The museum is actually rather small, located in a building that once served as the headquarters for a labor union (if I remember correctly). There are three small galleries on the first floor. Exhibits in the first gallery trace the history of communism from Marx's development of communist ideology to the establishment of the Soviet Union and the initial terror under Lenin. The second gallery focuses on the even greater terrors under Stalin and on those who fought against and suffered under communist oppression. The third gallery is dedicated to telling story of how communism spread from the Soviet Union to Asia, Africa, and Latin America and the story of those who resisted its spread, while also honoring those who continue to fight against communism in China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam. On the second floor of the museum there is another gallery, reserved for temporary exhibits. At the time of my visit, this gallery was hosting an exhibit on the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989 in Beijing, China.
Despite their small size, the galleries in the museum do a fairly effective job in depicting the evils created by communism. Especially affecting are the personal items on display, items that once belonged to communism's victims, such as a teddy bear that a Polish girl took with her when she was deported to the Soviet Gulag. It is things like these that put a human face on the estimated 100 million victims of communism. I especially appreciated the display of items from the Tiananmen Square Massacre since I have personal memories of watching and reading news reports on the events leading to and following the massacre, as well as memories of participating in a protest in DC a few weeks after the massacre with a Chinese friend. I have an even closer personal connection to Tiananmen Square itself--since I lived in Beijing for seven years, I had many opportunities to visit the square. Every time I visited, it was hard not to think of what had happened there in 1989.
In short, if you live in the DC metropolitan area or have the opportunity to visit DC in the near future, I strongly recommend a visit to the Victims of Communism Museum. Even though it may only take an hour or so of your time, a visit to the museum will definitely leave you with something to think about.
Image: Chinese Communist propaganda poster at the Victims of Communism Museum (picture by the author)