Mazel tov to the historian Margers Vestermanis, the founder and long-term former director of the “Jews in Latvia” museum, who has received one of Latvia’s highest honors, the Cabinet of Ministers Award.
The award has a special significance, as Vestermanis, the only one of his family to survive the Holocaust, celebrated his 100th birthday in September.
Announcing the award on October 28, the government noted Vestermanis’s birthday and stated that he has “devoted his life to the study of the history of the Jewish community of Latvia and the Holocaust, the preservation of the Jewish commemoration and the strengthening of the historical memory of the society.”
Verstermanis, who already holds other high honors, headed a group of survivors who founded the Jews of Latvia Museum in 1989.
The Museum is currently running an exhibition about Vestermanis to mark his centenary. Called “You Have a Goal in Your Life. Margers Vestermanis – 100”, it opened on September 19, the day after his birthday, and will be up until the Spring. It
reflects the life of Dr. Vestermanis – a happy childhood, the tragedy of World War II, the story of his survival, active scientific and pedagogical work, as well as the restrictions of the Soviet regime, the founding of a museum and persistent work in popularizing Jewish history and heritage, preserving the memory of Holocaust victims, and, finally, the creation of the main book of his life – “Humanity was not Dead After All” about the rescue of Jews in Nazi-occupied Latvia, which was published in September 2025.
Read the government announcement
Jews of Latvia Museum web site
See photos of a celebratory event for Vestermanis’ 100th birthday