The Klooga concentration camp was the best-known National Socialist camp in Estonia. Three monuments - set up in 1951, 1994 and 2005 - commemorate the camp's victims. In 1944, up to 2,000 people were murdered here.
In 1943/44, there was a satellite camp of the Vaivara concentration camp in Klooga, on the northern coast of Estonia, which mainly produced for the Germany navy. Over 2,200 men and women, most of them Jews, were held here. As the Red Army was advancing, German and Estonian SS units carried out a mass shooting on September 19, 1944. The victims were forced to lie down on a stack of logs. The SS didn't have time to set fire to the layered corpses, so that they were discovered by the Soviets when they arrived. According to estimates, about 2,000 people were murdered that day. Only about 100 prisoners managed to hide in time before the shooting.
In 1943/1944, over 2,000 Jews, but also political prisoners, homosexuals and Soviet prisoners of war died a violent death at Klooga.
Already in 1951, the local Soviet authorities erected a memorial to the »victims of fascism«. On September 1, 1994, three years after Estonia had regained its independence, a further monument was set up on the initiative of the Jewish community which specifically stated that the victims had been Jews. The speakers of the Estonian and Israeli parliaments as well as survivors and victims' relatives took part in the dedication ceremony.
On July 24, 2005, Estonian president Arnold Rüütel and Israeli ambassador to Estonia, Shemi Zur, dedicated a monument made of marble. Earlier that year, in May, Estonian prime minister Andrus Ansip had apologised on-site for the fact that Estonian citizens had participated in the Holocaust. In September 2013, a new open-air exhibition was inaugurated, explaining the historical background in Estonian, English and Russian.
Commemorative ceremonies are held annually on January 27, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and on September 19, the anniversary of the 1944 mass murder.
On July 24, 2005, Estonian president Arnold Rüütel and Israeli ambassador to Estonia, Shemi Zur, dedicated a monument made of marble. Earlier that year, in May, Estonian prime minister Andrus Ansip had apologised on-site for the fact that Estonian citizens had participated in the Holocaust. In September 2013, a new open-air exhibition was inaugurated, explaining the historical background in Estonian, English and Russian.
Commemorative ceremonies are held annually on January 27, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and on September 19, the anniversary of the 1944 mass murder.
- Name
- Mälestusmärk Eestis Mõrvatud Juutide Mälestuseks / Fašismi Ohvrite Mälestusmä
- Web
- https://klooga.nazismvictims.ee/
- Open
- The memorial is accessible at all times.