Demography

Riga (11,000) is the most important center of Jewish life in the Baltic States. There are several smaller communities, notably in Daugavpils (Dvinsk).

History

On the eve of the Shoah, there were about 85,000 Jews in the country-40,000 in Riga, 10,000 in Liepaja (Libau), and the rest in other communities. Immediately following the German invasion, the local population began to torment the Jews. By the end of the war, more than 90% of Latvian Jewry had perished.

Some 3,000 of the survivors returned, but today the majority of Jews in the country are descendants of those who came to Latvia from other parts of the Soviet Union after the war. As a result, the community is largely dominated by Russian-speakers. In the 1970s, Riga was a major center of Jewish dissident activity. After the collapse of Communism and the resurrection of independent Latvia, restrictions on Jewish life were removed.

Community

The Latvian Society for Jewish Culture is the leading communal organization. There are synagogues in Riga, Daugavpils, Liepaja, and Rezhitsa. Most members of the community are non-observant. The Chabad movement, however, is active in promoting Jewish observance. There is a Jewish school attended by about 500 children who learn both Hebrew and Yiddish. Because the majority of present-day Latvian Jews are not descended from pre-war residents, they are unable to enjoy full civil rights.

Israel

Israel and Latvia have full diplomatic relations. Aliya : Since 1989, 10,831 Latvian Jews have emigrated to Israel.

Sites

The restored Peitavas Street synagogue in Riga, which dates back to 1905, was used by the Germans as a warehouse and thus spared destruction. There is also a monument on the site of the Choral Synagogue, in which hundreds of Jews were killed when the building was torched in July 1941. There is a monument to the memory of some 46,000 Jews slaughtered at Bierkernieki Forest (one of the worst massacres of the Shoah). The Jewish Center in Riga is a beehive of activity and a good place for travelers to meet local Jews.

Contact

Riga Jewish Community
PRESIDENT : Arkady SUHARENKO

 Skolas 6,
 LV 1322 Riga
 Tel : 3712 289 580
 Fax : 3712 821 494

Embassy

 Elizabetes 2,
 LV 1340 Riga
 Tel : 3717 320 739 980
 Fax : 3717 830 170