The last stop on my three-day whirlwind trip to Latvia and Lithuania was the Museum of Latvian Occupation in Riga.
Besides the Hill of Crosses in Lithuania, this may have been my most favorite stopping point on the trip. The museum is incredible! And another great thing about it – they only ask for a donation for the entrance fee. I was amazed that the suggested donation was 3€. It is well worth it.
While in the museum you get to see some very interesting things, like this…
It’s the sleeping quarters of where Jews would be housed at camps.
You also learn of the great toll that Latvia paid from being occupied.
And see some historical responses from around the world, like this…
It’s the declaration from US condemning the occupation of Latvia.
From there, you learn the whole history of Latvian occupation by the Soviets, then the Nazis, then the Soviets again. It’s an incredible story.
The museum goes to great lengths to describe how occupation really works. It’s really almost a manual on how to occupy a foreign land and change it. I’ll be posting bits and pieces of this next week.
Here’s a preview…
Next travel post – part II of the museum.
Awesome post! What advice would you give to someone who is considering visiting Latvia for a weekend?
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Great question. There’s a ton to see. A big part of the answer will be that it depends on the interests of the traveler. Do you like culture? History? Modern stuff? Museums? Food? Nightlife? etc. It’s all there. I’m the type of person who loves history and seeing many things. Which is what I did while I was there. The Museum of Occupation was unbelievably good and I also highly recommend it. Old Town is great – so much to see and do.
You may want to check out some of my posts since October 2014. You’ll see my take on all the things I visited while in Riga.
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