Statement
by the Honorable Warren L. Miller, Chairman
U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad
on Signing the Agreement
Between the United States of America and the Republic of Latvia
On the Protection and Preservation of Certain Cultural Properties
October 7, 2002 * Riga, Latvia
Minister Petersone, Ambassador Carlson, honored guests:
I am pleased to be in Riga and with you to sign this agreement. It is symbolically and substantively important and will further strengthen the bonds between our two nations.
On behalf of the people and the Government of the United States – including President George W. Bush, who appointed me – I thank and congratulate the Government of Latvia for taking the positive steps that are represented by this agreement. It is noteworthy that Latvia is the first Baltic nation to sign such an agreement, which is a credit to the leaders of your government.
The agreement recognizes the importance of protecting and preserving historic sites, places of worship, monuments, cemeteries, collections, and documentary materials that are important to the joint cultural heritage of our peoples.
It commits our countries to protecting the cultural heritage of all national, religious, and ethnic groups that were the victims of genocide and ensuring that there is no discrimination against their cultural heritage.
It also requires our countries to identify, protect and preserve properties of special significance – especially properties that are in danger of destruction or deterioration because a victimized group cannot on its own ensure its protection or preservation. In addition, the agreement establishes a Joint Cultural Heritage Commission to oversee these efforts and to resolve issues that may arise.
Today’s agreement expands upon the 1972 UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. It covers many cultural and religious properties that do not meet UNESCO’s requirement that protected sites be of “universal value,” notwithstanding that such sites may be of great importance to the cultural heritage of Latvia and U.S. citizens whose roots are in this country.
For example, under this agreement modest cemeteries, synagogues, churches, and other properties are recognized as worthy of protection based on their individual values, particularly sites cherished by minority communities. Additionally, mass graves and other places associated with the horrors of the Holocaust can also be protected.
We recognize that much of Latvia’s multi-ethnic make up is the result of repeated invasions and resettlements, not peaceful immigration and cultural integration.
Latvia is a country that has suffered a tumultuous history – a history that continues to define and shape its present. Part of this history involves Latvia’s role in the Holocaust and the treatment and fate of Jews in Latvia – estimated at approximately 90,000 on the eve of their destruction.
When Germany invaded the former Soviet Union and occupied Latvia in 1941, some Latvians took part in the murder of the country’s Jewish population, and in the capture and execution of Jewish refugees from other countries. According to renowned historian Raul Hilberg, the Einsatzkommando (the German mobile killing unit) assigned to Latvia had just 170 members. They relied on local and national Latvian police units and groups of local volunteers and collaborators to accomplish the murder of more than 90% of the Jews in Latvia.
However, since regaining independence, the government of Latvia has demonstrated a desire to confront the past by revealing it truthfully and accurately. These efforts must be recognized and commended. In 1990, Latvia’s parliament recognized Latvian participation in the Holocaust and vowed intolerance toward "any manifestation of anti-Semitism and ethnic discrimination”.
In 1998, former President Guntis Ulmanis created a History Commission to pursue an open and accurate discussion of the Holocaust in Latvia.
Since President Vike-Freiberga
took office in 1999, she has made Holocaust remembrance a priority. At
an international conference in Riga in 2000, she courageously spoke of
Latvia’s national shame for the involvement of Latvians in the Holocaust.
I want to express our appreciation for President Vike-Freiberga’s
compassion, and her understanding of the importance of historical accuracy
and of the vital link between truthful remembrance and freedom.
While today’s agreement commits our respective nations to a joint effort to preserve cultural heritage, our efforts have already begun. The U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad is proud to be part of the international effort, together with the Municipality of Riga and other entities, to create an appropriate memorial at Rumbula, one of the two most notorious Holocaust massacre sites in Latvia. The project will be completed and dedicated later this year. Its completion will insure that the more than 25,000 men, women and children murdered in two days on that site will be remembered with dignity.
The Commission has also organized and sponsored an ongoing inventory and survey of cultural heritage sites of significance to the Jewish community in Latvia and the United States in cooperation with the museum, “Jews in Latvia” here in Riga.
We look forward to working with our Latvian counterparts to ensure the protection of cultural sites of all minorities. It is our hope and expectation that the signing of this agreement represents only the beginning of a long-standing and productive partnership with the government of Latvia.
Again, I congratulate the government of Latvia for taking the positive and responsible action it has by entering into this agreement.
Thank you.
