Friday, Sep. 11, 2009
5. Museum of Communism
Under communist rule, authorities arrested more than 200,000 Czechs and shot 327 others dead as they tried to flee across the border. The simple but stirring Memorial to the Victims of Communism captures that agony with six sculptures of a man in progressive decay. Just as moving are the literal depictions of state-sponsored terrorism, told through photos, propaganda and videos at the Museum of Communism — although here the story ends on a high note, with galleries on the peaceful "velvet revolution" that ended the nightmare.