The Museum of the occupation of Latvia was established in 1993 in the heart of Riga, located on the square Shooters. The purpose of the creation of this Museum was the coverage of the history of Latvia from 1940 to 1991. This is the period of the occupation of Latvia by two totalitarian regimes of the time. From 1940 to 1941 the country was under the regime of Soviet power. From 1941 to 1944 in Latvia established a regime of Nazi Germany. From 1944 to 1991 the country was again established the Soviet regime. In 1991 Latvia, the first among the former Soviet republics, declared its independence.

Before researchers and Museum staff was the goal, multifaceted and accurately cover the impact of these totalitarian regimes on the development of the Latvian state. During the period of formation has raised over thirty thousand different documents, letters and photos from settlements and conclusions, the testimony of the surviving victims of repression, official documents of the period of Nazi genocide and Soviet occupation.

To work on the collection and processing of materials and exhibits attracted scientists from around the world, including from Russia, Sweden, United States, United Kingdom. Comments made to the exhibits in several languages simultaneously: Latvian, Russian, German, English and French. This fact simplifies the employees of the Museum achieve its goals. First any visitor, and it should be noted that the visit to the Museum is free for everyone, can understand the meaning of the exhibit and draw your own conclusion about this period of history. Secondly it facilitates the exit of the Museum, including in other countries. During its work, the Museum traveled to the United States, Canada, Australia, various countries in Europe. Remarkable is the fact that the exhibitions of the Museum were organized even in the building of the European Parliament.

The Museum also organizes temporary exhibitions, presenting new exhibits. In addition, Museum staff conduct special classes with students on the history of the development of Latvia and seminars with teachers of history, presented a new documentary and audio/video information collected in the Museum researchers and enthusiasts.

Was created the special annual almanac of the Museum of the occupation of Latvia, available for everyone to see the history of the country, the content of the Museum Fund and novelties which he replenished for the upcoming publishing year.

One of the most painful subjects of world history is the Holocaust. This phenomenon is reflected in the special part of the exhibition of the Museum. Although the period of Nazi, Nazi occupation of Latvia was relatively short, from the point of view of history, in this section collected a lot of documents, evidence and exhibits.

Individual exhibition of the Museum of the occupation of Latvia dedicated to the victims of political terror and Stalinist repression. Was even recreated the camera Gulag, so that visitors could see the conditions in which political prisoners were kept during the times of Stalin's repressions. This section also contains documents and videos showing the negative effects of the Soviet occupation on the development and formation of people of Latvian nationality. The exhibits reflect especially the stagnation in the development of culture and economy occurring during this period.

Way to design exhibitions and methods of selection and submission of Museum materials cause visitors to the Museum have mixed feelings. There are even disputes about the correctness of certain exhibitions. Anyway, the Museum is on display documentary evidence and every visitor is entitled to form their own opinion about it, no doubt, a difficult period in the life of Latvia.