Pictures in Riga, Latvia

 There is a small museum of Jewish history in Riga, the capital of Latvia. It is in a beautiful old house, in few spacious rooms, but it is still a very confined space for a museum. 

I have visited it recently. Jewish minority in Latvia, present there for centuries, and taking vital part in this country's establishing after I WW, almost totally perished during Shoah. I have visited also the place where Riga's ghetto used to be, but that is for another time and occasion. 

The place was quiet, the audio-guide excellent and the whole story fascinating.

Yet, before I even entered the museum the exhibition of some art work caught my attention. It was dedicated to the horrible massacre of last October when Hamas murdered 1,200 Israelis.

Thinking about Western students demanding intifada, shouting for the next Holocaust i watched with tears in my eyes these pieces of art showing empathy and understanding of what really happened. They might not be the best paintings I have seen in my life, but they are striking and full of pain of what happened to men, women and children.

Let me share some with you:

The above one is titled "Something horrible is about to happen" and shows the peaceful kibbutz Kfar Aza right before the attack. The kibbutz where people were concentrated on supporting Palestinian rights and helping those living in Gaza, often times volunteering for them.

Here is the series of another 3 pictures from Kfar Aza, showing massacre, child's bedroom (middle) and those who left in for eternity...
 

 

The Bibas family were not the only children taken hostage. Enough is to remind little Abigail, just 3 year-old, taken hostage after her parents were murdered, her dad while he was holding her in his arms. There were so many children, babies, murdered, wounded, orphaned, kidnapped. Yet we know nothing about the fate of Bibas family kidnapped in entirety: dad, mum and their two small children, Kfir, the younger, not even one year old... If he is alive he spent his first two birthdays as a hostage in Gaza.

 

 

People were hiding in safe rooms hoping for rescue, but safe rooms were designed against rockets, not against terrorists, they were not hidden and rarely allowed for the doors to be locked from inside. Nobody expected what came. Little Abigail's siblings after the murder of their parents hid inside for 14 hours, alone. They were 6 and 9.

People danced and had joy on the Nova event until they had to run for their lives. Over 360 didn't make it. Young, beautiful, diverse, peaceful people...

The dove of peace was murdered that day...

As the last one I wanted to show you the picture that was specially touching for me. It was painted by Merav Shinn Ben-Alon, titled "Bring her home". In the observation point on the Gaza border a group of teenage soldiers were stationed. Female, unarmed. They were observers. Some were murdered in the cold blood, some were taken hostage. I have seen, as probably did you, horrible scenes with terrorist laughing that these are the women they will get pregnant. Horrible. Among captives was Naama Levy showed in the pictures, her hair held by the terrorist, with wounded ankle, hands tied behind her back and bloodstained pants. Bring her home! She was only eighteen!

Many years ago, during Shoah, Latvian Modernist artist, Alexandra Belcova, was one of the very few souls outside of Jewish community, who was horrified by the fate of Latvian Jews in real time, when the ghetto was created. She carried the packs to her music teacher and other friends to the Riga's ghetto and finished drawing tens of sketches depicting horrors of the time, never completely finished, feverish and backed by horror. Nevertheless there are also few of her finished paintings illustrating her emotions. Below find one of the, very moving, that is the personification of shame, guilt, despair, hopelessness and still humanity, deprived, humiliated but humanity when confronted with proud and open cruelty and hate.

Shall we recognize ourselves in this portrait when observing students from cream of the cream Western universities calling for genocide of Jews again?