In this framework, we will commemorate the almost 25,000 Jewish citizens from Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic who were deported to Riga between 1941 and 1942. Most of them were murdered in the forest of Biķernieki and Rumbula, in the Salaspils and Kleinjungfernhof concentration camps and elsewhere in Latvia by German SS units and their local henchmen. Almost the entire Jewish population of Latvia also fell victim to the crimes of the National Socialists.

In this evening hour on November 29, 2021, the Šķirotava station, where exactly 80 years ago on November 29, 1941 the first deportation train from Berlin with 1,053 people arrived, will be virtually connected in a live broadcast with numerous cities from which the victims were deported to Riga, connected in „bridges of remembrance“.

In memory of the deportees, there will be speeches by German ambassador Christian Heldt, the Austrian ambassador Doris Danler and the Czech ambassador Jana Hynková, together with the director of the museum „Jews in Latvia“ Iļja Ļenskis and the mayor of the city of Riga Mārtiņš Staķis as well as representatives of some of the cities of the Riga Committee.

The Riga Committee is an association of more than 64 cities from all over Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic commemorating the deportation of their fellow Jews to Riga. It was founded in 2000 and one of its founding members was the People's Association for the Care of German War Graves.

At the end, candles will be lit and a minute of silence will be held in memory of the many victims.

You can watch the event online here