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From 29 to 31 October, the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory organised an autumn school dedicated to the Forest Brothers in Vana-Vigala, bringing together 38 students from across Estonia. Interest in the programme was considerable, with more than 80 young…

From 27 to 30 July 2026, the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory organised its International Researcher Summer School in Tallinn, Tartu and several other locations across Estonia. The programme brought together ten early-career researchers from Austria, Estonia, France, Germany, Italy,…

The development of the Patarei Memorial Museum for the Victims of Communism has entered the second phase of implementing its permanent exhibition. During this stage, the exhibition developed through the planning and design process will begin to take physical form…

The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory invites early-career researchers to participate in the International Research Competition on Communism. The competition is open to completed but unpublished Master’s or Doctoral theses of scholars, aged 35 years or younger, examining communist ideology…

The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory invites you to a film screening and discussion evening at Kino Sõprus on 14 April 2026, featuring Andrzej Wajda’s debut film A Generation (Pokolenie, 1955). Andrzej Wajda (1926–2016) was one of the most influential…

27–30 July 2026. Tallinn and Tartu, Estonia The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory invites highly motivated MA an PhD students in History, Law, Political Science, and International Relations to explore its research and activities on 20th-century history of Estonia and…

Registration is now open! If you are upper secondary school or undergraduate student and want to join – or know someone who might be – early registration is recommended, as places are limited. Please submit your application by April 19….

The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory has announced the winners of its 2025 international research competition for young scholars. The award for Best Research Paper was presented to Juha Rekola for his master’s thesis “Political Refugee: A Legal-Historical Study of…

You are invited to the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory’s film evening at Cinema Sõprus on November 25, 2025, at 6:00 PM.This time, we will watch the Finnish epic film “The Winter War” (Talvisota, 1989).The screening commemorates the 86th anniversary…

English subtitles provided! Free attendance! October 14, 6:00 PMCinema Sõprus Join us for the season’s first film and discussion evening with Imbi Paju’s internationally acclaimed documentary Memories Denied (2005). The film uncovers the hidden side of World War II –…

Elmar Gams, researcher at the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory, delivered a presentation on oral history and the Kogumelugu portal at the 2025 IOHA (International Oral History Association) conference in Krakow. In his talk, Gams focused on presenting personal memories…

The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory invites researchers up to the age of 35 to participate in an international competition aimed at encouraging academic research on the history of communist ideology and the practices of communist regimes. The competition is…

The Spirit of Helsinki Then and Now The European Network Remembrance and Solidarity (ENRS) in partnership with Historians without Borders (HWB) are delighted to invite you to the 13th European Remembrance Symposium & International Conference on the 50th Anniversary of the Helsinki Final…

Discover History, Create Media, Connect Across Borders – June 23–26, 2025 Liberation Route Europe (LRE) has announced the next edition of its international Youth Exchange Programme, taking place 23–26 June 2025 in Normandy, France. This unique opportunity is open to…

On April 9, the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory hosted an international seminar that summarised the first phase of data collection on Estonian war refugees and introduced related research from Latvia and Lithuania. The seminar was opened by PhD Meelis…

The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory is inviting young people of Estonian heritage to attend a summer school from 3 to 8 August 2025. Applications are open to high school and undergraduate students until May 5. The aim of the…

Updated 28 March. Application submission deadline extended to 7 April at 23:59 EET. 28–31 July 2025. Tallinn and Tartu, Estonia The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory provides a selected group of highly motivated students and early-stage researchers (History, Law, Political Science)…

Brussels, 23 January 2025—In a landmark decision, the European Parliament has adopted the Resolution on Russia’s disinformation and historical falsification. This resolution is a pivotal step in combating the misuse of history to justify aggression and promote remembrance across Europe….

23 January, at 17.00 on Zoom platform   As the 80th anniversary of the German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp Auschwitz’s liberation approaches, this webinar will highlight the importance of preserving historical truth. It will also provide practical tools for…

The winner of the international research competition for young researchers was announced – congratulations, Cătălina Andricioaei! At the end of 2023, the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory announced an international research competition for young scholars, inviting researchers up to the…

This year marks 80 years since the fateful autumn of 1944, when Estonia fell under Soviet occupation for decades. During the Second World War, nearly 80,000 Estonians left their homeland. The escape culminated in the fear of new Soviet repressions…

Meelis Maripuu, Ülle Kraft Estonian war refugees as a whole represented a diverse cross-section of society. The most clearly defined group among them was the more than 7,000 coastal Swedes, who were also among the first to leave. The largest…

Professor Peter Reddaway, 18 September 1939 – 29 July 2024 Peter Reddaway, a British-American historian and political scientist and Professor of Political Science at the George Washington University, was a member of the Estonian International Commission for Investigation of Crimes…

This year marks 80 years since the fateful autumn of 1944, when Estonia fell under Soviet occupation for decades. During the Second World War, nearly 80,000 Estonians left their homeland. The escape culminated in the fear of new Soviet repressions…

The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory is welcoming participants to a Summer School that takes place on 4 to 9 August 2024. This year, we are especially encouraging young people of Estonian heritage to apply. We welcome applications from upper…

What was the country that was created in 1918 and was fought over in the subsequent War of Independence? What were people fleeing from, defying the autumn storms of 1944, sometimes at the cost of their lives? What lay ahead…

What was the country that was created in 1918 and was fought over in the subsequent Warof Independence? What were people fleeing from, defying the autumn storms of 1944,sometimes at the cost of their lives? What lay ahead for those…

On Saturday, 9 March, 80 years will pass from the bombing of Tallinn and other Estonian towns by the Soviet Air force. In the evening of 9 March 1944, the Soviet Air Force threw over 3000 bombs to the living…

Pictured: excerpts from 1939 and 1942 from the diary of Ado Kisand (1929-2013), who was deported in 1941.

