Page 23 - TORCH Magazine #17 - Autumn 2020

after the city’s government announced it would begin charging it about $12,000 in rent per month. The museum’s previous 10-year lease, which expired this year, did not charge any rent. The city also reclaimed part of the land that the museum had been originally given, according to the head of the Shamir Association that runs the museum.
mean the destruction of everything we have built so far.”
Thankfully, in October 2020 the government did a u-turn in its decision, but at time of writing a dispute over the terms of the lease still put the future of the site in doubt.
JNS reported the Shamir Association believes that in recent years the museum has been subjected to continuing deliberate attacks from private businesses for the purpose of territory seizing; there have been lawsuits, complaints to various authorities, as well as the unauthorized seizure of territory.
Rabbi Dr. Menachem Barkahan told Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), “The Riga Ghetto and Latvian Holocaust Museum has made and continues to make a great contribution to educating the public about the fate of Latvian Jews, the Holocaust and the invaluable importance of an active public stance. The relocation of the museum would become an unbearable burden for us; in fact, it will
“The Holocaust was not only caused
by those who killed; it happened with the tacit consent of the indifferent majority,” Rabbi Barkahan continued. “I would like to hope that nowadays, nothing like that is possible. In this sense, the decision on the fate of the museum is also symbolic, as it shows the values of the authorities and society. We are asking for the support of the entire community because the future of the museum depends on the active participation of each and every one of us.”
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