History of the Jews in Latvia International Refugee Organization (IRO), and other relief organizations for Nazi victims, and some of them immigrated to the U.S. and other countries abroad. Nevertheless, there were also Latvians who risked their lives in order to save Jews. One such, Jānis Lipke, helped to save several dozen Jews of the Riga ghetto by providing them with hideouts. The Jewish population of Latvia declined from 28,300 in 1979 to 22,900 in 1989, when 18,800 of its Jews lived in the capital Riga. Part of this was due to a high rate of emigration to Israel; the Soviet Union allowed limited numbers of
Libraries of the University of Latvia include fragments of medieval manuscripts, manuscripts of prominent figures of Latvian culture, reproductions and books from the 13th century up until our day. The Library has received several collections donated by outstanding world scientists: Embriks Strands, Ernests Felsbergs, Pēteris Šmits, Helmut Winter, Samuels Knohs and others. Access to aggregate information of the results of academic and research activities at the University of Latvia is available via bibliographic databases created at the Library: University of Latvia research publications and history; University of Latvia graduation thesis and a database of dissertations elaborated and defended at the University. Resources may be accessed via