In June 1941, the Soviet regime deported approximately 10,000 people from Estonia to Siberia, including women, children and elderly people. The deportation was one of the gravest crimes of the communist regime and affected nearly every family in Estonia.

The "Wagon of Tears" installation created by the Estonian Institute of Human Rights is inspired by the cattle cars used by the Soviet regime to deport people from Estonia to remote regions of Russia.

The exhibition is on show outside the Mere Cultural Center – formerly the Russian Cultural Center – on Mere puistee in Kesklinn.

On the sides of the wagon, a graphic novel provides a concise and visual overview of the tragic events of the June 14, 1941, deportations. You can read it in English here.

The institute has erected an exhibit since 2013 to keep the memory of the June deportation alive and to give people an opportunity to engage more directly with this historical tragedy.

"Since 2024, we have also displayed alongside it the graphic story created by Veiko Tammjärv, which helps people understand in visual form how the June 1941 deportation began and how it intruded into people's lives," the institute said in its press release.

"This series of images is not a conventional history article, but an immediate and powerful visual narrative. It helps bring the past closer even to those who may not usually read lengthy historical accounts, but who are moved by images, stories and a human perspective."

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