We were deeply saddened to hear of the the passing yesterday of Latvian Holocaust scholar Andrew (Andrievs) Ezergailis.

Andrievs Ezergailis (1930–2022) — Historian, Doctor of Humanities, foreign member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, awarded the Order of the Three Stars 4th Class. Born in Viesīte Municipality, Latvia. As the Soviet army reinvaded Latvia, his family fled to Germany — the only other option being the dangerous attempt to cross the Baltic Sea to Sweden. In 1949, the family emigrated to the United States. After completing his doctoral studies, Ezergailis was appointed to a professorship at Ithaca College (New York state) where he lectured on Russian and contemporary European history. Ezergailis subsequently concentrated on the Holocaust in German Nazi-occupied Latvia, devoting countless articles and numerous books to the topic, including his seminal Holocaust in Latvia, 1941–1944 (1996).

Ezergailis’s passion for following documents and documented facts wherever they led inspired discussion and provoked both champions and critics of his unyielding quest to strip away propaganda and hearsay to arrive at historical truth.

After the death of his wife Inta, he edited and published a four-volume anthology of her poetry.

Peters curates Andrievs Ezergailis’ official Holocaust scholarship web site, at holocaustinlatvia.org.