Soviet occupation of Riga and Latvia

By visiting the exhibition of the Latvian Occupation Museum, students will not only learn about the history of the occupations of Latvia, but will also experience it as an emotional and spatial experience. The exhibition allows you to trace the events of the 20th century through the fates of people, personal testimonies and authentic objects, creating an understanding of how the occupation regimes influenced everyday life, thinking and choices. This experience is significantly deepened by the “Corner House” – a house built in 1911 in the center of Riga, which has become the most terrible symbol of the repressive apparatus of the Soviet occupation in Latvia. During the occupation, the building on the corner of Brīvības and Stabu streets housed the USSR State Security Institution – the “Cheka”, whose activities directly affected tens of thousands of Latvian residents. From 1940 to 1941 and from 1945 to 1991, political persecutions, interrogations and imprisonments were carried out here. When visiting the building, students can walk through authentic prison cells, corridors, a basement and a courtyard, which allow them to physically feel the fear, isolation and psychological pressure that the repressed lived under. The story of the Cheka also reveals the complexity of the repression mechanism – after Stalin’s death, open physical violence was replaced by psychological terror, but the system was designed to also involve local residents, ensuring control over society. At the same time, some historical facts still remain undiscovered, because documents and employee files are located in Russia and are not available to Latvian researchers. Overall, the exhibition of the Occupation Museum and a visit to the “Corner House” provide a deep, personal and emotionally powerful experience that encourages empathy, critical thinking and understanding of how totalitarian power affects people’s lives and society as a whole.