In 1967, a memorial to the approximately 2,000 victims of the Ereda labour camp, which was in operation in 1943/44, was erected in Ereda.
In the autumn of 1943, one of the first satellite camps of the Vaivara concentration camp was established in a forest near Ereda, in the north-east of Estonia. Until its dissolution in mid-July 1944, the camp at times held over 1,900 prisoners, mostly Jewish forced labourers who were deployed in a bituminous shale mine. The men and women came from Lithuania and from the German Reich. The camp was first under the command of the paramilitary engineering group Organisation Todt, at the end of 1943 it was taken over by the SS. When German troops were retreating from the east, Ereda became one of the collection camps for »evacuated« prisoners. In early summer 1944, the SS transferred Jewish women from Hungary to Ereda from camps that had previously been dismantled. In the course of Ereda's dissolution, the SS carried out a mass shooting on the camp premises.
About 2,000 prisoners of the Ereda camp perished or were murdered, most of them Jews. Exact numbers cannot be determined.
In 1967, the local Soviet authorities commissioned Estonian architect Peeter Somelar with designing a monument to the »victims of facism« in Ereda. The inscription reads in Russian and in Estonian: »No one has been forgotten. Nothing is forgotten! Over 2,000 victims of fascism were executed, burned and buried here in the years 1943-1944. We cannot enumerate their noble names here: too many are under the eternal watch of the granite. Yet not a single one of them will fall into oblivion, nothing will«.
Around 2005, a further monument was erected. Its shape and inscription are the same as a memorial which was dedicated by the Estonian president near Klooga, also in 2005. In contrast to the monument from the Soviet era, the new one clearly identifies the victims as Jews. Each year, commemorative ceremonies in honour of the victims are held on January 27, on May 8/9 and on September 19. In addition, the Jewish community of the Ida-Viru district organises lectures and seminars on the Holocaust, with an emphasis on the history of the region.
Around 2005, a further monument was erected. Its shape and inscription are the same as a memorial which was dedicated by the Estonian president near Klooga, also in 2005. In contrast to the monument from the Soviet era, the new one clearly identifies the victims as Jews. Each year, commemorative ceremonies in honour of the victims are held on January 27, on May 8/9 and on September 19. In addition, the Jewish community of the Ida-Viru district organises lectures and seminars on the Holocaust, with an emphasis on the history of the region.
- Name
- Mälestusmärk Ereda laagris vangistatud ja mõrvatud juutidele
- Open
- The memorial is accessible at all times.