Marger Westerman, the last surviving prisoner of the Riga Ghetto and founder of the Museum of the Jews of Latvia, has died
Latvian historian Marger (Meir) Westerman—founder of the “Jews of Latvia” Museum, Holocaust researcher, and the last surviving prisoner of the Riga Ghetto—has died at the age of 100.
During the Holocaust, Marger Westerman lost almost his entire family.
After the war, he became a historian and dedicated his life to researching the history of Latvian Jewry and the crimes of the Holocaust.
During the Soviet era, his scholarly work on Jewish topics drew the ire of the authorities. As a result, Westerman was dismissed from the Latvian State Historical Archives.
The historian was an active participant in the “Atmod” movement and one of the initiators of the Latvian Society for Jewish Culture.
“In November 1988, at the initiative of Margers Westerman, the first gathering of Latvian Jews who had survived the Holocaust took place. At that time, 123 people participated. Today, the last of them has passed away,” reads a statement from the Latvian Jewish Community.
It was Margers Westerman who proposed establishing Holocaust Remembrance Day in Latvia, which is observed on July 4.
This date is linked to the tragedy of the burning of the Choral Synagogue on Gogol Street, which the Nazis and their local collaborators destroyed along with the people inside.
The historian also proposed commemorating in a memorial the names of the Latvian Righteous Among the Nations who saved Jews during World War II.
Even in his advanced age, Westerman continued to write scholarly works, give lectures, and meet with people, recounting his experiences and the tragedy of the Holocaust.
One of the main themes of his research was the rescue of Jews by people who, risking their own lives, helped the persecuted.
“I was driven by a desire to express gratitude to those who, amid unimaginable horror—when the Jewish people were condemned to death—risked their own lives and those of their loved ones to save even a single persecuted person,” the historian wrote.
Marger Westerman left behind a significant scholarly and moral legacy dedicated to preserving the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and those who saved lives during World War II.
The Latvian Jewish community announced the scholar’s death.
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