The most secret places in Latvia

By visiting the “Corner House”, students enter a real historical space where the repressive apparatus of the Cheka operated during the Soviet occupation. Walking through narrow prison cells, dark corridors, the basement and the courtyard, it is possible to feel the environment in which people were interrogated and held in prison. This experience helps to understand how fear, isolation and psychological pressure were used as an instrument of power and how the totalitarian regime influenced people's everyday lives and choices. Students learn not only about the fates of the victims, but also about the functioning of the repression system - how after Stalin's death, physical violence was replaced by psychological terror and how local residents were also involved in the control mechanisms. The experience is complemented by a second sightseeing object located near Līgatne - a Soviet-era bunker, which allows you to see a completely different side of power. Students descend 9 meters underground, into rooms that were intended only for the power elite in the event of a nuclear war. There, you can see authentic work spaces, sleeping quarters, a canteen, communication and energy supply systems that ensured complete isolation from the outside world. The bunker helps to understand how the regime prepared for the crisis, while at the same time thinking about itself, not about society as a whole. This experience encourages students to compare power and the individual, to ask questions about responsibility, safety and choices in times of crisis, and to realize that freedom and democracy are not self-evident.