Today, 3 July 2026, a commemorative ceremony was held at the Šķēde Memorial to honor the victims of the genocide of the Jewish people, marking the 85th anniversary of the beginning of the Holocaust in Latvia.
The ceremony was attended by Gunārs Ansiņš, Chairman of the Liepāja City Council; Dace Kārkla, Director of the Liepāja Museum; Sandra Šēniņa, Head of the Liepāja Occupation Museum; representatives of the Liepāja City Municipality and the local community; members of the Liepāja Jewish Community; and friends.
The Jewish community of Liepāja ceased to exist on 8 October 1943, when approximately 700 Jews who remained imprisoned in the Liepāja Ghetto were deported to the Kaiserwald concentration camp. They were the last survivors of the more than 6,000 Jews who lived in the city at the beginning of the German occupation on 29 June 1941. Most were later transferred to the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp, where they were murdered.
At the Šķēde Memorial and the Righteous Gentiles Alley, we honor not only those who were brutally murdered during the Holocaust, but also those whose courage and humanity enabled others to survive. Their stories are an inseparable part of Holocaust remembrance and serve as an enduring reminder of our responsibility to uphold human dignity, justice, and the sanctity of life.
Memory is our shared responsibility, and the example set by the Righteous Among the Nations remains an everlasting testament to the truth that even in the darkest times, human beings can choose humanity.
Thank you to everyone who joined us in remembrance on this meaningful day.
With sincere respect,
Ilana Ivanova-Zivcon
Second Generation of Liepāja Holocaust Survivors
Otto Fischer Memorial Cup – United in Football and Memory
On Saturday, May 30, at 10:00 AM, the children’s football tournament “Otto Fischer Memorial Cup – United in Football and Memory” took place at the “Olimpija” stadium (Zvejnieku aleja 2/4). The tournament is dedicated to Otto Fischer, the legendary Austrian footballer and coach of the pre-war Liepāja club “Olimpija.” It was held for the second consecutive year and is gradually becoming an important tradition in Liepāja’s sporting life.
The initiative began in 2025 as a large-scale international project implemented by the Liepāja Jewish Heritage Foundation in cooperation with the Embassy of Austria in Latvia. With the unveiling of a memorial plaque for Otto Fischer at the “Olimpija” stadium, Liepāja paid tribute to a figure whose name is inseparably linked to the city’s golden age of football. This project not only restored historical justice but also brought back into public memory the story of an outstanding coach whose life was tragically cut short during the Holocaust.
Otto Fischer was born in 1901 in Vienna, Austria. As a footballer, he played as a forward and represented the Austrian national team. He later became a coach, leading several well-known European clubs, including Vienna’s Hertha, FC Salzburg, DSV Saaz, Napoli, Concordia Zagreb, and Liepāja’s “Olimpija.” A special place in his life belongs to Liepāja, where he arrived in 1936 to coach “Olimpija.” Under his leadership, the team reached the most successful period in Latvian football history. Fischer introduced a modern, highly technical style of play based on precise passing, off-the-ball movement, and team cooperation. Under his guidance, “Olimpija” became one of the strongest teams in the Baltic region and won the Latvian championship in 1936, 1938, and 1939, breaking the dominance of Riga-based clubs. The team’s playing quality and tactical mastery were so high that modern football historians refer to “Olimpija” as the “Baltic Barcelona.” Otto Fischer’s contribution not only ensured outstanding sporting achievements but also left a lasting impact on the development of football in Liepāja and Latvia as a whole.
Otto Fischer’s life was cut short by the Holocaust—he was killed in Liepāja in 1941. Therefore, preserving his memory is not only a matter of sports history but also one of historical remembrance, humanity, and the responsibility of society to pass meaningful stories on to future generations.
This year’s tournament featured U9 teams from Liepāja and the Kurzeme region. The young players competed for the Otto Fischer Memorial Cup while demonstrating the values of sport—fair play, team spirit, friendship, and respect.
Ilana Ivanova, Director of the Liepaja Jewish Heritage Foundation said,:
“The tournament was organized in cooperation with the Liepāja Sports Administration. As every year, representatives of the Embassy of Austria and the Liepāja City Council attended the event. We are deeply grateful to the city of Liepāja for its support in making this tournament possible. The winning team was presented with a special challenge cup which became a symbol of continuity, sporting spirit, and respect for the memory of Otto Fischer. It was handed in by Sergej Zakharjin, founder of the football and hockey club “Liepājas Metalurgs” and one of the founding members of the foundation.
