There’s something within these walls—perhaps simply the silence—that helps visitors imagine the real-world horrors that once took place in Chile. A visit to Santiago’s Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos is a trip through the darkest hours of Chilean history, those surrounding the military dictatorship that ran from 1973 to 1990 which left behind thousands of victims and unsolved “disappearances.” The museum is a modern, almost 54,000-square-foot (5000-square-meter) facility that recounts the sickening history, soberly, in the form of survivor testimonies as well as in displays of victims’ correspondence and personal items. There are also radio reports, press clippings, drawings and literature, alongside other artifacts of a past from which often only fragments remain. A prominent mural shows the faces of those no longer with us. On the third-floor, screening booths play related documentaries. The museum is a must for anyone looking to understand today’s Chile.
Museo de la Memoria
Archivo Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos
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Museo de la Memoria
There’s something within these walls—perhaps simply the silence—that helps visitors imagine the real-world horrors that once took place in Chile. A visit to Santiago’s Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Humanos is a trip through the darkest hours of Chilean history, those surrounding the military dictatorship that ran from 1973 to 1990 which left behind thousands of victims and unsolved “disappearances.” The museum is a modern, almost 54,000-square-foot (5000-square-meter) facility that recounts the sickening history, soberly, in the form of survivor testimonies as well as in displays of victims’ correspondence and personal items. There are also radio reports, press clippings, drawings and literature, alongside other artifacts of a past from which often only fragments remain. A prominent mural shows the faces of those no longer with us. On the third-floor, screening booths play related documentaries. The museum is a must for anyone looking to understand today’s Chile.
Get Local Perspective on Chile's Past Dictatorship
From 1973 to 1990, Chile was under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. During this period, many human rights atrocities were committed. After democracy returned to Chile, citizens stopped reeling and normalcy returned--but the question of what happened to thousands of the victims was never sufficiently addressed. This museum opened with the intent of bringing visibility and awareness of the atrocities committed and to the victims. While not an uplifting visit given the sobering material, it is a well-documented chronicle of an important period in Chilean history.
