Memorial Ceremony on Commemoration Day of Genocide against the Jews in Latvia

July 4th, the Commemoration Day of Genocide against the Jews in Latvia, a commemorative ceremony was held at the memorial in Riga on Gogola street with the participation of the highest state officials. The ceremony, organized by the Council of Jewish Communities of Latvia, was attended by the President of Latvia Egils Levits, Speaker of the Saeima Inara Murniece, Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkevics, Minister of Defense Artis Pabriks, Minister of Welfare Gatis Eglitis, Deputy speaker of the Saeima Dagmara Beitnere-Le Galla, Deputy chairman of the Riga City Council Edvards Smiltens, deputies of the Saeima and the Riga City Council, foreign diplomats, a delegation from the German Riga Committee, members of the Jewish community and public representatives.

The ceremony was led by a member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, Professor Ruvin Ferber.

In his speech (https://bit.ly/3P3p4mz), the President of Latvia said that the German occupation regime and its collaborators had committed crimes against humanity in Latvia. As a result of this, the Jewish community of Latvia, which was an integral part of the Latvian nation and society, had been destroyed. The Latvian President stressed that it is important not to allow the distortion and instrumentalisation of the history of World War II and the Holocaust to justify international crime in our time and that Holocaust education, commemoration, and research are an important task and a moral and political obligation for future generations.

In her speech (https://bit.ly/3aeXxA3), the Speaker of the Saeima said that Jewish victims of the Holocaust symbolically demonstrate that intolerance can lead to annihilation, that there is no justification for these heinous crimes in Latvian history, and that they have no statute of limitations. She confirmed that Jews were, are, and will be an important part of our country’s society.

The memorial ceremony was also addressed by Artis Pabriks, Deputy Prime Minister/Minister for Defence, Israeli Ambassador to Latvia Sharon Rappaport-Palgi, German Ambassador to Latvia Christian Heldt, Chairman of the Dresden Jewish Community Michael Hurschell, and Deputy Chairman of the Council of Jewish Communities of Latvia Dmitry Krupnikov.

The memorial prayer was led by the rabbi of Riga Peitav Shul synagogue Elijohu Krumer and  member of the religious community Yevgeny Ambreit.