Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, Riga

The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, located in Riga, serves as a poignant reminder of the country's turbulent 20th-century history, specifically covering the periods of occupation by the USSR, Nazi Germany, and again by the USSR, from 1940 to 1991. Founded in 1993, the museum was proposed by Paulis Lazda, a history professor from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, and established by the Occupation Museum Foundation.

This institution is not only a museum but also an educational center that archives and exhibits a vast array of artifacts, documents, and audiovisual materials, including over 60,000 registered items and more than 2,300 video testimonials from deportees, refugees, and others affected by the occupations. The museum also produces documentary films to further its educational mission.

Notably, the museum is housed in a building constructed by the Soviets in 1971 to commemorate what would have been Lenin’s 100th birthday, and it originally served as a museum for the Red Latvian Riflemen until 1991. A significant renovation, designed by Latvian-American architect Gunnar Birkerts, began in 2018 and was completed in late 2021. The museum reopened with a new permanent exhibition on June 1, 2022. Adjacent to the museum, the "Tactile of History" memorial to the victims of Soviet occupation was unveiled in the summer of 2021.

Additionally, the museum manages an exhibition in the Corner House, the former KGB headquarters, adding a significant site that further deepens the understanding of Latvia's occupation history.