memorial of the victims of communism and of the resistance

I've been there a few times and each time the sensation is terrible. If you read and watch carefully everything inside the Memorial you will understand more about human nature rather than communism. It is difficult to understand how mankind can treat itself in such a disgusting and unacceptable way. Inside the former prison you can see the very small cells where the former rulers or intellectuals where brought by the newly installed communist regime just in order to kill them slowly. Prisoners where expected to die slowly, suffering as much as possible, being humiliated beyond any imaginable limit. All measures were taken in order not to allow prisoners to commit suicide, you can still see the nets between the floors, so that it was impossible to hope to die throwing yourself down.If you read (please take a guide if you don't understand Romanian) the histories of prisoners and their guardians you probably won't understand how all this could happen, how human nature can be so degenerated and hopeless. Some stories are absolutely terrible.I don't think that the Memorial is just a matter about the communist regime in Romania, no, it's about human nature and its perversity. The same things happened in many other places in the world and also in our countries but in different periods of history. This is why everybody should go there, to see what can happen when new people come to power just in order to destroy an entire society and its dignity. Those people can be anyone around us: our neighbors, our friends, the bus driver, the baker, the general, the doctor, the teacher. All of them can become the worst enemy when human nature gets distorted by collective political and social hallucinations, which cost humanity millions and millions of innocent lives.

It is a museum where you can understand a small part of what our parents and grandparents have lived for over 40 years.

The design of the museum made it a very moving testimony to a troubled time in Romania. It is similar to the museum in Cambodia where just seeing all of the photographs of ordinary people tells the story in a very dramatic way.

A very well organised museum that gives you some ideas about the communism's crimes. There are the pictures and names of many Romanians who sacrifices themselves for freedom and democracy.

What an emotional transport back in time. The muesum is HUGE, prepare to spend an entire day seeing, reading and really experiencing what those who were there felt. Quite sobering to see what happened in the middle of town as people went on about their daily lives. A must see and can never forget.

This museum is very interesting not only because it is in an actual former prison, but it also gives lots of amazing information. It is a must see although it is quite terrifying ...

This is one of the most interesting and best documented Museums in Romania and it is considered the third Museum of the Memory of Europe after the memorial of Normandy and the memorial of Auschwitz.The Memorial of the Victims of Communism - Sighet is an old prison that has been turned into a museum. The cells are now exhibits in which you learn the recent history of Romania from 1945 to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. It offers an analysis of the totalitarian phenomenon and the nature of Communism. The information is translated in various languages. Go visit this Museum it is the equivalent of reading many books on this subject. All the rooms are very well documented and cover different themes: the persecution of students, intellectuals, peasants, workers, of the Church, of Justice, the annihilation of former democratic political parties, the Cold War, the Hungarian Uprising, Solidarnosc, peasants' uprising, workers' strikes, rebellions in the mountains, life in the 80s, the demolition of Bucharest, women in prisons, poetry in prisons... It was a place of torture and horror, yet now it has become a place of love and memory for the victims. The Museum was founded by Romania's foremost poet, Ana Blandiana and her husband, the historian, Romus Rusan, under the aegis of the European Union in 1994. Its epigraph is "when justice is not a form of memory, memory alone can become a form of justice". The Memorial is run by the Civic Academy Foundation and it is composed of a Center of Research and a Summer School for students and historians, and teachers. The Memorial is a wonderful place, in which terror has been transcended into art and beauty. Do not miss it. It is a space of History in which you experience a cathartic moment. Furthermore, the museum is set in a one of the most beautiful regions of the country: Maramures.

I'm not sure if it makes sens for foreigners but for me as local, this place is very very meaningful. Lots of history lessons and as visitor I feel facing the truth about unwanted part of the history.

This museum tells a very grim story of the Communist occupation of Romania from 1945 to1989. This museum is very cold and chilling in more ways then one. Everything is in Romanian but there is an English booklet that they pass out at the front desk and you can read while you visit (turning it back in at the end). We went with a guide who went into great detail about a number of prisoners that were held here. Be sure and see the moving momument in the yard at the end of your tour. A visitor can spend hours and hours here. You may want to go early in the day. We went in the last afternoon and were very tired - it was also rather depressing.

This was a real surprise. We wished we had had more time to spend at the site. We have seen similar exhibits elsewhere in Europe, and this is as good as any. We would consider it a "must visit" site.

I don't know if I loved this or hated it. What I do know is that it brought up a lot of pent up feelings. It made me livid with rage knowing that there were people treating other people this way. It made me happy to know that the victims were not forgotten, though God knows the regime tried their best to eradicate even the memory of those people they hated. It made me feel ashamed to be the same nationality as the tormentors and it made me proud to be the same nationality as the ones who made up the resistance. It gave me a day to forget about everything and just understand how utterly precious life is. I couldn't thank the ones who created that museum enough for the lesson they are teaching, even without preaching it.

It's a must visit in Sighetu Marmatiei. There are many tourists from other countries who come to visit this place and also people from Romania who want to understand more about communism. It just helps us all realize what it was, how the communists were able to take control and oppress so many people for such a long time. Worth spending some time there.

This is a very moving experience to visit the cells of so many victims. I saw the map of all the political prisons in Romania and wanted to cry. There are no guides. You are given a few pages in English and told to wander around.

A very organized museum ! It is a must visit !One can truly realize that freedom came for Romania with a great cost ! One can see how long the people have suffered so that we can enjoy freedom !

The title of this memorial made me less than enthusiastic to visit. However, it really is worthwhile. The whole experience is very moving and informative.