2-28 Memorial Museum
A relatively new memorial museum in
Taiwan's capital Taipei, founded in 1997, which commemorates the massacres that started on 28 February 1947, first as a street uprising, triggered by violent clashes during the confiscation of contraband cigarettes by Nationalist
Chinese (Kuomintang) forces. This initially small incident escalated into mass killings, costing an estimated 10,000 to 30,000 people their lives.
Martial law was declared, which in essence lasted for the next four decades. During this period known as the "White Terror", any memory, let alone commemoration, of the massacres was repressed. Only as the Taiwanese government and society began to liberalize from the late 1980s onwards, did memories of these dark days re-enter the public sphere.
The 2-28 Memorial Museum is the result of this development, and now forms the main dark tourism destination in the country. Several smaller memorials/monuments have sprung up across the country in the wake of this development, but the Taipei Memorial Museum is the most transparent to the foreign visitor.
The building that the museum is housed in has significance in itself, as it was the Taiwanese Broadcasting Company's building, which was seized by Taiwanese students during the time of the massacres, from where they could inform the people about what was going on.
The exhibition uses artefacts (not necessarily authentic), illustrations, newspaper clippings, photographs and film. English-language audio guides for self-guided tours are available (free, but deposit of ID required).
Opening Times: Tuesday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Mondays and every day following a public holiday).
Admission: 20 TWD (less than half a Euro, or 0.6 USD)
Location: in 2-28 Peace Park, on Ketagalan Blvd., in the Jhongjheng district of Taipei,
Taiwan's capital city.
