Meremäe Park of Mourning is a park in
Meremäe
Meremäe (also known as Mihailova, Mihailovo) is a village in Setomaa Parish, Võru County, southeastern Estonia. The biggest settlements nearby include Vastseliina ( west), town of Võru ( northwest) and Russian town Pechory ( northeast). As of ...
rural municipality in
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
to the honour of the deported people. The park has a modest and simple memorial stone for the deported.
The park and memorial stone are dedicated to the victims of repression of
Soviet rule, foremost, to the victims of the three deportations taking place around the area. The park and the memorial were established by Voldemar Rannaste on his estate, who was deported to
Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
as a 16-year-old boy with his parents during the 1941 June deportation. The park has a small burial cairn and eight oaks planted in memoriam of the deported. Each tree represents a family deported from Meremäe in 1941. The park of mourning was solemnised on 14 June 1991, on the 50th anniversary of June deportation. The ceremony was carried out by an orthodox priest Father Yevgeni. It is a holy place for the rural municipality, where people bring flowers and burn candles and memorial events are being held.
References
Setomaa Parish
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