On Monday, 4 July, Riga hosted the so-called March of the Living – an event dedicated to the victims of Holocaust.
«A couple of years ago the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance made opposition to the distortion of historic facts as its goal for the near future. Not all people understood the importance of this goal at the time. Now we see the topic of WWII being used as an excuse for a new war. It is important for us to prevent our and Europe’s history from falling into hands of others, for us to remember Nazism’s merciless policy and genocide of jewish people here in Latvia and elsewhere in Europe,» says Riga Ghetto and Latvian Holocaust museum director Jūlija Tereščenko.
«In WWII Latvia lost around 70 000 of jewish residents. The country also became a cemetery for jews from Germany, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic and other countries. This is a special day for us to commemorate them,» added Tereščenko.
The first March of the Living took place within the territory of Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland in 1988. It was organised by Israel’s Ministry of Education. The procession consisted of mostly youngsters.
Since 1996 the March of the Living is held every year on 4 July. It is held in Poland and other countries, such as Israel, Britain, Austria, Canada, Hungary and Lithuania.
The first time it was held in Latvia was 2010, when it was initiated by rabbi Menahems Barkahans. Every year this event gathers 200-300 participants. These people move through the streets of the former ghetto in Riga all the way to the Riga Great Choral Synagogue Holocaust Monument. Due to the pandemic the event was not held in 2020 and 2021. This makes this year a jubilee for the procession.