The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia documents life under Soviet and Nazi German occupation through personal objects, testimony and historical evidence. Its main exhibition in Riga also reflects the work of survivors, families and volunteers who preserved those memories.
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A violin can carry a history that a political timeline cannot. Aina Apšvalks was 18 when Soviet authorities deported her from Latvia in June 1941. She took her violin with her to a forced settlement in the Krasnoyarsk region, where she worked in the forest. She survived, was released in 1954 and returned to Latvia in 1961. Her daughter donated the instrument to the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia in 2016.
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UpgradeQuick facts
- The museum’s first exhibition opened in 1993 in the former Latvian Red Riflemen museum building.
- Its collection includes a violin taken into deportation by Aina Apšvalks in 1941.
- The museum’s renewed main exhibition opened in 2022.
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