The “Otto Fischer Memorial Cup – United in Football and Memory” is more than a sporting competition. It is a story about an exceptional coach, about Liepāja’s golden era of football, and about the responsibility to preserve historical memory. The organizers hope that the tournament will become a long-standing tradition, uniting generations of footballers and reminding us of Otto Fischer’s contribution to the sport of Liepāja and Latvia.
A Virtual Journey Through Jewish Georgia
On April 17, our Foundation invited members of the Liepaja Jewish community and friends to embark on a virtual journey to Georgia, a country that is home to the descendants of one of the oldest Jewish communities in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. Participants learned about the more than 2,600-year history of Georgian Jewry, its unique traditions, language, and rich cultural heritage. To bring the atmosphere of the country closer, traditional Georgian dishes were prepared by community members, and guests had the opportunity to learn about and taste Georgian wines. But what Jewish or Georgian celebration would be complete without polyphonic singing? The community’s vocal ensemble, led by M. Pavlenko, performed several songs in Georgian and Yiddish, creating a warm and festive atmosphere. It was an unforgettable evening that opened another little-known chapter in the history and culture of Georgian Jewry and deepened our understanding of this remarkable heritage.
On February 7, 2026, at 12:30, the opening of Eduards Kaplāns’ annual art exhibition, dedicated to the artist’s 85th anniversary, will take place.
The exhibition will be held at the Hall of the Liepāja Jewish Community, Kungu Street 21, Liepāja. Eduards Kaplāns’ creative legacy is closely connected with the educational activities of the Liepāja Jewish Community and the founding of its Sunday School, his many years of work at Liepājas Metalurgs, as well as with the city of Liepāja and its people. Over the decades, he has created unique caricatures of his colleagues, acquaintances, and friends, as well as graphic and painterly works that reveal both the visual character of the city and its spiritual atmosphere. His art is a testament to perseverance, inner freedom, and a deep sense of belonging to Liepāja. Equally significant is Eduards Kaplāns’ contribution to the educational, religious, and cultural life of the Liepāja Jewish Community, promoting the preservation of historical memory and dialogue between cultures. The exhibition is organized and supported by the Foundation “Liepājas ebreju mantojums” in cooperation with the Liepāja Jewish Community.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day – January 27
On January 27, the world observes International Holocaust Remembrance Day — a day of solemn reflection, mourning, and recognition of our responsibility toward both the past and the future.
This date is of profound significance: on January 27, 1945, the Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated, a site that has become the enduring symbol of an unprecedented crime against humanity in both scale and cruelty.
The Holocaust claimed the lives of six million Jews and millions of other victims of the Nazi regime — including Roma, people with disabilities, prisoners of war, resistance fighters, and civilians. This tragedy touched not only individual nations but all of human civilization, revealing the devastating consequences of hatred, racism, anti-Semitism, and societal indifference.
Every city in Latvia bears witness to these inhumane actions of the Nazis and their collaborators, and Liepāja occupies a particularly important place in this history. According to the renowned American public figure and Holocaust survivor from Liepāja, Professor George Schwab, as well as Professor Wendy Lower, a leading scholar of Holocaust studies, Liepāja offers a key opportunity for educating younger generations about the lessons of the Holocaust.
Among the world’s most significant evidence are the photographs of the executions at Šķēde — unique documentary records stolen, copied, and preserved by one of Liepāja’s surviving Jews, David Zivсon. These images stand as irrefutable proof of mass murder and serve as an essential source for understanding the tragedy, reminding us of the consequences of human hatred and societal indifference.
Equally significant is the film footage captured by German sailor Reinhart Wiener, who, using an amateur camera, recorded scenes of the shootings near the lighthouse. This rare and harrowing visual record reveals the scale of Nazi atrocities. Originally created not for remembrance but as a display of the perpetrators’ cynicism and impunity, today this footage serves as incontrovertible evidence, allowing us to confront the Holocaust directly, without mediation or interpretation.
The preserved film and Wiener’s eyewitness testimony are invaluable resources for historians, museums, and educational programs worldwide. They compel us to face the truth and remind us that crimes against humanity begin where one person ceases to see another as their equal.
The history of Liepāja is not only one of destruction, but also of memory, responsibility, and the imperative to speak the truth, however painful it may be.
On this day, the Jewish Religious Community of Liepāja, together with the broader community of humankind committed to justice and remembrance, bows in respect before the victims and honors the survivors and the Righteous Among the Nations, who, at the risk of their own lives and those of their loved ones, saved the persecuted. Holocaust remembrance is not merely a reflection on the past; it is a moral obligation of the present — to preserve the truth, to confront distortions of history, and to ensure that such a tragedy is never repeated.