Mug used by a young Jewish man in the Riga ghetto and in hiding

Mug used by Issak Drizin in the Riga Ghetto in Latvia and in hiding. In July 1941, Germany declared war on the Soviet Union and invaded Latvia which had been annexed by the Soviets in 1940. A vicious pogrom was unleashed upon the Jews of Riga by German killing squads joined by roving gangs of Latvian fascists. In October, Isaak and the other Jews were forced into a ghetto. In fall 1943, the Germans decided to destroy the ghetto. Isaak was living in a cellar with his family. He heard about a man who helped people hide and managed to get his address. He wrote the man asking him to meet. On September 1, 1943, Issak met Janis Lipke and asked him if he could save him and his family. Janis said yes and when Issak told him they had no money, Janis told him he did not want any money. They set a date, October 10, when Isaak would come and get them out of the ghetto. He bribed the guards with three bottles of vodka, told them he needed Jews to work in his garden, and took Isaak and his two family members to his home. Issak and his family were hidden by Janis and Johana Lipke, along with at least forty other Jews, until the end of the war. The Lipke's were honored as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in 1966.