Leseprobe

8 2 E S T L A N D | T A L L I N N Memorial to the Victims of Communism Sculptor and former political prisoner Olbram Zoulbek designed the 60-metre-long and seven-metre-wide complex. Seven stylised bronze sculptures of men stand on a 26-step white staircase that narrows as it rises. Viewed from the foot of the hill, the higher the stairs rise the more the figures dissolve, until they can finally only be seen as fragments. The male figures symbolise a person earmarked for liq- uidation (in Czech: “Muž urcˇený k likvidaci”, abbreviated as “Mukl”). Along the stairs runs a bronze strip with engraved information about the victims of communism in the former CˇSSR. A granite base with inscriptions is located at the foot of the site. The memorial was realised by architects Zdenék Hölzel and Jan Kerel from Prague. Inscription at the foot of the memorial Czech: OBEˇ TI KOMUNISMU 1948– 1989 / 205486 ODSOUZENO / 248 POPRAVENO / 4500 ZEMRˇ ELO VE VEˇ ZNICÍCH / 327 ZAHYNULO NA HRANICÍCH / 170 938 OBCˇ ANU˚ EMIGROVALO English: Victims of communism 1948– 1989 / 205,486 were sentenced, 248 were executed, 4,500 died in prisons, 327 died on the border, 170,938 emigrated. Prague. The Memorial to the Victims of Com­ munism was inaugurated on 22 May 2002 at the foot of the Petrˇín hill in the Lesser Town area of Prague. The Confederation of Political Prisoners of the Czech Republic had been wor­ king to build a monument since the mid- 1990s. The association was supported by the mayor of Prague and the district administra- tion of the Prague 1 district. Memorial to the Victims of Communism at the foot of the Petrˇín hill in Prague