6 July 2009
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The Lo Tishkach Foundation has completed a report on legislation and practice relating to the protection and preservation of Jewish burial grounds in Latvia. The survey, based on preliminary research, finds that the state and maintenance of the country’s approximately 270 Jewish burial grounds varies greatly from one site to another. |
Most of the 70 Jewish cemeteries and up to 200 mass graves in Latvia are owned by municipalities and other public bodies, with about 20 sites being located within the property of private individuals. The Jewish community owns two cemeteries. Only eight Jewish cemeteries are currently in use.
A 2002 US-Latvia agreement on cultural properties has been useful in promoting research on and documentation of Jewish burial grounds in Latvia. Additional provisions in both national and international bodies of law may be used to campaign for further protection of the country’s Jewish cemeteries and mass graves, which are currently not listed as sites of cultural heritage.
