Pärnu removes Soviet monument from Old Park, begins relocating remains

An Orthodox priest said a prayer for the dead prior to the removal of the Soviet monument in Pärnu's Old Park on Monday. August 8, 2022.
An Orthodox priest said a prayer for the dead prior to the removal of the Soviet monument in Pärnu's Old Park on Monday. August 8, 2022.

A Soviet monument was removed from Pärnu's Old Park on Monday, where work also began to exhume and relocate human remains buried beneath it.

According to ERR's information, the remains will be reburied in a local cemetery, where the monument will be relocated as well.

A monument was erected in Pärnu's Old Park during the Soviet occupation of Estonia, dedicated "to those who died in the historic events of 1905, 1917, 1924 and 1941-1944."

The Soviet monument in Pärnu's Old Park. Source: Nele Rent/National Registry of Cultural Monuments

In a letter addressed to the minister of culture in June, Pärnu Mayor Romek Kosenkranius said that individuals and political organizations had repeatedly appealed to Pärnu city government seeking the removal of the Soviet monument from the park as well as the relocation and reburial of the war graves located there.

Removal of the Soviet monument in Pärnu's Old Park underway on Monday. August 8, 2022. Source: ERR

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Editor: Aili Vahtla

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