It Is All About Memory

Tuesday, August 11, 2026

"For in the end, it is all about memory, its sources and its magnitude, and, of course, its consequences." - Elie Wiesel, winner of Nobel Peace Prize 

Our tour today was called “Riga’s Jewish Heritage.” Our excellent guide was Edgars. Riga is the capital of Latvia. The population of Riga is around 589,000. The population of Latvia is around 1.83 million. Riga is an ancient trading city. It became a member of the Hanseatic League in 1282.

To begin our tour, our bus drove us up and down several streets in the center of Riga so that we could see some of Riga’s magnificent Art Nouveau buildings. There are over 800 Art Nouveau buildings in Riga - one of the largest collections of Art Nouveau buildings in the world - and it gives the city a very elegant look.

Art Nouveau is an international style of art and architecture that was popular during the 1890’s and the first decade of the 1900’s. Art Nouveau is characterized by sinuous curves, nature themes, the innovative use of iron, glass and ceramics, and merging fine art with functional craftmanship.

Here are four examples of outstanding Art Nouveau buildings we saw in Riga.

Well-preserved Art Deco buildings, from the 1910’s through the 1930’s, could also be seen. Geometric shapes, symmetry, and vertical lines are characteristics of the Art Deco style.

Riga is also known for its large number of wooden buildings from the 19th century that still exist in the older parts of the city.

Warning: The following is disturbing and may be hard to read, but please don’t skip it. When we don’t want to know, or don’t want to think about it, we enable the perpetrators. (And you don’t want to miss today’s fabric.)

Riga has had a Jewish community since the 15th century. In 1935, there were 44,000 Jews living in Riga. In 1940, The Red Army of the Soviet Union entered Riga and arrested Jewish religious and political leaders. The Nazis followed with worse attacks on the Jews.

Our first stop where we got off the bus was at the ruins of the Great Choral Synagogue. It was built in 1868 and was the biggest and most beautiful synagogue in Riga. It was the center of Jewish life in Riga until World War II. At the beginning of the war, German soldiers forced 300 Jews into the basement of the synagogue and then threw grenades into the windows. The building burned down and there were no survivors.

Near the ruins of the Great Choral Synagogue stands the Monument to Zanis Lipke and all the Saviors of Jews. This monument features a collapsing wall, representing the Jewish people, and supports holding up the wall, bearing the names of Latvian non-Jews who risked everything to help save Jews from Nazi atrocities.

In October of 1941, the Nazis rounded up all the Jews of Riga and forced them into a small area which became a ghetto. The Jews were only allowed to bring a few possessions. The Nazis quickly stole the rest of their property. Conditions in the ghetto were dire: food was scarce, each person was allowed no more than 4 to 6 square meters of space, there was forced labor, and there were beatings and executions for minor infractions of the harsh rules.

On November 30 and December 8, 1941, the Nazis carried out the massacre of the 26,000 remaining Jews of Riga with extreme cruelty. In the cold winter weather, the Jews were forced to march from the ghetto to Rumbula Forest, on the outskirts of Riga. There, in huge pits dug by Russian prisoners of war, the Jews would be buried. The Nazis had developed a system to maximize “efficiency” and minimize the cost of bullets and the amount of work involved in their project of mass murder.

Groups of Jews were made to strip and enter each pit. They were made to lie face down on the bottom. Then they were shot in the head, one by one. The next group was required to lie down on top of the bodies of the group that had just been killed. Then they were killed. This process was repeated until 26,000 Jews were killed and the huge pits were full.

But this time there were a few survivors who managed to play dead or hide. They stayed in the woods, overnight, in freezing weather. This is how we know the details of the massacre.

Although this massacre was second in scope only to Babi Yar, I had not heard of Rumbula, despite the many books I have read about the Holocaust.

Today, there is a memorial in the forest where the outlines of six grim pits tell the story.

The entrance to the memorial area

A concrete edge marks the location of one of the mass graves

This tour, and especially the visit to Rumbula Forest, was a sobering experience, but it is important to go to sites like this and let the world know that people care what happened and that the events of those dark days will be remembered, along with the victims and the heroes.

 Our final stop was in Old Town, where Edgars led us on a short walking tour which included the Peitav Synagogue. It is the only active synagogue in Riga. The building survived the Holocaust because of its location. It was too close to a church and other historic buildings for the Nazis to burn it down. 

The synagogue is known for its architecture, as well as its history. It is Art Nouveau and Egyptian Revival. I find this a surprising style for an Orthodox synagogue, but it was a lovely venue.

Edgars told us there are presently about 11,000 Jews living in Latvia. I suspect that many of them (or their parents) emigrated from Russia and Ukraine in the post-war or post-Soviet period. 

The Old Town was large and interesting, with many beautiful buildings, shops, and restaurants. It was lively, but not too crowded. Charming, charming, charming.

This tour was excellent. It was moving and I learned so much about Latvia, about Latvian Jews, and about the historic connections between all the countries on the Baltic. I did not find it too unbearable to hear and see the difficult parts, although one woman in our tour group wept most of the time we were in Rumbula Forest. I thought Edgars handled it all very well.

Today’s fabric is riveted denim. Jacob Davis (born Jacob Youphes in 1831) was a Jewish tailor from Riga who invented riveted denim jeans in 1871. The rivets kept pockets and seams from ripping when miners and laborers wore denim clothing for heavy work. Davis later partnered with Levi Strauss, and the rest is history.

Photo from denimhunters.com