Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin is currently visiting in Latvia at the invitation of the Latvian Parliament chairman. Speaking today at a memorial ceremony for the Jewish-Latvian Holocaust victims in the Rumbula forest, where 25,000 Jews were massacred in late 1941 - mostly by Latvian police and guards - Rivlin said,
"We will not accept any attempt to cleanse the conscience of a nation by blaming that which happened here on the Nazi conquerors alone. Forgiving the lowliest murderers, or relating to them as heroes or freedom fighters, and inviting [former SS agents] to proudly march through the streets, is a spit in the face of those who were slaughtered at this site of destruction."
Latvian Parliament Speaker Ms. Ingrida Udre, on whose face trickled tears throughout the ceremony, said,
"We will remember this terrible crime so that it will not be able to repeat itself. We must continue to investigate our role, and we will do so, and emphasize who are the guilty and who were the innocent victims."
Almost 80,000 Jews from Latvia, and another 30-40,000 Jews sent by cattle truck from across Europe, were murdered on Latvian soil during the Holocaust of 1941-45. Today's ceremony concluded with the Kaddish and Kel Maleh Rachamim prayers.
Rivlin also spoke in Latvia's Parliament of the dangers of world terrorism:
"Specifically Latvia, which was freed not long ago from the chains of tyranny and is now joining the European Union, must teach Europe that whoever shows understanding for tyranny and ignores terrorism, is actually giving inadvertent support for this 'devouring bacterium' that threatens the entire free world without differentiation. As one who well knows what it's like to live under dictatorship, Latvia has a special historic responsibility to open the eyes of satiated Europe - which prefers to forget its not-too-distant past - and remind her what happens when terror and dictators are appeased, as well as its terrible price... Latvia must stand up courageously to its national past and recognize that the Nazi conquest frees no one from his personal and national responsibility for the atrocities that were perpetrated throughout Europe and here in Latvia against the Jews."
"We will not accept any attempt to cleanse the conscience of a nation by blaming that which happened here on the Nazi conquerors alone. Forgiving the lowliest murderers, or relating to them as heroes or freedom fighters, and inviting [former SS agents] to proudly march through the streets, is a spit in the face of those who were slaughtered at this site of destruction."
Latvian Parliament Speaker Ms. Ingrida Udre, on whose face trickled tears throughout the ceremony, said,
"We will remember this terrible crime so that it will not be able to repeat itself. We must continue to investigate our role, and we will do so, and emphasize who are the guilty and who were the innocent victims."
Almost 80,000 Jews from Latvia, and another 30-40,000 Jews sent by cattle truck from across Europe, were murdered on Latvian soil during the Holocaust of 1941-45. Today's ceremony concluded with the Kaddish and Kel Maleh Rachamim prayers.
Rivlin also spoke in Latvia's Parliament of the dangers of world terrorism:
"Specifically Latvia, which was freed not long ago from the chains of tyranny and is now joining the European Union, must teach Europe that whoever shows understanding for tyranny and ignores terrorism, is actually giving inadvertent support for this 'devouring bacterium' that threatens the entire free world without differentiation. As one who well knows what it's like to live under dictatorship, Latvia has a special historic responsibility to open the eyes of satiated Europe - which prefers to forget its not-too-distant past - and remind her what happens when terror and dictators are appeased, as well as its terrible price... Latvia must stand up courageously to its national past and recognize that the Nazi conquest frees no one from his personal and national responsibility for the atrocities that were perpetrated throughout Europe and here in Latvia against the Jews."