The Occupation Musseum, A Great Place Of History To Visit In Latvia’s Capital Riga

An article on my recent visit to Riga’s “Occupation Museum”, where one can see for oneself the horrors that most have been the time period that were the years between 1940 and 1990, specially during Stallin’s brutal regime.

In all honesty I must declare that before coming to Riga, where I currently find myself in I knew very little if anything about Latvia, other then that it had once been a part of the Soviet Union along with Estonia and Lithuania. These three countries making up the Baltic States which were swalled up by the Soviet Union during its expansion following the Ribontrop-Molotov pact yet managed to regain their independence given the break up of the now extinct Soviet Union.

Actually it was upon my recent arrival in Riga that I found out that Latvia had its own language, it not even being part of the Slavic family; as is the case with Russian or Polish or Ukrainian but being similar to Lithuanian. This making it a language which is not one that could be understood by one who; like myself speaks Polish and has a basic understanding of Russian. Regarding the people of Latvia they for the most part are bilingual; speaking both their native Latvian and Russian given it was less then 20 years ago that they found themselves in what was the Soviet Union.

As for the the “Ocupation Musseum” it was one day while walking through Riga’s “old town” that I came across this most interesting place; as it truly allows one to get a sense of the oppression that must have been felt during the time that Latvia formed a part of the Soviet Union. It being there where I saw much of Latvia’s history not so much in items on display but in stories of the horrors that befell upon this country during the time of Soviet Communism that was known as Stallinism. This being a place that exhibits mostly items found on those who spent many years of their lives in the prison camps that used to be known as the Gulag, where their human dignity suffered under conditions which make it seem almost miraculous that any survived let alone as many as did though a great number perished. As for my part I could only imagine if even that much what it must have been like to live in a country where in the middle of the night one could be taken to a prison camp far away and forced to work up to 16 hours a day with out as much as an explanation or reason. This in an environment of artic temperatures, sometimes not even in houses but in shelters which were but tents.

Actually it is in the Occupation Musseum where one can find (as part of the display) a prison cell which gives one an idea of what it must have been like to be encarcerated under those harsh conditions though the reality of the cruelty is something most of us today are fortunate never to know, for hopefully gone forever are those days of what Reagan justifiably dubbed the “Empire of Evil”. Also included among this museum’s items of interest are many letters and poems that allow one to see that behind every person injustifiedly imprisoned from this now proud nation called Latvia there was also the story of an individual which the world should not forget, as it would be but an injustice to their suffering.

In conclusion I would say that the Occupation Musseum in Riga, Latvia is well worth seeing as can be testified by the many guests who make their way there every year which in the past have included such well known personalities as Laura Bush (wife of former US President George Bush) and the Presidents of other nations. As a footnote I can also include that those who visit this museum will be able to buy souvenirs such as postcards and other items at a considerably lower price then those tourist stores nearby.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_the_Occupation_of_Latvia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riga