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The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory (Estonian: ''Eesti Mälu Instituut'') is a non-governmental
foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...
that focuses on the investigation of war crimes and
human rights violations Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...
committed by
totalitarian Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...
regimes and research of totalitarian ideologies that created such regimes. The Institute aims to give the general public a comprehensive, objective and international overview of
human rights violations Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...
and crimes committed by totalitarian regimes both in
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
(during the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
and Soviet occupations) and abroad.   In 2017, the Institute merged with the Unitas Foundation, which broadened the Institute’s focus, in that more attention is paid to international outreach.


History

The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory has been investigating international crimes and human rights abuses committed by totalitarian regimes in Estonia as well as the ideologies that have given rise to such regimes since 1998. Its predecessor was the
Estonian International Commission for Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity The Estonian International Commission for Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity (; also known as the History Commission or Max Jakobson Commission) was the commission established by President of Estonia Lennart Meri in October 1998 to investiga ...
(Inimsusvastaste kuritegude Uurimise Eesti Rahvusvaheline Komisjon), founded by President Lennart Meri in 1998. The Commission investigated the crimes against humanity committed in Estonia during the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
and
Soviet occupations During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into two different ...
based on the definitions of
genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...
, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The establishment of the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory was initiated by the
Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
n President Toomas Hendrik Ilves in 2008. The Institute was established by Leon Glikman, Rein Kilk,
Jaan Manitski Jaan Manitski (born 7 March 1942 in Viinistu) is an Estonian businessman, politician and art collector. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia in 1992. Biography Manistki was born in Viinistu, on the coast of the Gulf of Finland ...
, Tiit Sepp, Hannes Tamjärv and
Indrek Teder Indrek Teder (born 3 December 1957, Tallinn) is an Estonian lawyer and jurist. From 2008 to 2015 he was the Chancellor of Justice (Estonia), Chancellor of Justice of Estonia. Biography He graduated from the University of Tartu, Faculty of Law ...
. The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory surpasses the framework of the Estonian International Commission for Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity in that it selected the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, ...
adopted by the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
in 1948 as the legal basis for its historical research. The Institute therefore also collects data about such human rights violations committed during the Soviet occupation that are not crimes against humanity by legal definition. In 2017, the Institute merged with the Unitas Foundation into a new organization that combines academic research concerning inhumane regimes (previously the responsibility of the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory) with public awareness activities (previously the responsibility of the Unitas Foundation). The new organization continues with the name ''Estonian Institute of Historical Memory''.


Main activities


International Museum for the Victims of Communism

The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory leads a project which aims to establish an International Museum for the Victims of Communism and an accompanying international research centre in Patarei Prison by 2025. Patarei was used by both Soviet and Nazi regimes throughout the 20th century and is one of the main symbols of Soviet political terror for Estonians. The museum will introduce crimes committed by both the Soviet and Nazi regimes, with the main focus on the machinery, ideology and crimes of communist regimes, moving from a local overview, to the events in Europe, to a global scale. The museum is planned to an approximately 5,000 square meter area in the eastern part of the building, where authentic prison cells, an execution chamber, corridors, prisoners’ walkways etc have preserved.


Victims of Communism 1940–1991 Memorial

On 23 August 2018, Estonia's Victims of Communism 1940–1991 Memorial was inaugurated in Tallinn by Estonian president Kersti Kaljulaid. The memorial's construction was financed by the state and the memorial itself is being managed by the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory


Online databases

The Institute manages and develops the Victims of Communism Memorial Database, and the Nazism victims’ database. The research concerning the victims is ongoing and the databases are constantly updated. As a consequence of communist terror, Estonia lost approximately 20% of its one million population, of whom more than 75,000 were murdered, imprisoned or deported. The majority of victims died far from home and their remains lie in unmarked graves in unknown locations. The Victims of Communism Memorial in
Maarjamäe Maarjamäe ( Estonian for ''"Maria's Hill"'') is a subdistrict ( et, asum) in the district of Pirita, Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It has a population of 2,307 (). Landmarks and institutions * Estonian Academy of Security Sciences (Kase 61 ...
, built on the occasion of Estonia’s centennial in 2018, displays the known names of more than 22,000 Estonian people who lost their lives under the communist regime. The lists of victims were a result of years of research conducted by the Memento Society and the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory. An integral part of the memorial is an electronic database, which is managed and administered by the Institute and lists more than 100,000 names. The database includes information on persons who perished due to communist terror and persons who were released from imprisonment or banishment, along with data on those victims whose fate is not known. The database provides basic information on persons (name, year of birth and death), as well as data on his/her family members that were subject to repression. The database is an important source of information for researchers and the families of the repressed. The Institute updates the Victims of Communism Memorial Database regularly in accordance with research results and in cooperation with the victims’ families. On 23 August, the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism, also known as Black Ribbon Day, additional memorial plaques are annually unveiled that bear the names of those victims of communism whose fate has been uncovered since the memorial's opening in 2018. The true figures and details of all those from Estonia who disappeared during the mass deportations of the 1940s and in other repressions during the Soviet occupation of Estonia may never be fully known.


