Grand Opening of Museum of the Occupations in Estonia Set for June 27, 2003
Estonia’s newest museum building will be officially opened and dedicated in
central Tallinn on June 27, 2003. The doors will open to the general public
on July 1.
The Museum of the Occupations in Recent History focuses on the years from
1940 through 1991, covering the first Soviet occupation, the German
occupation and the second Soviet occupation of Estonia. This half century
of totalitarian power, repeated mass deportations and repressions brought
great loss of life and property to the Estonian people. As a result, a
small, thriving European member of the League of Nations lost a fifth of her
population and had her political, economic and social infrastructure
destroyed. The Museum will document, research and analyze this period of
history, and also pay homage to the victims. The Museum aims to tell the
story of a people who survived the cataclysms and catastrophes of those
fifty years and who then went on to re-establish peacefully Estonia’s
independence as a parliamentary democracy in 1991.
Estonian architects Siiri Vallner and Indrek Peil won the architectural
competition with their contemporary design featuring glass walls and open
spaces. The cornerstone was laid on October 22, 2002. Construction and
other costs are covered by the Fund through the generosity of the Kistler
family – probably the largest single donation to date from an Estonian
living abroad. Contributions have also come from other foundations, the
Estonian Government and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.
Inspired by examples such as the Haus der Geschichte in Bonn, Dr. Olga
Kistler-Ritso, herself a refugee from the Soviet occupation of her homeland,
founded the Kistler-Ritso Fund in the United States in order to create a
Museum of Occupations in Estonia. Members of the Board were Dr.
Kistler-Ritso, Mark A. Romman, Sesh Velamoor, and the late Vello Karuks.
The construction of the Museum in Tallinn has been directed by the
Kistler-Ritso Estonian Foundation, also established in 1998. The Executive
Committee of the Kistler-Ritso Estonian Foundation consists of former
prisoners of conscience Heiki Ahonen, Lagle Parek and Arvo Pesti, longtime
vice-president of the Riigikogu Tunne Kelam, and businessman Toomas Kutsar.
Research activities of the Foundation are coordinated by Dr. Enn Tarvel.
Former Estonian President Lennart Meri is the Patron of the Kistler-Ritso
Estonian Foundation.
The Museum of the Occupations in Recent History carries out research into
societal processes and collects and displays a great variety of artifacts
and documents that characterize and illustrate different facets of the
occupation period. Among others, there are military memorabilia, Communist
party propaganda, items crafted by prisoners in Soviet slave labor camps,
eyewitness testimonies, and a wide array of reminders of everyday life under
foreign totalitarian rule. The Museum is set up as a contemporary
institution, utilizing modern technology and other opportunities to display
its holdings and to carry out research. The Kistler-Ritso Estonian
Foundation is a member of the International Council of Museums and was voted
Foundation of the Year in Estonia in 2002.
The
www.okupatsioon.ee web page is part of the Museum, and as such will
constitute the interactive base for the Museum after June 27. More than
12,000 objects have already been collected for the Museum, many of which can
be viewed on the web site. In addition, the Kistler-Ritso Estonian
Foundation has organized several conferences, published pamphlets and books
including The Organizational Structure of the Central Committee of the
Estonian Communist Party, and produced seven documentary films.
For further information, please contact Heiki Ahonen, Chairman of the
Executive Committee, Kistler-Ritso Estonian Foundation at +37 251-83223.
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