The Salaspils Memorial is located on the site of the Salaspils camp, established by the National Socialist German occupation regime between 1941 and 1944. The emotionally impressive memorial covers an area of 25 hectares and was inaugurated on 31 October 1967 in Soviet-occupied Latvia. This modern architectural object of international scale and significance was designed by architects Gunārs Asaris, OlģertsOstenbergs, Ivars Strautmanis, Oļegs Zakamennijs and sculptors Lev Bukovskis, Oļegs Skarainis, Jānis Zariņš. In 1970, the creators of the memorial received the highest award of the USSR
– the Lenin Prize, and today it is included in the Latvian cultural canon and the State List of Protected Cultural Monuments as a monument of art and architecture of national importance.

EXHIBITION

The exhibition of the Salaspils Memorial was created in 2017 and has been open to visitors since 7 February 2018. It is curated by Zigmārs Gailis, Director of the Daugava Museum; the main authors are Uldis Neiburgs, historian of the Occupation Museum, Ģirts Boronovskis, artist, and Līga Gaile, architect.
The new exposition was created to dispel various versions about the history of the Salaspils camp and memorial. It presents not only the latest scientific research and information based on historical facts, but also the development of the memorial ensemble, which is included in the Latvian cultural canon as an object of architecture and design, from the time of the competition to its opening in 1967.
The new exhibition of the Salaspils Memorial consists of parts of the main building of the Memorial – the entrance gallery – dedicated to the history of the Salaspils camp and the history of the creation of the Salaspils Memorial itself, as well as several objects in the Memorial grounds – a stand at the car park dedicated to the events of the Second World War in the territory of Salaspils municipality, the environmental object “Panorama” on t.The Panorama, an object on the so-called “Road of Death”, and two information boards with messages about the occupation regimes of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in Latvia, located a little further away. In addition to the traditional elements of exhibitions such as museum objects, documents, photographs, models, etc., the exhibition also includes multimedia, which allows you to get acquainted with the video testimonies of former prisoners. Information is provided to visitors in Latvian, English and Russian.

TOURS AT THE SALASPSILS MEMORIAL ENSEMBLE:

The tours include a narration about the history of the Salaspils camp and the Salaspils Memorial, based on the exhibition opened in 2018 at the Memorial. The thematic focus and format are adapted to the needs and interests of different target groups. The tours last approximately 60 minutes and are available in Latvian, Russian and English.

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