The Memorial to the dead of the Red Terror

Thursday, 06-June-2024

Logically, I know the horrors that the Soviet Union’s occupation of countries brought. I’ve read about it, I logically know the numbers. But I didn’t grow up with those numbers… for very good reasons, the Holocaust stands tallest in my mind due to the trauma it inflicted on my family. I was, simply put, raised in its shadow.

Standing in Estonia, in front of a memorial park dedicated to those deported by the USSR for use as slave labor and those simply executed, I’m reminded that World War Two was horrifying, and cast countless other shadows as well.

I didn’t realized that this was a memorial to those killed by the “Red Terror” of the USSR, at first. I saw the obelisk from the Reid Promenade, thought it looked interesting, and walked over. I mean, that’s what I’ve been doing this whole trip, and it’s served me pretty well hasn’t it?

Well, it continued serving me well, even if the subject matter was a bit tough.

The memorial was absolutely gorgeous – expansive, thoughtful, and… good. It was just a really great memorial, and I won’t try to describe it any further than that. Instead I’ll step back, and let the photos paint a picture for you.

What I can describe was the quiet of the park, the solemnity, and the sound of birds and wind in the trees… with the faint and distant sound of a lawnmower going off near the other side of the park, keeping the large fields of grass and stands of trees tamed.