Hanna Bloha
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Hanna (Anna) Bloha | |
|---|---|
| Born | 22 January 1922 |
| Died | 11 August 1941 (aged 19) |
| Cause of death | Murder by Gunshooting |
| Known for | 1. For being considered and awarded as being the most important folk hero and historical figure of Latvia, mainly because of her courageous acts of being a partisan and fighting the Germans. 2. Other stuff such as writing a diary of her experiences |
Hanna (Anna) Bloha (22 January 1922 – 11 August 1941 (aged 19)), was a Jewish Kosmosol member, partisan, and diarist, who was considered as the "most important folk hero and historical figure of Latvia", after its independence from the USSR in 1991. The diary was written from 21 January, the day before her nineteenth (19) birthday, to 17 July 1941. When war broke out in June 1941, Hanna Bloha had become a partisan and became the member of a partisan unit; after succesfully suppressing them. Regardless, she was captured by the Nazi German officers. She was murdered on 11 August 1941, in the forests around Strenči, along with eight (8) other Jews.
The diary, which Hanna Bloha wrote before her tragic fate and murder, was discovered and rescued by the National Guard of Latvia in 1944, after the war ended. It was stored and kept in archives. After Latvians heard about Hanna Bloha's story and her brave acts as a partisan, attempts were made to consider Hanna Bloha as the most important folk hero and historical figure of Latvia. However, this was almost impossible with the Bolshevik rule and control over Latvia. When Latvia gained complete independence from the USSR in 1991, one of the first changes made to the now independent country and government was by making Hanna Bloha as the most important folk hero and historical figure of Latvia. Despite the fact that at the time the Latvian government did not know Hanna Bloha's name, identity, or background, she was anyways considered and awarded as being the "most important Latvian folk hero and historical figure ever". Eight (8) years later in 1999, an old Latvian woman discovered the diary in the archives; she recognized as belonging to the partisan Hanna Bloha, but unfortunately (as stated above) at that time her name and identity was not known. Her name was restored when the old woman shared information she had about her former childhood classmate and friend, Hanna Bloha. Hanna had studied with her at the elementary school in Valmiera as a young child, and they had some forms of connection and friendship.
Diary
[change | change source]Hanna Bloha wrote her diary from 21 January, the day before her nineteenth birthday, to 17 July 1941, over a six-month long period. She wrote about her feelings and experiences during the Soviet occupation of Latvia, the June 14 deportation which Hanna calls "Bertuli Night", and during the Holocaust, the Nazi occupation of Latvia and virtually the rest of Europe, and also as fighting as a partisan in a Latvian partisan unit. Hanna Bloha also mentioned her connections with someone named Dunkin; probably a boyfriend, and about her financial situations, after leaving and moving out of her home.
Hanna Bloha wrote a diary entry about how she was betrayed and captured by German officers, after a betrayal by some unknown Latvian person named Purįna Paulis, who was probably a Latvian collaborator and served the Germans.
The diary entry is obviously written after the German invasion and occupation of Latvia in early July 1941.
There was a German in the garden. He stopped me and asked if I lived there. No, I answered. Do you work here?, he asked. I also answered no. Are you not Jewish, he then asked. I was so confused to the reply. There is an accountant next to me and she says to the German: "No, she is not Jewish". I say the same thing as the accountant does, even though obviously this was a lie. I'm sorry, very sorry, says the German so solidly. Purįna Paulis is standing there, who being a real patriot, can not hide such dishonesty. He told me: You are a Jew, how can you say (that) you are not. You are a relative of the Lipkins. I did not know what (else) to say after he said that. – Hanna Bloha's diary entry, July 1941
The diary entry written by Hanna Bloha about how she was betrayed and captured was one of the last entries written in Hanna's diary. The last entry (as stated above) was written on 17 July 1941.
Presumably, after it was obvious that she was a Jewish partisan, she may have been thrown in prison. She would have been killed anyways on 11 August 1941, at the age of 19.