Sunday, 15 March 2026

Eva Steckoll (1903 - 1983)

Eva Steckoll is the daughter of Nochum Aaron Steckoll, known as Aaron, the brother-in-law of Rachel Levin, my 2x great aunt. Levin family HERE. Steckoll family HERE.

Parents: Nochum Aaron Steckoll (1867 - 1933) and Gittel Bucher (1870 - 1926)

Born: 7 April 1903 (Tuesday 10 Nissan 5663) in Varaklani, Latvia

Jewishgen Birth record for Eva. Her date of birth is given here as 25 March 1903. On her tombstone her date of birth is given as 7 April 1903 which corresponds with her Hebrew birth date of Tuesday, 10 Nissan 5663

Hebrew name: Chava daughter of Nachum Aharon

Siblings

Married:
Woolf (Willie) Stein in Ladybrand, Orange Free State, South Africa on 7 February 1929. Eve was 25 and Willie 30

Eva and Willie's marriage certificate. They were married on 7 February 1929 in Ladybrand, Orange Free State, South AFrica

Children
Their first child was born when Willie was 31/32 and Eva 27. Their second and final child was born in 1933 when Willie was 35/36 and Eva 33
  • Ghita Stein (1930 - 2015)
  • Sidney Stein (1933 - 1998)

Death
30 May 1983 in Pietersburg, Transvaal, South Africa age 79 and she is buried in the cemetery there


Burial
Jewishgen Cemetery record for Eva

Place of Birth
Eva was born in Varaklani, Rezhitsa, Vitebsk, Latvia

The Jewish community in 
Varaklani
 officially began to form in the late 18th century, shortly after the region was annexed by the Russian Empire. While a few Jewish families may have lived in the area earlier, the community truly took root around 1780. By 1797, there were 413 Jewish residents recorded in the town, a number that grew steadily as Varaklani became an important trading post. Throughout the 19th century, the population expanded rapidly due to migration from nearby Lithuania and Belarus. By 1847, the number of Jewish residents had increased to 584 people, and religious life began to flourish under leaders like Rabbi Aharon Zelig Zioni, who headed the community during this mid-century growth.

The community reached its numerical peak in 1897, when a census recorded 1,357 Jews, which accounted for approximately 75% of the town's total population. During this era, the town was led by Rabbi Abraham bar Gabai, who served as the chief rabbi for five decades starting in 1873, and Rabbi Jacob Pollak, who served as the crown rabbi. This overwhelming majority meant that for several decades, Varaklani functioned almost entirely as a Jewish town where the rhythms of life were dictated by religious law and the Hebrew calendar.

The population began to fluctuate during the early 20th century due to the turmoil of World War I and the Russian Revolution. In 1920, the first census of the newly independent Republic of Latvia recorded 868 Jewish residents, a significant decline from the pre-war peak. However, the community remained the dominant group in the town, and by 1925, the number had climbed back up to 991 people. During this period of Latvian independence, Jewish citizens became deeply integrated into the town’s governance. Reuven Arsh achieved significant prominence as the town’s mayor, while Michael Kagan served as the deputy mayor.

By the eve of the Holocaust in 1935, the Jewish population stood at 952 people, making up roughly 57% of the town’s residents. This community was supported by a network of merchant families with surnames such as Zogut, Schneir, Chait, Kaplan, Morain, Matchevsky, Steiner, Boorenstein, Berzon, Kopolovitch, Kodish, Solevy, Shvalb, and Fingerhuts. These families maintained the town's shops, schools, and cultural institutions until the Nazi invasion in 1941.

The destruction of this community began shortly after German forces entered Varaklani in early July 1941. Immediate restrictions were placed on Jewish residents, and they were forced into a provisional ghetto established next to the Jewish cemetery. On August 4, 1941, a German SD unit known as the Arājs Commando, assisted by local Latvian self-defenders and police, carried out a mass execution. Approximately 540 Jews were taken to the cemetery and shot to death in pits they had been forced to dig themselves. Rabbi Eliezer-Yaakov Hacohen Grodsky, the final spiritual leader, was particularly mistreated during this event; he was dragged to the execution site with his beard tied to a horse’s tail. After the massacre, local peasants were forced to fill in the mass graves. Before their retreat in 1944, German authorities ordered the bodies to be burned to destroy evidence of the crime
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