Memorial to victims of communist genocide
Memorial site

This memorial is situated in Pilistvere cemetery.

Groundwork for the memorial began in 1988, with 300 people rallying to the cause. The joint effort of volunteers continues to this day, with improvements being made to the memorial each year. The idea for the memorial came from freedom fighter Lagle Parek.

At its centre lies a cairn of rocks brought from places over Estonia, from Siberia and from even further afield by Estonian expats. The cairn is crowned by a large cross. The foot of the cross is a symbolic tomb, to which Estonian people bring rocks to commemorate loved ones deported to Siberia.

The cairn is surrounded by boulders, one for each county, designed by Aate-Heli Õun and set in place in phases.

Near the memorial are memorial stones to the victims of the radiation from Chernobyl, to the Forest Brothers, to those conscripted into the NKVD’s labour columns, to Estonian volunteers in the Finnish army and to freedom fighters. These were all designed by Endel Palmiste.

In addition to the cairn, a grove of more than 2000 memorial trees has been planted near the memorial. The grove was designed by renowned landscape architect Andres Levald.

The historic Pilistvere pastorate, serving as the main building at the memorial site, houses an archive and an Estonian History Museum exhibition about the occupation of Estonia.