Obj. ID: 50681
Memorials Memorial at the mass grave of about 300 Jewish victims in the Jewish cemetery in Liepāja, Latvia, 1993
To the main object: Jewish cemetery in Liepāja, Latvia
Memorial Name
No official name
Who is Commemorated?
300 Jewish victims murdered in the Raiņa Park on June 29 and July 2-3, 1941, and reburied here in the same year.
Description:
The monument is placed on the mess grave of the Jewish victims in the Jewish cemetery, at the left side of the central pathway.
It consists of an upright stele of red granite with a large Star of David and the dates 1941 and 1945, placed on a low boulder pedestal, and two lateral low red granite horizontal slabs on similar boulder pedestals, bearing Latvian and Hebrew inscriptions.
The names of the donors are mentioned on a metal plaque attached to the righthand side of the monument.
Inscriptions:
1941 – 1945
In Latvian, on the left
Liepājas ebrejiem – nacistu upuriem
Translation: Jews of Liepāja - victims of the Nazis
In Hebrew, on the right
לזכר אחינו יהודי ליבאו שנספו ביד הצורר הנאצי
Translation: To the memory of our brothers, the Jews of Libau murdered by the Nazi oppressor.
In Russian, donors’ inscription on a metal plaque on the righthand side of the monument:
Мемориал построен
на пожертвования
гг. Шварцмана М., Липмана К.,
бр. Захарьиных, Меллера П.,
жителей Израиля и США,
Управы г. Лиепая и членов
еврейской общины
Translation: The memorial is built on the donations of Mr. Shvartzman M., Lipman K., the brothers Zakhar’in, Meller P., residents of Israel and the USA, the city government of Liepāja, and members of the Jewish community.
Commissioned by
The Jewish community of Liepāja with the assistance of the city and other donors.
6 image(s)
sub-set tree:
Lateral stones: height 52 cm, width 150 cm, thickness 27 cm
Liepāja fell to the Nazi German hands on June 29, 1941. Immediately after that, on June 29 and July 2-3, 1941, about 300 Jews and “Soviet activists” were murdered in the Raiņa Park. Later, still during the occupation, all the victims were reburied in the Jewish cemetery, except for five Latvians who were buried in the Central cemetery. For the memorial at the killing site, see here.
A monument on the grave in the Jewish cemetery was erected in 1993 by the revived Jewish community of Liepāja. According to the website of the Liepaja Jewish Heritage Foundation, “The initiators of the creation of this monument were Peter Meller, Mikhail Švarcman, Ilya Gribelsky, Vladimir Ban, Valery and Sergey Zaharjin. Each member of the community considered it his duty to support that project. In 1993, four years after the revival of the Jewish community in Liepaja, a grand opening of the monument took place. Two Latvian architects developed its project free of charge and the monument was erected and opened in 1993 with donations from patrons and community members. The opening was attended by Holocaust survivors from Israel, guests of honor from the Duma, and members of the community.”
In 2004, the monument was supplemented by a memorial wall (see here).
Meler, Meyer, Jewish Latvia: Sites to Remember (Tel-Aviv: Association of Latvian and Estonian Jews in Israel, 2013), p. 212-213.
Meler, Meyer, Mesta nashei pamiati: Evreiskie obshchiny Latvii, unichtozhennye v Kholokoste (Riga: by the author, 2010), p. 252-253.