Representatives of the Latvian Museum of Occupations, the Lithuanian Museum of Genocide Victims, the Foundation for the Reappraisal of the Dictatorship of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, and the Polish Institute of National Remembrance took part in a vision seminar held by the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory in the course of which they also visited the historic complex of Patarei prison.

On Tuesday the representatives of the historical memory institutions signed a statement in which they express their support for the establishment of a research center and museum for the study of the crimes of communism in Tallinn and reaffirm their readiness to make a contribution to the project.

"There is a great need for a research center engaging in competent and objective research into the crimes of communism, as this field isn't covered internationally. The building of Patarei prison and the idea for a museum of crimes of communism left an impression on the experts. While our institute is developing the museum's concept, the final decisions concerning the building still have to be made by the state. Victims of both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union suffered in Patarei, which makes this a special place of remembrance," board member of the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory, Sandra Vokk, said.

Vokk added that it is the ambition of the institute to establish an international coalition that would study the experiences of all nations that suffered under communism, and popularize this historical knowledge globally.

Anna Kaminsky, director of the Foundation for the Reappraisal of the Dictatorship of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, said the initiative is of great value.

"It will enable the integration of studies of communist dictatorships and crimes in the long sequence of events and totalitarian regimes of the 20th century. Introducing Communist experiences into the common context of European remembrance is very important," Kaminsky said.