For the first time, an action was held in the center of Riga in memory of Jews killed by fascists in the Rumbuli forest

Photo: depositphotos.com

November 30 in the center of Riga near the Freedom Monument held the first event in memory of the victims of the Holocaust: exactly 75 years ago, 30 November and 8 December 1941, 25 thousands of Jews were shot in the Rumbuli forest. Since the beginning of the occupation of Latvia by fascist Germany, around 70 thousands of local Jews have been killed here; survived no more than a thousand people. The current action of memory was the first organized on the initiative from below - people just came and left burning candles at the monument. "Medusa"Recorded a monologue of one of the organizers of the meeting, Lolita Thomson, director of the Riga Museum Memorial of Zhanis Lipke.

75 years have passed since our fellow citizens were killed in Rumbula. More than 20 thousand people, just imagine - it’s like a small city - it simply ceased to exist. For these people, poor Soviet prisoners of war - they were all shot later too - had to dig holes. They threw the living into these pits on top of the dead - and they also shot at them. Women, children, the elderly, and those men whom it was decided not to be left in concentration camps for work died there.

The first cars with Jews came here from Germany. These people were killed right there in Rumbula. And today we had to be reminded how important what happened then was. This is the biggest massacre of people in the territory of Latvia ever committed in history. These people were part of Riga, part of Latvia, they fought for the independence of the country, here was their culture, here were their streets and schools. They were neighbors and friends of our grandparents. This is not only their tragedy. This is a tragedy for our entire country. This is a tragedy of Latvia.

In Rumbula, every year, even in Soviet times, when the KGB took note of everyone who appeared there, Jews came and took care of these pits. Struggled to have a memorial there. As a result, it was made - in 1965 year. But they did not let me write that the Jews were killed here. They simply wrote in Russian and Yiddish that here the Nazis killed Soviet citizens.

We already have an official Holocaust Remembrance Day in Riga - July 4 (unlike other countries, in Latvia it is celebrated not on 27 of January, but on July 4 - on this day in 1941, thousands of Jews were killed in Riga 2 - approx. "Jellyfish"). In the past few years, members of the government, deputies, and the diplomatic corps have participated in mourning events. It is good, it is necessary. But Rumbula also became a common tragedy for our country.

Jews were driven 10 kilometers from the filtration camp at the Moscow suburb (district of Riga - a comment of "Medusa"). They were driving with things, and nobody knew that they were going to die, they thought, maybe, they were sent to some camp. It will be very scary for us to forget about this. Therefore, what is happening here is not the initiative of the authorities, not everything should be their initiative. This is important for us as a society. Surely, among those who came there are deputies or representatives of the authorities - well, if so. But our event is for everyone who just wants to leave a memorable candle. My dream is that someday there, in the center of Riga, there will be 20 thousands of candles - one for each soul killed. They are already now, for the first time, a lot.

People from the media, historians, and philosophers helped us in the organization. For us, this is a new attempt to realize what has happened, and the reason to talk about it openly. There is no competition who suffered more from the war. We all have enough sympathy in our hearts.

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