State President Egils Levits attended a remembrance event at the site of the former Rīga Great Choral Synagogue, which was burned to the ground with people inside it in one of the most horrific episodes of the Second World War in Latvia.
The Nazi occupation of Latvia brought the atrocities of the Holocaust with it. The first mass murders of Jews began in 1941 with the largest actions taking place in Riga, Daugavpils, and Liepāja, as well as in other smaller towns.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkēvičs provided an early reminder of the occasion on social media.
Minister of Defense Artis Pabriks, himself a historian, released a short video (with English subtitles) stressing the need to heed the lessons of history.
A full account of these horrific events can be read at the website of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia.
