On August 25, the Day of Jewish Culture was held in Aizputе. Here, in 1751, one of the first Jewish communities in Latvia was founded. The organizers of the Day of Jewish Culture were the Aizpute Local History Museum in cooperation with the Riga Jewish Community.
Currently, there are no Jews in Aizpute, but it is important for the residents of Aizpute to preserve the memory of this former important part of the city’s population: researches are being published, which collect stories, photographs and other testimonies about Jews and their life in Aizpute, the old Jewish cemetery is being cleaned up, there is a memorial plaque on the building of the former synagogue, and on the facades of houses where Jews used to live there are signs with QR codes and information in Latvian, German and English.
The events of this day began with a Holocaust memorial ceremony in the Dzirkali forest, where 386 Aizpute Jews were murdered on October 27, 1941. In 2021, local residents Varis Sants and Normunds Steinbergs, on their own initiative and at their own expense, erected a memorial stone at this site. Local priests from the Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran and Pentecostal churches took part in the ecumenical prayer together with the Jewish community.
Those who were interested in the Jewish culinary heritage gathered at the museum, where Riga Jewish Community board member Gita Umanovska introduced Jewish culinary traditions, and сhallah making workshop was held under the guidance of Elisheva Leimane.
The event continued in the city’s House of Culture, a former synagogue building. Ilya Lensky, director of the Museum “Jews in Latvia”, gave a lecture on Jewish history, traditions, holidays and rituals.
At the end of the Day of Culture, city residents and guests listened to a concert by the Riga Jewish Community choir “Shofar” (artistic director Josifs Cisers, concertmaster Raisa Kazhoka). The only Jewish choir in the Baltics performed songs in Yiddish, Hebrew and Ladino.
The Day of Jewish Culture in Aizpute was held in an emotional and warm atmosphere. According to Jolanta Berga, the initiator and inspirer of the event, director of the Aizpute Local History Museum, Jewish cultural heritage is an integral part of the city and a common value.
The Day of Jewish Culture was financially supported by the Latvian Jewish Community Restitution Fund and the State Cultural Capital Fund.
26.08.2024