
“Without forgetting those whose lives were brutally extinguished in the Holocaust 84 years ago, let us today do everything in our power to build a world of humanity, compassion and justice. May remembrance make us stronger, may we stand up for one another, and may we say: never again,” Daiga Mieriņa¸ Speaker of the Saeima, said on Friday, 4 July, addressing those present at an event dedicated to the commemorating the victims of the genocide of the Jewish people.
“We cannot change what has happened in the past. But we can choose how we act now. We can teach our children that human life is sacred, that love is not only a feeling, but also action,” Speaker Mieriņa urged.
The Speaker of the Saeima noted that 70 000 Latvian Jews were sentenced to death during the Holocaust in the territory of our country. “It was deliberate evil,” the Speaker said, emphasising that this was one of the darkest pages in the history of occupied Latvia – a crime was committed against our own people, the citizens of Latvia. “We had lost our statehood at that time; in the summer of 1941, Soviet occupation was replaced by Nazi occupation. At the same time, there is no excuse for the local collaborators who directly participated in these atrocities,” Speaker Mieriņa said.
The Speaker of the Saeima noted that this is also a day when we remember people, including Žanis Lipke, who selflessly risked their own lives and those of their family members to save Jews. “Even in the darkest times, there are forces of light whose humanity and decisive action prevent evil from prevailing,” Speaker Mieriņa said.
“History must be known and learned so that it cannot be distorted and rewritten by dark forces. Otherwise, evil may go unpunished. The tragic pages of Latvian history point to today’s crimes against humanity in Ukraine,” Speaker Mieriņa said, stressing that it is our duty as a democratic and civilised society not to leave them unpunished.
Members of the Presidium, members of the Saeima, other state officials and the diplomatic corps also took part in the commemoration ceremony at the memorial to the victims of the Jewish genocide.
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Saeima Press Service