Muzejs „Ebreji Latvijā“

About the museum

The museum was founded in 1989 by a group of Holocaust survivors led by the historian Marģers Vestermanis, in order to preserve for future generations all material and intangible evidence of the 450-year history of Jews in Latvia. Initially it worked as a documentation centre, but in 1996 it opened its first small exhibition, which attracted great public interest.

The museum is on the second floor of the building of the Riga Jewish Community. The house, once a Jewish club and theatre, was built in 1913–1914 to a design by the architect Pauls Mandelštams. In 1926 the building was remodelled for the needs of a Jewish theatre troupe, and it also housed various social organisations and a Jewish library. During the Nazi occupation the building served as a club for German officers, and in the Soviet period as a house of political education.

The museum belongs to the Riga Jewish Community and is one of the few private museums accredited by the Latvian government. The permanent exhibition in three rooms covers five centuries of Jewish life in Latvia – from the arrival of the first communities in the 16th century until 1945: the period up to 1918, Jewish cultural, political and social life in 1918–1941, and the tragedy of the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Latvia. The museum’s collection includes paintings, graphic art, books, documents, photographs and diaries.

Key themes

• Three-room permanent exhibition on Jewish history in Latvia from the 16th century to 1945
• Open storage – the Ritovs family collection
• Documentary, photo and video testimonies about the Holocaust in Latvia
• Free admission
• Historic building – the former Jewish club and theatre

Permanent exhibitions

• Ebreji Latvijā līdz 1918. gadam – The first room tells the story of the rise of Jewish communities in Latvia from the 16th to the 19th century and of their economic and cultural life.
• Ebreji Latvijā 1918–1941 – The second room is devoted to Jewish cultural, political and social life during Latvia’s independence.
• Ebreji nacistu okupētajā Latvijā 1941–1945 – The third room, with documentary, photo and video testimonies, tells the story of the Holocaust in Latvia and of the murder of more than 70,000 Latvian Jews.

Founded

1989

Operated by

Rīgas ebreju kopiena

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Admission is free; donations are gratefully accepted.

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