New Web site tells story of Latvia’s Jews

A new Web site detailing the history and revival of Latvia’s Jewish community has been unveiled. Development of the site, which went online June 16, was supported by the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Jewish community of Latvia and the U.S. Embassy in Rīga.

The site, “Latvijas ebreju kopiena” (Latvia’s Jewish Community) is presented in English and Latvian and may be found at two addresses, www.jews.lv and www.ebreji.lv. It is divided into five main sections: news, research, education, memory and cities. The memory section includes images from a traveling exhibit, “Jewish Community of Latvia: History, Tragedy, Revival,” that has been shown in a number of cities around the country.

During World War II, thousands of Jews were executed in Latvia, including more than 26,000 from the Rīga ghetto in 1941.

In the near future, according to a press release from the foreign affairs ministry, the site will be expanded with information about Jewish communities in various Latvian cities.

The site was created by Vide Infra Grupa of Rīga, a Web design firm started in 1998. Among its other recent projects was redesign of the Web site for the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.

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