Lecture by Dr. Yaacov Falkov: The Boycott of German Goods in Latvia (1933-34) and Latvian Political Department

Dr. Yaacov Falkov will deliver a talk

Lecture will happen online with previous registration:
https://us06web.zoom.us/…/tZUpf–spjwiEtyB-t5A…

In late 1933, less than a year after the Nazis came to power in Germany, the Latvian national security service known as the Political Department (Politiskā pārvalde), launched an investigation aiming at verifying the legality of the anti-German boycott declared by the local Jewish community. Berlin reacted to the trade obstacles in Latvia by declaring its own embargo on imports of famous Latvian butter. This German move, immediately called the “Butter War” by the press, proved very painful for the Latvian economy. It is not surprising therefore that the Political Department’s investigation, which lasted about half a year, led to the Jewish boycott’s termination. Dr. Falkov’s lecture, based on his recent research at the Latvian State Historical Archive, will shed light on this almost forgotten page in the long history of the Latvian Jewish community. Using it as a springboard, Falkov will also present the whole picture of the complicated relationship between the State Security Service and the Jewish community of Latvia between the two world wars.

Dr. Yaacov Falkov is a Latvia-born Israeli historian. In 2013, he received his Ph.D. in military and intelligence history from Tel Aviv University. He was a Visiting Scholar at Oxford University, at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), and The World Holocaust Remembrance Center and Archive Yad Vashem. Dr. Falkov has authored numerous publications in English, Hebrew, and Russian, and received Historical Society of Israel Prize for 2021. Dr. Falkov teaches at Tel Aviv University and Reichman University in Israel.

The lecture will later be available online.