Biķernieki Memorial | |
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Biķernieku memoriāls | |
German War Graves Commission | |
For The Holocaust victims | |
Unveiled | November 30, 2001 |
Location | 56°57′47″N 24°12′37″E / 56.96306°N 24.21028°E |
Designed by | Sergejs Rižs |
Total burials | ≈20,000 |
Earth, don't cover my blood. Let my cry have no place to rest. |
Biķernieki Memorial (Latvian: Biķernieku memoriāls) is a war memorial to the Holocaust victims of World War II in Biķernieki forest in Riga, Latvia. Biķernieki forest is the biggest mass murder site during the Holocaust in Latvia with two memorial territories spanning over 80,000 square metres (860,000 sq ft) with 55 marked burial sites with around 20,000 victims still buried in total.
The memorial was initially planned and construction started in 1986, but was delayed after Latvia declared independence in 1991. The construction was revived in 2000 by German War Graves Commission with the help of local Latvian organisations and several German cities. It was financed mostly by German government and organisations, Austrian State Fund, and involved city donations. It was designed by Sergejs Rižs and opened on November 30, 2001.