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
Museum of the Occupation of Latvia of Lenin. Until 1991 it served as a museum commemorating the Red Latvian Riflemen. However, planned reconstruction of the building, which began in the summer of 2018 after years of planning and negotiations, means that since November 2012 the museum is temporarily housed in Raiņa bulvāris 7 (Rainis Boulevard), the site of the former US Embassy, nearby the Freedom Monument. It is planned that the renovated museum building, dubbed "House For the Future" by its architect Gunnar Birkerts, will be completed in 2020. Museum of the Occupation of Latvia The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia () is a museum