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Friday, 19.04.2024, 19:10
Former KGB headquarters in Riga officially opened
The
Museum of the Occupation of Latvia has set-up an exhibition in the building as
part of the European Capital of Culture Year in
A
silent reminder of the decades of horrors it witnessed, the massive building on
the corner of
After
the occupation of
The
"corner house" has two courtyards, both still there – a large one
with massive metal gates and a smaller one, where prisoners could walk,
"protected" from the adjacent residential building by overhead barbed
wire.
The
building used to hold a total of 44 prison cells with about 175 places (beds). Later,
when the number of prisoners grew rapidly, the cells were packed and up to 36
people were confined in cells with six beds.
The
State Security Committee remained in the building until 1991, when
In
2014, as
The
building will be home to several thematic exhibitions interlinked by historical
events and the life stories of people affected by them. Six thematic
expositions are planned, the development of which has been undertaken by a
number of institutions involved in history, art and culture. The intention of
the concept’s instigators is to establish a museum with a singular notion,
presenting "living" testimonies to what has gone on in this building,
characterizing this historical period and environment. Everyone stepping over
the threshold of the "corner house" would feel as if returning into a
not-too distant past – into the time of Soviet rule, totalitarianism and
genocide. This will be an emotionally charged journey into the past, from the
cellar to the highest, 6th floor, along the project-route presented by the
Museum of the Occupation of Latvia.