To oppose this was a " tragic memory " , which , in Poland , comes from its annexation after the Nazi-Soviet pact and the Katyn massacre , in the Baltic countries , from annexations by the Soviet Union from 1944 to 1990 , and in Romania , from annexation by the Soviet Union of the regions of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina and the establishment of a long dictatorship ( 45 years ) . According to the historical Commissions report in 1991 on Roumania , nearly two million people were killed and nearly 300,000 people were deported to labour camps either within Romania itself , or to Siberia or Kazakhstan . This deep trauma resulted in Romania , by the creation in 1993 at Sighet , a prison used by the Romanian communist regime , a place of memory ( research institute , library , museum and summer university ) unique of its kind : the " Memorial to the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance " ( Memorial to the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance ) ( Memorialul Victimelor Comunismului şi al Rezistenţei ) . Conference proceedings and discussions supported by Stéphane Courtois during four visits made to the memorial , and the Centre for Studies of Bucharest , were published in November 2003 under the title '' Courtois The Sighet '' ( Fundatia Academia Civica ) and republished in 2006 ( Liternet )
Katyn massacre
Katyn massacre
Stéphane Courtois