About

CommunistCrimes.org is an online database that gives a comprehensive overview of the history of communist regimes.  The aim of the portal is to raise awareness about the crimes against humanity committed by communist regimes worldwide.

Since 2019, the portal has been managed by the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory, an organisation with decades of research experience that cooperates with historians, research institutions, and other like-minded parties to develop the portal. Most of the content published on the portal is written by such historians and researchers who are engaged in researching the history of countries and peoples that suffered under communism and popularising the research results. The portal, which offers information in Estonian, Russian and English, is intended for a broad readership, ranging from school students to academic audiences. The website is constantly being updated with new materials.

Readers will find in the portal:

  • A database of countries that have experienced communist terror in some form or another. A more thorough investigation of individual communist dictatorships, from repressions to political and economic life, is available in the case of 22 countries. Briefer treatments of other communist regimes or movements that emerged in the twentieth century are available for 25 countries.
  • Academic and generally educational articles on the ideals, application, and crimes of communism, as well as the remembrance of its victims.
  • A news section that contains current information on commemoration events, exhibitions, publications, and other topical subjects.
  • A database of museums and memorials dedicated to victims of communism, which contains nearly 100 different objects from across the globe.
  • Book and film recommendations that are useful in making sense of the subject matter of communism.
  • A selection of e-exhibitions that provide insight into communist ideology, repression, national resistance and more.

The editorial of the portal is waiting for contributions  in two genres:

  • Country-specific entries for the database, featuring structural requirements that vary from country to country.
  • Shorter articles (8000-12,000 characters including spaces) on the crimes of communist regimes, the commemoration of their victims, the politics of memory, or any other such relevant topics. Submissions must be accompanied by a bibliography.

Authors will receive remuneration for their work according to an agreement that will be concluded prior to their beginning their work. Interested authors are invited to send their proposals to: allar.tui@mnemosyne.ee