By whatever name, the Soviet secret police was a dreaded instrument of terror. People were imprisoned, interrogated, tortured and executed here. This set of keys was retrieved from the building by a group of young Latvians, "National Watch," that was allowed to investigate there during Nazi German occupation. The Cheka operatives also prepared lists of deportees and carried out other repressive actions against the inhabitants of Latvia. The total number of Cheka victims in 1940-1941 is estimated at 34,000.


Soviet Terror

The Soviet secret police, or Cheka, was a dreaded instrument of terror, which was given free rein to deal with Latvia's political, military, religious, and economic elite and other inhabitants. The totalitarian Soviet powers suppressed any show of resistance and imposed absolute censorship. Thousands of people were arrested, tortured and executed. In one year of Soviet occupation, Latvia lost approximately 34,000 people, or 1.5% of its population.

The Cheka operatives also prepared lists of deportees. On a single night, from 13 to 14 June 1941, about 15,500 people were arrested and sent to distant regions of the USSR. The men were separated from their families and imprisoned in hard labour camps in the GULAG where most of them perished or were executed in the first few years. Women and children were deported to so-called Ò'special settlements'.
Map showing the division of Eastern Europe
The Last Decree of Latvian President Karlis Ulmanis
Keys from the Cheka/KGB Building in Riga
A GULAG Face Mask
Territorial Utilisation Plan of Reichskommisariat Ostland
Induction Notice in the "Latvian SS-Volunteer Legion"
Small Latvian Flag from a Refugee Boat
Carbine Used by a Partisan
Surveillance by the KGB
Independence Day Demonstration 1988