For 17 years now, young people from Germany and other countries, led by Pastor Klaus-Peter Rex, have been tidying up Jewish cemeteries in Latvia. Last year and this year, restoration work, in which Latvian and Israeli volunteers also participated, was carried out in Subate in the Augsdaugava region. More than 200 tombstones were dug out and installed in the Jewish cemetery, gravesites were cleaned, paths were laid out.
The restoration of the Jewish cemetery in Subate was made possible thanks to the descendants of the Rubanenko Jewish family of Subate, who not only financially supported the project and installed a fence around the cemetery, but also conducted extensive research, created an exhibition about the Jews of Subate as well as engaged descendants of other Jewish families to the project.
On August 9th an event celebrating the completion of the work was held. Among the attendees were representatives of the Augšdaugava region leadership, Subate city administration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israeli and German embassies, the Jewish communities of Riga and Daugavpils and the Rubanenko family.
The participants also visited the mass graves of Subate Jews killed during the Holocaust near the cemetery, honoring the victims by lighting candles and praying.
09.08.2022
