Hill Dzirnavkalns and the Jewish Cemetery

Valdemārpils used to have two mills, where grain was milled before the war. Until 1960, one of them was located on the hill ‘Dzirnavkalns’ or ‘Mill Hill’, from where the place takes its name. Due to its location, the upper floors revealed a beautiful view of the Lake Sasmaka. Local residents also used to watch local car races from there because a moto track ran along the current Rallistu-Street. On the square near the top of the hill, you will find the Jewish Cemetery – a memorial site with tombstones for the former Jewish community in the city. Burials here took place until 1940. Although the Jewish community in Valdemārpils no longer exists today, the city’s layout and architecture, the former synagogue building, and the historical centre still bear evidence of the former inhabitants. After the population census of 1897, Sasmaka had a Jewish population of 1600, while only 1500 Jews lived in the nearby larger town of Talsi. In terms of ethnicity, the Jewish community in Sasmaka was the most prominent in Kurzeme, which is why the local residents used to refer to it as the ‘Capital of Jews’ in Kurzeme region.