Jewish Latvia Today - Overview

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Introduction   Communities  Overviews  Accounts    Visiting Latvia

New Rumbula Forest
The Jewish Community Building in Riga Latvia,
The building was a Yiddish Theatre before WWII.

  

INTRODUCTION

Today Latvia’s Jewish community is rebuilding. The majority of Latvian
Jews and Jewish institutions are in the capital city of Riga. Much smaller
communities exist in Daugavpils (Dvinsk) and elsewhere. Latvia's Jewish population of 12-15,000 is a fraction of the 85,000 that lived there before
WWII.

If you live in a community with Jews from the former Soviet Union, you may
be familiar with the types of support and services that are needed to build
new lives in a new country. In Latvia, such immigrants are a majority of the Jews. Many of us are familiar with the struggles of the elderly. A portion of
Riga’s Jews, and the majority in some of the smaller Jewish communities
such as Daugavpils, are elderly.


COMMUNITIES

 

OVERVIEWS

Jewish Communities of the World - World Jewish Congress

Jewish Communities of the Former Soviet Union - Latvia

Lauder Foundation Activities in Latvia

Restitution of Jewish Property - by Stuart Eizestat
NCSJ - Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Eurasia

 

ACCOUNTS

Interview - Grigoriy Krupnikov, leader of the Jewish Community in Latvia
Jewish Observer of the Ukraine, November 2001

Latvia's Community Reborn - Jews Foster Renewed Hopes
Jewish News of Greater Phoenix - December 2002

 

VISITING LATVIA

Lonely Planet World Guide - Latvia

Latvia In Your Pocket
A guide for tourists. Available in booklet form at the Riga airport.

U.S. State Department Information Sheet
Consular information sheet for U.S. citizens traveling to Latvia. Also useful to citizens of other countires.

Latvian Embassy in the U.S.A.

 CIA Factbook-Latvia
The CIA profiles foreign countries in its The World Factbook 2002, which may
be accessed on the web. This is interesting and useful information for those planning travel.

Guidebook to Jewish sites in Riga
The Jews in Riga: Fragments of the Jewish History of Riga
a brief guide-book with a map for a walking tour
Marger Vesterman
Riga: Museum and Documentation Centre of the Latvian Society of Jewish Culture, 1991.

Russian Edition
Evrei v Rige: fragmenty evreiskoi istorii na karte Rigi
kratkii putevoditel
Marger Vesterman
Riga: Izd. Muzeia i dokumentatsionnogo tsentra Latviiskogo ob-va evreiskoi kultury, 1992.

English or Russian version may be purchased at Jewish Museum housed within the Jewish Community Building, 6 Slokas Street, Riga LV-1322 Latvia.

Secular Museums in Latvia

If you plan to visit Latvia, also visit pages for the various communities as well as the virtual tours of the Rumbula Memorial and Bikernieki Memorial just outside of Riga.

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