The Historical and Tragic Path of the Jews in Riga.

The Jewish community of Riga began to form in the second half of the XVIII century. At first, the majority came from Courland. The other part of the community are Jews from Lithuania, Poland, Belarus. Later, in addition to German and Yiddish, Russian and Latvian languages were also spread.

The first information about the appearance of Jewish merchants in Riga is 1536, and the permanent settlement of Jews began in 1638, when a separate building was built outside the Riga stone walls, in today’s Central Market area. At the crossroads of Gogol and Dzirnavu streets, we begin our tour from the site of the former Great Choral Synagogue. The oldest synagogue in Riga is located on the street. Masquas 57. It was originally housed in a wooden house since 1780. The Old Jewish Cemetery was the first piece of land that Jews managed to get into their possession. In late 1941 and early 1942, about 20,000 Jews from Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and other European countries were deported to Latvia. Most of them came to the Riga ghetto. In the Rumbul forest were shot more than 25 thousand people, including about a thousand Jews deported from Germany.

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