The Nazi occupation of Latvia brought the atrocities of the holocaust with it. The site of the ceremony is deeply significant, being the location of the former Great Choral Synagogue in Rīga, scene of one of the greatest atrocities of all when on July 4, 1941, it was burned to the ground.
The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia says: "The first mass murders of Latvian Jews started in July and continued until September. Groups of Jews were ordered to be shot in Riga, Daugavpils and i...