The Museum receives official recognition from UNESCO

The Museum of Occupation is one of seven museums in Latvia that has such letters, written in Siberia. They were written by prisoners in forced labour camps and people who were resettled. The Museum is currently preserving 13 unique birch bark letters.

The letters from Siberia that were written on birch bark are of key importance in Latvia’s history, because they offer testimony about the Soviet era. Birch bark was often the only available material on which letters could be written at places of deportation. This was particularly true during World War II.  It was the only way to preserve links with the motherland and relatives.  The letters also vividly express the mentality of the Latvian nation – faith in that which is good, care for one’s loved ones, the hope of surviving and returning home.