The Jungfernhof Concentration Camp Memorial Project: Reclaiming a Lost History with Karen Frostig

The Locker of Memory Memorial Project seeks to restore the history of the Jungfernhof concentration camp in Riga, Latvia, where nearly 4,000 German and Austrian Jews were confined and murdered between 1941 and 1944. This multi-faceted memorial project is driven by the belief that confronting forgotten histories is not only a moral imperative but also a powerful act of justice for victims and their descendants.

In 2013, Latvian authorities turned the camp’s original location into a public park for leisure and recreation, essentially erasing its past. The Locker of Memory memorial project used various strategies of investigation and representation to transform this site of erasure into a place of remembrance.

History is about the past, commemoration is about the present. The process of searching for traces of the Jungfernhof concentration camp took place during a tumultuous period of global conflict, where histories of fascism and autocracy re-emerged at the peril of democracy. As we recovered the history of genocide in Latvia, we witnessed two major wars unfold in Ukraine and Gaza. We will conclude the presentation with questions about the meaning of humanity at this juncture in history as we navigate a new era of extremism, disinformation, lawlessness, and widespread hatred.

Register to join us online on February 22 at 1:00 p.m. ET. Please contact cajl@tisrael.org with questions.

Moderator

Paula S. Apsell is the Senior Executive Producer Emerita NOVA, the CEO Leading Edge Productions and the Executive Producer and Co-Director of a feature documentary about Jewish resistance during the Holocaust entitled Resistance – They Fought Back, winning the Best Documentary award at the LA Indies Fest and Best Cinematography at the Santa Barbara Film Awards. It also won the Best Feature Film award at the Toronto Documentary Feature and Short Film Festival. 

Panelists

Prof. Karen Frostig, Founding Director, Locker of Memory memorial project and Director of the Jungfernhof Concentration Camp Memorial Project, creating concept and design for the memorial project. Professor Lesley University and scholar WSRC and HBI at Brandeis University.

Ilya Lensky, Director of Museum “Jews in Latvia” and Latvian delegate to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

Richards Plavnieks, Ph.D. Historian, Associate Professor of History, Florida Southern College, US. 

Professor Philip Reeder, Geographer and Cartographer, Center for Environmental Research & Education (CERE), Former Dean (07/13-06/21) Bayer School of Natural Environmental Sciences. Now: School of Science and Engineering, Duquesne University.