KGB Cells Museum Museum
This museum is situated on the corner of Riia and Pepleri streets in Tartu.
It is a branch of Tartu City Museum. The museum is located in the infamous grey building on Riiamägi Hill that the KGB used as their base of operations in Tartu during the 1940s and 1950s. The basement here was used as a pre-trial detention centre for political detainees. Now, many years later, it is open to visitors. Some of the cells (including those used for solitary confinement) and part of the corridor have been restored to their original appearance. The exhibition in its former jail cells provides an overview of World War II, the post-war anti-Soviet resistance in Estonia, the crimes committed by the communist regime and the conditions in the detention centre. The idea of opening the museum came from members of a former underground student resistance group in Tartu called Blue-Black-White, who discovered upon visiting their former cells that the basement had been abandoned and that it would not be very difficult to restore the former look of the jail. The museum was officially opened on 12 October 2001.
Used sources and references:
Tartu City History Museums: https://linnamuuseum.tartu.ee/kgb-kongide-muuseum/muuseumi-tutvustus/
Kuusk, Pearu, NKVD keldrist muuseumiks. Tartu “hallist majast” ja KGB Kongidest. – Tartu Linnamuuseumi aastaraamat, XII, Tartu, 2006, pp 47-54.
Educational programs
Propaganda
Propaganda"
The museum lesson gives students knowledge about the definition and history of the formation of propaganda and presents more striking examples. A short tour at the beginning of the class introduces the museum's exposition. Then we engage the students in a seminar-style discussion to demonstrate, using propaganda as an example, how despite the passage of time, some things in politics and warfare hardly change at all - only the means and goals are slightly different. In class, together with the students, we observe and analyze propaganda posters, we look for the most common symbols, the use of national stereotypes, etc.
The student who participated in the museum lesson knows the concept of propaganda and stereotypes, can describe the goals and effects of their creation. Knows what type of propaganda has been made in Estonia. Can make connections between the past and the present. The lesson develops the skill of discussion and self-expression
Tartu during WW2
The museum lesson introduces the students to the fate of our hometown in the Second World War. A short tour at the beginning of the class introduces the museum's exposition. Then the student will gain knowledge of 1941‒1944 based on a lot of picture material, wartime periodicals and memories of contemporaries. of the war events in Tartu. The slide program demonstrates the consequences of battles and war crimes and what Tartu was like during the war and what it looks like now. The student who participated in the museum lesson knows the history of Tartu during the Second World War. Knows what life was like during the war and how the war affected people, and can make connections between Tartu at that time and today. Knows the concept of a war crime
Class exchursion
The KGB Cell Museum offers tours for all ages. During the hour, we will give an overview of the gray house, where in the 1940s-1950s NKVD/KGB operated in the 1990s, and the exposition, which deals with World War II, Estonia's post-war freedom struggle, the crimes of the communist regime, and the living conditions in the pre-trial prison.
Deportation
The museum lesson gives students knowledge about mass deportations committed in Estonia in 1941 and 1949. At the beginning of the lesson, the students will be part of a slide program that introduces the nature of deportation, the organizational details of the mass anti-humanity operations in Estonia, the target groups, and the specifics of the execution. During the program, students are involved in presenting their understandings and taking positions. After the slide program, there will be an excursion that introduces the museum's permanent exhibition. The student who participated in the museum lesson knows the concept, purpose and impact of deportation. Knows why and how deportations took place in Estonia, from the compilation of lists to its far-reaching social and economic effects. The lesson develops discussion skills.
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Memories of the KGB cells in Tartu
Ülo Raidma, a member of the student resistance organization Sini-Must-Valge, recalls the time spent in his cells.