Memorial complex at scene of mass shootings in Rumbula, Riga

Pictures and text by Mark R. Hatlie

These pictures were taken in Riga during the first week of September, 2007. This site marks the location where over 20,000 Jews were executed on November 30th and December 8th, 1941. They were marched here from the Riga ghetto about ten kilometers to the north.

The scene here has changed quite a bit since I first visited in 1995. The mass graves are still the same, but the stone garden and the menora were all added in 2002.

For background on the events of 1941, I would recommend: Ezergailis, Andrew: The Holocaust in Latvia 1941-1944. The Historical Institute of Latvia: Riga, 1996. For background on the memorial and for the events, see rumbula.org.

I will be adding transcriptions of all the wording soon.

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	These markers along the road to Riga are new. For many years before then, another marker, a relatively small, indescrete stone stood here. It drew attention in Russian and Latvian to the "victims of fascism 1941-1944" - a phrasing that totally washes away the local, particular, exactly dated meaning of this site.
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	I tried every setting on my camera - I could not make these stones legible. I'll have to return when it isn't raining.
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