Riga’s Peitav Shul Survives History Of Violent Anti-Semitic Attacks
Religion Unplugged Senior Contributor Robert Carle interviews Rabbi Eliyohu Krumers, who leads the Peitav Shul congregation in Riga, Latvia. The Peitav Shul is the only synagogue that survived the Nazi and Soviet occupations of Latvia because it's located in the center of Riga's Old Town, making it too risky to set it on fire without endangering the Old Town. Instead, the Nazis used the synagogue as a stable for animals. In the 1990s, the Peitav Shul was bombed twice, causing $60,000 in damages. The renovation of the synagogue was funded by the European Union and completed in 2008. According to Rabbi Krumers, Jews are currently safe in Latvia. After the second bombing, the Latvian government stationed police permanently at the synagogue. Krumers mentioned that Christians are gradually acknowledging the unfortunate history of anti-Semitism within the church. Latvian Lutherans, he said, have rejected the parts of Luther's later writings that attack Jews and Judaism.