Kalman Linkimer diary

Kalman Linkimer (1913-1988) was born in Latvia and worked as a teacher. In 1942, Kalman was taken to the Liepāja ghetto and sent to work on a base in Paplaka, Latvia. In 1944 he escaped the ghetto with Aaron Westermann and Zelig Hirschberg. Kalman’s friend, David Zivcon, told him about Robert Seduls (1906-1945) and his wife Johanna “Anna” Seduls (1910-1987) hiding people in their cellar. The three men decided to go to Seduls’ home. Kalman hid in the cellar for twelve months with seven men and three women. During this time, Kalman kept his diary from 1944-1945. The diary includes descriptions of their daily routine and experiences, such as a warning light that was used to alert them someone was coming and a radio they listened to for information on the war, as well as the physical and psychological challenges of hiding in the cellar. After Robert was killed in March 1945 from a bombing, Anna continued to care for them until the end of the war. After the war, Kalman moved to Riga, Latvia. Robert and Johanna Seduls were named Righteous Among the Nations in 1981.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, The Abraham and Ruth Goldfarb Family Acquisition Fund

Funding Note: The accessibility of this collection was made possible by the generous donors to our crowdfunded Save Their Stories campaign.

The Kalman Linkimer diary was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2008 from Ilana Ivanova, daughter of David Zivcon, one of the Jews who survived in hiding with Kalman.