skede dunes memorial

This sight is off the road, but well worth the time it takes to visit. It is very moving, and a tribute to the over 7500 people who were executed. Many were Jews, some were Soviet POW's. The memorial is very well done, you walk around, there are scriptures in several languages. It is right on the Baltic Sea. There is a separate memorial as well, for the Soviet Soldiers. Tragic episode of humanity's history, and should be visited.

Visited Skede Dunes Memorial after visiting the Northern Fort. It was a few hundred meters down the road, after the turnoff for the Northern Fort. There were signs along the road which listed the distance to the Northern Fort (Ziemulu forti) and following the signs to the Northern Fort and then going a few hundreds meters further along the road was the way I found the Skede Dunes Memorial which is listed in the brochures from the tourism office as the Holocaust Victims' Memorial. The turnoff from the road, is also marked by a sign (Memorials holokausta upuriem) .The Memorial is in the form of a Menorah and there are also inscriptions in Hebrew. To the right is a Soviet obelisk behind a fence. But I did not see any information either in the tourism brochure or at the site as to what the purpose of the obelisk was. Went by bicycle, but it is also accessible by bus as there is a bus stop a short distance from the turnoff.

If you have ever seen any of the Holocaust photos of naked women standing and waiting to be executed chances are this is the spot where they were taken. It was in the Skede Dunes where 7500 people were executed in 1941. Of those, approx. 3640 were Jewish (mainly women and children), 2000 were Soviet POW's, and 1000 were Latvian Civilians. The Holocaust memorial was erected in 2005 and is a giant Menorah that tells the story along with inscriptions and sayings. It is quite a memorial. There is also a Soviet obelisk that was erected after the war.My rating is based on my interest in Holocaust history. This is a very important site in our history and should never be forgotten. It was a bit hard to find, but to me it was worth the effort. These are the directions and GPS coordinates that I have. Libiesu iela 37/53 off Viestura iela Lat: N56.60096 Lon: E021.02039I believe that there was also a small brown sign at the turnoff as well. I can tell you the site that I used to find some of these memorials if you send me a message or e-mail.