On 17 June 1940, Soviet Union (USSR) troops occupied Latvia. As early as autumn, in the corner house of Brīvības and Stabu Streets in Rīga, the occupation regime installed the headquarters of its repressive authority – the so-called Cheka.

Over time, people started referring to this building as “the corner house”. Here, Cheka imprisoned and interrogated Latvia’s citizens whom the occupation forces regarded as opponents of the communist regime. During the occupation by the USSR, in all of Latvia, Cheka started 48 000 criminal cases for “crimes” against the communist regime.

In 1991, the renewed Latvian State declared the National Security Committee a criminal organisation directed against popular interests and dissolved it. The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia has created an exhibition “Cheka’s Operation in Latvia” in the building and gives guided tours of Cheka’s basement, courtyard and detention cells.