Contemporary History Museum Maarjamäe

Contemporary History Museum at Maarjamäe - A branch of the Estonian History Museum of Tallinn , the contemporary part is housed in a former palace at Maarjamäe outside the city centre. It’s well worth the journey, not only for its well-laid-out and informative permanent exhibition, but also for its remarkable collection of communist -era statuary in the backyard. > More background info > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos More background info: Estonia is a young country, though rooted in an ancient culture (with a very distinct Finno-Ugric language); but as a nation it only began to form in the late nineteenth century and didn’t become an independent country until after WW1 . This was short-lived, though, as Estonia was part of the territorial dividing-up of European “spheres of influence” between Nazi Germany and the USSR according to the secret part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact . So when the Third Reich invaded Poland from the west in September 1939, the Soviets took their allocated parts in the east, and shortly after also annexed the Baltic states. This first Soviet occupation of Estonia was followed by a Nazi German one after Hitler also attacked the USSR , in “Operation Barbarossa” in the summer of 1941, thus tearing up the “non-aggression treaty” that the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was supposed to be. Many Estonians saw the Germans as liberators from Soviet repression, just as happened in the other two Baltic countries, Latvia and Lithuania . However, with the Nazis also came Nazi crimes. As usual it was especially Jews and communists who were targeted. Unlike its neighbours, Estonia didn’t have quite such a large Jewish community, so the numbers of those deported and killed in the Holocaust were lower here.