The Voss and Foss  Family History The Voss family were living in Latvia in the late  18th century. They were Jewish and German speaking. The  family originally came from Aizpute (the Latvian  name, Hasenepoth being the German name), a small town near Liepaja  (Libau in German) in Courland (Latvia was then in two parts,  Courland and Lettland), then part of the Russian Empire. Baedeker  (1914) describes Hasenpoth as a town of 3,500 inhabitants,  picturesquely situated on the Tebber with a ruined castle of the  Teutonic Knights (still there according to Michael Voss who visited  it in about 1991) and a bishop's castle, parts of the church walls  date back from the 15th century. A photo in one of the  family albums may be of farms outside the town (but there is no  written evidence of this).The Jews in Latvia came initially from the  east - after 1648 many Jews settled here after fleeing the Cossack  hordes of Borden Khmelnitsky, who conducted massacres in the  southern regions of Volhynia and Podolia (the Ukraine). Many also  came from Poland,Prussia and Lithuania. Later the main settlement  came from Germany. Aizpute was one of the ealiest towns with Jewish  settlement, and the first synagogue in Courland was built there in  1708. There are a number of mentions of Voss/Foss families in  Latvian records on the web, aIn the 19th century, all of these came  from Aizpute, but by 1907, there were a number living in Riga. For  further information on Courland and Aizpute/Hasenpoth, and the local  Jewish history, see the Courland Research Group For  the history of Latvia click here , for  tourist information, click here The  family hstory on this site starts with the early family history, and  then follows two paths: Sigismund Voss, his wife -Wally von Rode - and her  relatives, and the Voss family - his childen and descendants. Sacha  Foss and his wife, Maud, and the Foss family - his children and  descendants. Click on he appropriate button on the left.