The memorial to victims of communism is dedicated to all Estonian people who suffered under the terror inflicted by the Soviet Union. The communist terror regime was established with the occupation of Estonia on 17 June 1940 and ended with the restoration of Estonia’s independence on 20 August 1991. As a consequence of this, Estonia lost one of every five persons from its population of slightly over one million, of whom more than 75,000 were murdered, imprisoned or deported.
The Memorial has two parts – the Journey with the name plaques of the victims, and the symbolic Home Garden with informative texts and location stones marking sites of terror. A monument to Estonian military officers who fell victim to communist terror is part of the Memorial.
The names of over 22,000 people who never returned home are inscribed on the name plaques of the Journey, symbolising the merciless power of the totalitarian system. They were murdered or died due to inhuman living conditions in imprisonment or forced resettlement and the remains of many of them are in unnamed graves in unknown locations.
An integral part of the memorial is an electronic database, managed and administered by the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory.
Please check the names of the repressed people you know from the database and, if necessary, give us feedback on corrections and improvements.
Database: memoriaal.ee
E-mail: memoriaal@mnemosyne.ee
Phone: +372 6484962
