh with newspapers and rumors. Emma’s adamant faith in the oncoming liberation, her certainty that God would help her save a human life, gave him hope and helped coping with the situation he was it. From the beginning of 1942, when Rudi stopped bringing orders for plaster souvenirs and little sculptures, Rivosh was left without work and suffered from enforced idleness. Upon Emma’sinitiative he started repairing shoes and boots that Emma’s husband Peter would receive from friends and neighbors upon the pretext that he would repair everything by himself. The clients paid with food and that helped Emma’s family to sustain their secret ward. After the liberation Emma’s family and the survivor remained on friendly terms. They stayed in touch until Rivosh’s early death in 1957. On July 22, 2007 Yad Vashem recognized Emma Priede as a Righteous Among the Nations.