A commemoration event for the Estonian victims of Communist terror will be held at the Memorial to Estonia’s Victims of Communism on July 3, at 11 am in Tallinn, Estonia.
The event gives all Estonians who are visiting Tallinn for ESTO Festival and the National Song and Dance Festival an opportunity to reflect and remember the victims of Soviet terror, and the over 70 000 Estonians who were forced to flee their homeland in 1944, many, never to return.
Estonia lost every fifth person of its population of slightly over a million as a consequence of the terror imposed by the occupying regime. A total of over 75,000 people from Estonia were murdered, imprisoned or deported.
The people and nation of Estonia established the Memorial in 2018 in memory of Estonia’s victims of communism. Research concerning the names of victims was led by the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory.
“The July 3 memorial event will provide a historically unique opportunity for Estonians living abroad, to come together, with other Estonians from around the world, to remember the victims of communism, together, in Tallinn,” said Piret Noorhani, event co-organizer and the Chief Archivist of VEMU, Museum of Estonians Abroad.
“The moving new memorial is a powerful, unifying, reminder of our national suffering and individual experiences, regardless of where we live today,” said Estonian Central Council in Canada president and event co-organizer Marcus Kolga.
“The memorial was built for all Estonians, no matter where they live today, and honours their memory, and we look forward to hosting Estonians from around the world at this event,” added Estonian Institute of Historical Memory board member, Sandra Vokk.
The event program will begin at 11am and will include a choir and formal wreath laying.
Community organizations wishing to lay wreaths are asked to add their name through this form: https://forms.gle/U4PYwmwXcQbnMWik6
Participants may use Tallinn bus 1a, 34a, or 5 from Viru Center, to travel to Maarjmäe, or use a local Taxi, Uber or Bolt.
More information about the Memorial can be found here: https://www.memoriaal.ee/en/
