“The memorial, dedicated to the victims of the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century, will help ensure that, at one of Europe’s central crossroads, the crimes of communism, fascism and Nazism – and their victims – are remembered,” Minister Tsahkna said.
“For Estonia, the memorial provides an opportunity to explain more effectively in Europe, and to keep alive the memory of, our 20th-century history, the crimes committed by occupying regimes on our territory, and the suffering inflicted on our people,” he added.
The central element of the memorial consists of letters sent by victims of totalitarian crimes to their loved ones, or received from them in reply, through which the tragic fate of these individuals is brought to light.
“The memorial reminds us of the suffering from which today’s peaceful and democratic European Union emerged, and offers lessons to ensure that history is never repeated,” the foreign minister said.
“Speaking about the crimes committed by totalitarian regimes in the 20th century and commemorating their victims is not only our duty to history and to our parents and grandparents,” Liisa Pakosta, Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs, said. “It is also a warning to the present day. If systematically perpetrated mass crimes go without universal condemnation, without international adjudication of crimes of aggression, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and without punishment, their recurrence across successive generations becomes highly likely. One need not look far for an example. Russia’s current military aggression against Ukraine and the war crimes committed there, as well as the roots of Moscow’s present domestic and foreign policy, have grown directly out of the criminal communist regime of the Soviet Union.”
The project is being led by the Platform of European Memory and Conscience (PEMC). Lithuania will play a key role in its implementation as part of its Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of next year.
Estonia’s contribution will be funded from the budgets of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice and Digital Affairs.
Further information: https://memorialbrussels.eu/
