Dr Comer’s paper ‘Dark Heritage in Tallinn: Memory Narratives at Museums of Soviet and Nazi Repression’ is part of the panel ‘Museum Practices as Memory Work’ (chair: Ene Kõresaar) on 17 June. This presentation will examine several museums connected to Nazi and/or Soviet violence in and around Tallinn, Estonia, through the lens of ‘dark’ and ‘contested’ heritage. It will analyze the narratives of victimhood, perpetration, and suffering that are communicated at these museums, ‘memorial’ or not, and their interpretative mechanisms and lenses, in order to discuss patterns in the area’s overall interpretation and memory of repression. It will particularly focus on how regional and international ‘memorial forms’ related to repression, death, and suffering are adopted and adapted for local use. Case studies include Vabamu and the KGB Prison Cells, Patarei Prison, the Estonian War Museum, and the Estonian Jewish Museum.
The 15th Conference on Baltic Studies in Europe (CBSE) “Turning Points: Values and Conflicting Futures in the Baltics” takes place on 15-17 June 2023, at Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania. More information and program here: https://aabs-balticstudies.org/cbse-2023-in-kaunas/