Holocaust Survivor and Historian Margers Vestermanis Dies at 100 After Lifelong Dedication to Latvian Jewish History

Margers Vestermanis, a Holocaust survivor and prominent historian of Latvian Jewry, passed away at the age of 100. Born on September 18, 1925, in Riga, Vestermanis survived the Riga Ghetto during the Nazi occupation. He devoted his life to documenting and preserving the history of the Jewish community in Latvia and the memory of the Holocaust.

Vestermanis was a founding figure in modern research on Latvian Jewry and the Holocaust in Latvia. From 1998 to 2019, he served on Latvia's committee of historians, focusing on recording the history of Latvian Jews and Holocaust studies. He authored numerous books and academic articles on these subjects.

Even in his later years, Vestermanis remained active in commemorative events. At the most recent Holocaust Remembrance Day, he attended a ceremony in a wheelchair at the ruins of Riga’s Great Synagogue, which was burned down on July 4, 1941, by German forces with Latvian auxiliaries. He established a memorial at the site honoring 400 Latvians who rescued Jews during the Holocaust and was responsible for documenting their names. Vestermanis received several state honors for his work preserving Jewish history and memory in Latvia.