04 July 2022

The Great Choral Synagogue

 

Currently: Riga, Latvia


Just a couple of meters away from where I live, I somehow almost overlooked this important historic place, yet another stark reminder of the atrocities the Nazis committed. This memorial site is exactly where the synagogue was set in flames burning hundreds of Jews alive, exactly 61 years ago today. It’s not listed among those touristic sites intended for visitors to see, but it does exist for a couple of good reasons (especially for the future generation) – to keep historical facts clear and spot-on, to avoid historical revisionism, to not get history confused with chismis, to never ever forget.

 

On a local scale, Ph might have failed in providing similar, basic reminders for the people. Otherwise, how and why did we end up potentially going down the same dark road from a not-so-distant past, again?