KGB CELLS (KGB VANGIKONGID)

This building was constructed on Pagari Street in 1912 as a residential building, before taking on an essential role in Estonian history. First, the Estonian provisional government met here many times after the declaration of independence in 1918. Then, in October 1940, it became the headquarters of the NKVD (later renamed KGB). In 1941, interrogation cells were built. On June 14, 1941, over 10,000 men, women and children were deported under Nazi occupation. Between March 25 and 29, 1949, over 20,000 people were deported to Siberia. A plaque in Estonian reads: "This building housed the repressive organs of the Soviet occupying power. Here began a road of suffering for thousands of Estonians" The museum, attached to the Museum of Freedom, can be divided into two smaller sections. First, we are reminded of the general history to understand what the country has been through. The prisons were used until 1959, when they became archive rooms. In the cells, personalities are honored with their stories. This museum has been open since summer 2017. It's not intended to be a museum of horror, but it does serve to understand the dark history of this country, which participates in European history. Exciting and instructive!

Interestingly, the spire of the nearby ^13th-century St. Olaf Church was used by the KGB for radio transmissions.