The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory thanks everyone that took part in the 2023 EIHM Research Papers Competition. In the category an academic article, the winner is Tomaž Ivešić with his paper Exchanging the “Progressive Experiences” in a Transnational Perspective: Nationality, Economy and…

Documentary „Gori the Caricaturist“ (2023) on November 7 at 6 pm at the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory (Tõnismägi 8, Tallinn) Gori the Caricaturist is an animated documentary about the popular caricaturist Gori (Vello Agori, 1894–1944), whose fate in Estonia…

On 2 October at 4 p.m, the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory (Tõnismägi 8) in cooperation with the U.S. Embassy in Tallinn have the privilege of welcoming Wilson Center expert and historian Jason Steinhauer. In his lecture, Steinhauer primarily focuses on…

Estonian Institute of Historical Memory and the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Tallinn invite you to the screening of a documentary film In the footsteps of Jakub Grossmann (2022) on October 3 at 6 pm at the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory…

On 23 August at 16.00–17.00, a commemoration ceremony will take place on the occasion of the Black Ribbon Day at the Maarjamäe Memorial for the Victims of Communism. The victims of totalitarian regimes will be commemorated in speeches and a…

June 14 marks the 82nd anniversary of the June 1941 deportation of Estonians by the occupying Soviet regime. Over 10,000 people, including children, were violently deported primarily to Siberia. The deportation aimed to eliminate moral, physical, and legal resistance, with…

The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory invites researchers aged up to 35 (included) to participate in an international research competition with their academic publications or unpublished Master’s and Doctoral theses on the history of communist ideology or the various aspects…

For more than a decade, the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory has, besides its other tasks, recorded video interviews with people whose life was affected by the 20th century foreign regimes’ repressions and major historical shifts. The collected memoirs and…

The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory (EIHM) has been organising its Summer Schools since 2018. In 2023, we will organise a Summer School for history teachers and graduate students, and another Summer School for secondary school and Bachelor’s students. During…

The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory invites everyone interested in photography and videography to capture memorial sites across Estonia that can be associated with Soviet repressions committed in Estonia. The prizes consist of more than 3000€ worth of gift cards for a…

The Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory kindly invite everyone to the opening of exhibition “Ukraine – Crucifixion. 365…” on 26 February at 14:00 at Harju 13, Tallinn. The War Museum in…

International conference Necropolis of Communist Terror: Locating and researching burial sites, the language and form of memorials 9.-10. February 2023, Estonian Film Museum (Pirita tee 56, 12011 Tallinn) Organisers: The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory (Tallinn, Estonia) and Memorial Research and…

The State Archives of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance and the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory kindly invite you to join the exhibition opening of ‘COMMUNISM = RASHISM’ on Friday, December 2nd at 1 p.m. in front of Tallinn Writers House…

The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory thanks everyone that took part in the 2022 EIHM Research Papers Competition. There was a delay in disclosing the results as the jury needed extra time for the second round due to tight competition….

On the occasion of the Black Ribbon Day, or the Day of Remembrance for the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, a Remembrance Ceremony will take place at the Maarjamäe Memorial for the Victims of Communism on 23 August…

On June 14, Day of Mourning and Commemoration, at 13.30, the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory will present the new edition of the Institute’s proceedings at the Maarjamäe Palace sculpture park. The new edition is entitled „Propaganda, Immigration, and Monuments….

The opening of the exhibition “Ukraine in 20th century crises” will take place on June 2 at 1 pm.  The exhibition will be officially opened by the Chair of the Board of the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory, Meelis Maripuu,…

The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory invites history teachers, educators, youth workers and graduated students to participate in a Summer School about the history of crimes against humanity and human rights violations during and after the Second World War, which…

The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory invites photography and film enthusiasts to capture places that serve as a reminder of the Soviet Union’s violent rule in Estonia, even if such sites have changed or deteriorated nowadays. The prize fund of…

On the initiative of the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory, Patarei Prison was illuminated with the colours of the Ukrainian flag on the commemoration day of the 1949 March Deportations on March 25. This serves as a reminder that Ukraine…

On March 25, 73 years will pass from the Soviet occupying regime’s mass crime against the Baltic peoples. The Soviet regime violently deported more than 20,000 people from Estonia to Siberia, and more than 90,000 people from the three Baltic…

The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory invites everyone to commemorate the innocent victims of the 1944 March bombings and the war that has begun in Ukraine. The commemoration event takes place on 9 March at 19:15 in Harju Street and…

On 28 December, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation decided to liquidate Memorial International, an organisation engaged in raising awareness about history, the commemoration of victims of communist terror, and protection of human rights. The basis of the liquidation…

The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory has signed a cooperation agreement with the State Archive of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance. The aim of cooperation between the parties is to improve researchers’ accessibility to archival materials that pertain to…

The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory has signed a cooperation agreement with the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in the US. The Institute is in the process of establishing an International Museum for the Victims of Communism in Patarei Prison in Tallinn,…

The European Network Remembrance and Solidarity (ENRS) in cooperation with the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory opened After the Great War. A New Europe 1918–1923 in Tallinn’s Freedom Square. The exhibition welcomes visitors from 17 October to 4 November 2021….

Tallinn University Press in cooperation with the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory published Stefan Gužvica’s Master’s thesis Learning Leninism: Factional Struggles in the Communist Party of Yugoslavia during the Great Purge (1936–1940) that won the Institute’s communism-themed research competition. The…

World War II led to the extension of Nazi Germany’s anti-Jewish policy to the conquered countries. Before the war, about 4,400 Jews lived in Estonia. About 400 of them became the victims of the deportation of 1941, approximately 3,000 fled…