Research and publications

The Institute’s research concerns the emergence and spread of communist ideology and its different manifestations as a state ideology aimed at the violent seizure of power and the establishment of the so-called dictatorship of the proletariat, and also its legal political activity in democratic societies. The objects of research are the methods of communist propaganda in the era of underground subversive activity as well as in communist regimes, and the means for securing communist rule. An important field of research is the influence of communist ideology and the legacy of the rule of communist regimes in democratic societies in the 21st century. The Institute holds scholarship competitions and supports scholars (social scientists, primarily historians, political scientists and lawyers) in corresponding fields of research. The Institute’s researchers participate in international conferences as well as in international research projects. The Institute also publishes its academic research and proceedings in English.


Exhibitions

The Institute has curated various exhibitions, most notably the exhibition area ''Communism is Prison'' in Patarei Prison in
Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...
, which is the first stage of the development of the future International Museum for the Victims of Communism. The Institute has also compiled many temporary exhibitions, most recently ''Communism and Terror'' and ''The “Liberator” Arrived'', both of which are also available online.


Education and public awareness

The Institute manages and develops several educational platforms, such as the website on Holocaust in Occupied Estonia 1941–1944, Klooga concentration camp and Holocaust Memorial and Bridging the Baltic history education portal. The Institute offers educational and training programmes for teachers, youth workers, pupils, and university students. It also publishes and distributes various educational materials that inform the general public about the history of communist regimes. The Institute organizes annual commemorative events dedicated to the victims of crimes against humanity and the resistance against inhumane regimes on the occasion of the
International Holocaust Remembrance Day The International Holocaust Remembrance Day, or the International Day in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, is an international memorial day on 27 January that commemorates the victims of the Holocaust, which resulted in the murder of on ...
,
March deportation Operation Priboi (russian: Операция «Прибой» – "Operation 'Coastal Surf) was the code name for the Soviet mass deportation from the Baltic states on 25–28 March 1949. The action is also known as the March deportation ( et, M ...
,
June deportation The June deportation ( et, juuniküüditamine, lv, jūnija deportācijas, lt, birželio trėmimai) was a mass deportation by the Soviet Union of tens of thousands of people from the territories occupied in 1940–1941: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuan ...
, the Black Ribbon Day and the Resistance Fighting Day. The Institute hosts at least one international scholarly conference a year. In 2019, the Institute hosted the conference ''Necropolis of Communist Terror'' in cooperation with the Memorial Research and Information Centre (St. Petersburg). The conference was dedicated to the issues of locating, researching, memorialising and legally establishing mass burial sites of victims of state terror in Eastern European and former communist countries. On 23 August 2018, the European Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Totalitarian Regimes, an international conference ''Utopia unachieved despite millions victimised? Communist crimes and European memory'' was held. The conference addressed the topic of crimes committed by communist regimes and their consequences and the possibility of a common European culture of remembrance.


Collect Our Story

Collect Our Story (Estonian: ''Kogu Me Lugu'', also translates as We're Collecting The Story and Our Entire Story) is an oral history portal and video repository launched in 2013. The website is managed and developed by the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory. The portal collects, preserves and shares family stories of Estonians from around the world, focusing on the memories of people who were repressed by the Soviet or Nazi regimes, people who escaped Estonia during the occupations of said regimes or arrived in Estonia as a result of the occupations. The collected memories are used for developing educational materials, research, and raising public awareness in Estonia and elsewhere.


CommunistCrimes.org

CommunistCrimes.org is a database that focuses on the facts and research of communist ideology and regimes from a global perspective. The aim of the portal is to raise awareness about the crimes against humanity committed by communist regimes worldwide. The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory cooperates internationally with independent historians and researchers whose subject area is communist regimes and who endeavour to define how and to what extent
human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
were globally violated.


Affiliations with other organisations

The Institute is a member institution of the
Platform of European Memory and Conscience Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...
. Estonia has also joined the European Network of Remembrance and Solidarity (ENRS) as an observer member. The Estonian Institute of Historical Memory is Estonia’s partnership coordinator with the ENRS. The Institute also cooperates closely with the
Museum of the Occupation of Latvia The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Okupācijas muzejs) is a museum and historic educational institution located in Riga, Latvia. It was established in 1993 to exhibit artifacts, archive documents, and educate the public about th ...
,
Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania The Genocide and Resistance Research Centre of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos gyventojų genocido ir rezistencijos tyrimo centras or ''LGGRTC'') is a state-funded research institute in Lithuania dedicated to "the study of genocide, crimes against huma ...
, Federal Foundation for the Study of Communist Dictatorship in East Germany and the Memorial Research and Information Centre (St. Petersburg) as well as several other organizations and public figures.


References


External links


Official siteEstonia’s Institute of Historical Memory: Preserving the memory of communism’s victims

Estonia opens major new communism exhibition

Unique Tallinn museum will keep apologists of communism at bay

An international portal about communist crimes launched in Estonia

International Museum On Communism Moving Forward

A new online exhibition on the Red Army terror in Estonia launched
{{Authority control Commemoration of communist crimes Commemoration of Nazi crimes Platform of European Memory and Conscience