Kultuurilise ümbermõtestamise tavad

The question whether to preserve the remains of totalitarian regimes often results in heated political discussion and may even elicit social tension and conflict. On the one hand, some people see the potential for preservation as a means to deal with a traumatic history. These people believe preserving totalitarian remains allows us to learn from the past and thereby work towards a better future. On the other hand, some people think that removing the spatial traces of a traumatic past help in exorcizing uncomfortable memories and emotions in those directly affected by the crimes of totalitarian regimes. In this article, I will show that in the same society there can be a vast range of opinions on how to deal with totalitarian built environment. To do this, I will explore two different but comparable cases: Italy and Estonia. The article concludes proposing an intermediate way between preservation without questions and total removal: to reinvent totalitarian built forms as educational spaces where to face up historical traumas while building bright future.