Tartu’s “Grey House”, the name attributed by the locals for its ominous presence, was at the disposal of the Soviet security apparatus in 1940-41 and 1944-54. The best known are the latter\u00b4s acronyms NKVD and KGB. At these times, in the basement, there was a pretrial prison for political prisoners. Men and women who stood for Estonia’s independence, members of various resistance organizations, and others who were considered the public enemy by the Soviet authorities for various reasons were detained here. Interrogations were carried out, during which people were subjected to physical and mental terror. The detainees were held in cells and solitary lock-ups for long months in inhumane conditions. The epilogue of such torment often consisted of sending the accused ones to Siberian prison camps. In 1941-44, during the German occupation, the same building was used by German security. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The earlier, albeit short, fate of the house of terror was brighter. In 1935, the house was commissioned by the well-known Tartu businessman and public figure Oskar S\u00f5mermaa (formerly Zimmermann). The architect was the equally well-known Arnold Matteus, Tartu city architect, whose creation includes many buildings in town. The house was completed in 1938 \u2013 business premises were located on the first floor, apartments were located on the higher floors. The period of peace came to an end in 1940 when the Soviet Union occupied the Republic of Estonia. The house was nationalized, taken over by the NKVD, and its owner Oskar S\u00f5mermaa and his family were deported to Siberia in June 1941. Oskar, separated from his wife and child, died in the Sosva prison camp in 1943. His wife and son did not return to Estonia from the Tomsk region until 1958. Today, the house has been returned to the family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the period of activity, Soviet security was at the disposal of the entire house. Cells were built in the basement, while the interrogation rooms, premises for officials, and archives were located on the upper floors. The “Grey House” was the Chekist headquarters in Southern Estonia, where mass deportations of population in 1941 and 1949 were organized, among other things. The repressive institution of foreign power operated at this address until 1954 when it was moved, then bearing already the name KGB, to the neighbouring street (Vanemuise 19), to the former building of the Estonian Literary Society. The former house was handed over to the Tartu District Executive Committee, and the basement, which served as a prison, became a repository of archival materials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Museum of the KGB Cells, part of the Tartu City History Museums, was opened in the former cells in 2001. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tartu’s “Grey House”, the name attributed by the locals for its ominous presence, was at the disposal of the Soviet security apparatus in 1940-41 and 1944-54. The best known are the latter\u00b4s acronyms NKVD and KGB. At these times, in the basement, there was a pretrial prison for political prisoners. Men and women who stood…","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"parent":8374,"menu_order":71,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/TEMPLATE-child-page.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8536","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n