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Berzina Augusta ; Son: Berzins Juris

Righteous
Augusta Berzina
Augusta Berzina
Berzina, Augusta Berzins, Juris Ozols, Edgar Ozola, Emilia Augusta Berzina, a painter and a medical nurse, lived in Riga with her son Juris (b. 1928). Their small three-room apartment was situated on the upper floor of a four storey building. During the German occupation Augusta did not have a permanent job but had to earn a living from casual work in addition to the money her former husband was giving her monthly. In the fall of 1941 Augusta sheltered Zara Frenkel and her sister Regina Rudina, two Jewish women who escaped from the Riga ghetto. Augusta knew them well: they were the daughters of Jacob Frenkel, a shoe-store owner. Jacob Frenkel and Regina’s husband, Jacob Rudin, were murdered by the Nazis shortly after the beginning of the occupation. Regina’s only daughter, 10-year-old Liana, was sent to Moscow on the last train going east. A fellow passenger on the train promised to care for her en route and later take the girl to Regina’s relatives. The mother did not know whether Liana reached her destination and was very anxious. During the first few days Regina and Zara were hiding at the Berzins’ together, until it became evident that their hosts would not be able to feed them both. Augusta turned to Edgar Ozols, a retired colonel, and his spouse Emilia for help. Not only were they Augusta’s friends, but the three of them were also adherents of Petr Donov’s philosophy, and used to attend Donov’s seminars in Bulgaria before the war. Emilia and Edgar were childless; they owned a private house in the part of Riga called Mezapark; Emilia was suffering from spinal tuberculosis and moved with great difficulty. Nevertheless she and her husband agreed to shelter one of the Frenkel sisters. The choice fell on Regina: she did not look Jewish and could be presented as the house help. Zara then went to stay with the Berzins. From the day of her escape from the ghetto until the Soviet troops regained control of Riga, in October 1944, she never once leftAugusta’s apartment. Anytime there was a knock at the door she immediately crawled under the bed, where a mattress and a blanket were hidden for her. In other times she moved around freely, taking part in family’s life. In the meantime Regina lived with the Ozols. She ran the household, went out shopping and took care of Emilia. The tenants who lived in the ground floor did not know that Regina was Jewish, until she was forced to explain to them why she must hide every time there is a document inspection. From that point on, the tenants helped her as well. After the liberation of Riga, Zara and Regina, joined by Regina’s daughter, went on living together. They all maintained warm and long-lasting relations with their rescuers. They mourned Emilia and Edgar Ozols at their death, attended Juris Bersins’s wedding in 1968 and his mother’s funeral in 1980. Both of the survivors passed away in Moscow at the end of the 1980s. On March 9, 2010 Yad Vachem recognized Augusta Berzina, her son Juris Berzins, as well as Edgar and Emilia Ozols as Righteous Among the Nations.
Last Name
Berzins
First Name
Juris
Name Title
PROF.
Date of Birth
13/04/1928
Fate
survived
Nationality
LATVIA
Gender
Male
Item ID
7082815
Recognition Date
09/03/2010
Ceremony Place
Riga, Latvia
Ceremony In Yad Vashem
No
File Number
M.31.2/11800