Museum of the Occupation of Latvia

Museum of the Occupation of Latvia building

Reconstruction of shack from Gulag in museum. The picture does not say, how many people were crammed into such a shack...

The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia 1940-1991 (Latvian: Latvijas Okupācijas muzejs) is an historic educational institution located in Riga, Latvia. It was established in 1993 to exhibit artifacts, archive documents, and educate the public about the 51-year period in the 20th century when Latvia was successively occupied by the USSR in 1940, then by Nazi Germany in 1941, and then again by the USSR in 1944.

The museum's stated mission is to:

• "Show what happened in Latvia, its land and people under two occupying totalitarian regimes from 1940 to 1991;
• "Remind the world of the crimes committed by foreign powers against the state and people of Latvia;
• "Remember the victims of the occupation: those who perished, were persecuted, forcefully deported or fled the terror of the occupation regimes."

Official programs for visits to Latvia of top level representatives of other countries normally include a visit to the Museum of the Occupation.

The museum building was constructed by the Soviets in 1971 to celebrate what would have been the 100th birthday of Lenin. Until 1991 it served as a museum commemorating the Red Latvian Riflemen.

See also

• Soviet Occupation Day, Latvia
• Museum of Occupations in Tallinn, Estonia

External links

• Museum of the Occupation of Latvia 1940-1991 Official website
• Education Programme of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia (in Latvian)