Museum of the Victims of Political Repression

The Museum of the Victims of Political Repression is in the Shahidlar Xotirasi (Martyrs' Memory) Square on Amir Temur Avenue in the Yunusobod District of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It was opened in the early 2000s as part of the memorial complex, which commemorates people who suffered during the Russian colonial period and the Soviet era. The surrounding park contains a domed memorial pavilion and gardens, and the museum is a modest, dedicated building within the grounds.

The exhibition covers the period from the Russian conquest of Central Asia in the 1860s through to Soviet rule. It looks at resistance to colonial rule, the fate of the Jadids, the reform-minded intellectuals who campaigned for modern education in the early 20th century, and the waves of arrests and executions in the late 1920s and 1930s, in particular the purges of 1937 and 1938. Further sections address the forced collectivisation of agriculture, deportations and the cotton monoculture.

The displays rely on photographs, documents, personal belongings, reconstructed prison cell elements and lists of victims, and the approach is thematic and chronological, intended to personalise the human cost. Material includes portraits of writers, poets and political figures who were executed, such as Abdulla Qodiriy, Cho'lpon and Fitrat. The museum has a sombre atmosphere and is generally quiet.

The building and the memorial park are maintained by the state and are in reasonable condition. Information is mainly in Uzbek and Russian, with limited English, so visitors may benefit from a local guide or prior reading. The museum is closed on Mondays. It offers an important counterpoint to the celebratory monuments elsewhere in central Tashkent, and a visit takes about an hour. Visitors should behave with respect, as the site is a place of mourning for many Uzbek families.