MINSK, 5 July (BelTA) – While preserving the memory of the Holocaust, Latvia is celebrating SS veterans and collaborators, which is regrettable, President of the Conference of European Rabbis, Chief Rabbi of Moscow Pinchas Goldschmidt told RIA Novosti.
“Indeed, the Jewish community of Latvia lives more than well, develops, including with the support of the government. However, it is stunning how the Latvian authorities can square the memory of the Holocaust with the glorification of Latvian collaborators and celebration of SS veterans at annual parades. Unfortunately, some governments are still trying to rewrite history. I would recommend that they leave it to scholars and historians,” the rabbi said.
Almost 90% of Latvian Jews died during the war. The country also bristled with concentration camps for Jews - both local Jews and those brought from other countries. On 4 July 1941, the Nazis burned down the Great Choral Synagogue of Riga together with people who were inside. On this day, Latvia marks the Commemoration Day of Genocide against the Jews in Latvia. Goldschmidt pointed out that it is extremely important that the memory of the horrors of the Holocaust lives on and is conveyed at the state level.
Earlier, the president of the Conference of European Rabbis expressed his outrage at the words of Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki who said that Poland would not pay a single “zloty, dollar or euro” for crimes carried out against the Jews. His made this statement after the lower house of the Polish parliament approved a draft law on 24 June that established a 30-year limit for restitution claims against the state. The Israeli Embassy in Poland condemned the draft law saying that it infringes on the rights of the Holocaust survivors to get their property back and threatened to worsen relations between the two countries.
