The violinist Pauls Krūmiņš lived in Daugavpils with his wife and son. Jews began to be persecuted there immediately after the German invasion in June 1941.
One day, Krūmiņš’ former student Cecilia Gradis asked him for help. She and her sister Nadia had previously been interned in the local prison with other Jews, but had managed to escape. Krūmiņš hid the women in his home. With the aid of a Latvian police officer, he obtained forged papers for them and found them hiding places in the countryside, pretending to be a relative. At the end of 1941 the women had to renew their documents. Krūmiņš accompanied the sisters to the police station in Daugavpils. A former fellow student recognized them as Jews, prompting their arrest. However, Krūmiņš insisted they were his relatives, and they were released. They stayed with him for several months. After another denunciation, the sisters fled to Lithuania. Krūmiņš was arrested in August 1942 and released only after eight months.
Pauls Krūmiņš was honored as Righteous Among the Nations in 1990.
Pauls Krūmiņš (front row, seated, 3rd from left) with his students, on his right Cecilia Gradis, Daugavpils, 1926. Source: Latvijas Okupācijas Muzejs, Riga
Pauls Krūmiņš’ identity papers, issued in Daugavpils, August 20, 1944. Source: Daugavpils Novadpētniecības un mākslas muzejs, DNMN 5363
Pauls Krūmiņš’ identity papers, issued in Daugavpils, August 20, 1944. Source: Daugavpils Novadpētniecības un mākslas muzejs, DNMN 5363
Cecilia Boruchowitz with Andrejs Krūmiņš at the posthumous ceremony honoring his father Pauls Krūmiņš as Righteous Among the Nations at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial center, Jerusalem, 1990. Source: Yad Vashem Archives, Jerusalem, M.31.2/4174
