crimes committed by totalitarian regimes - Ministrstvo za pravosodje

Crimes committed by totalitarian regimes
Jaan Tamm *1 and Helle Solnask **
Political repression in the 1940’s and 1950’s in Estonia
A number of events that took place in Estonia during 1939–45, although recorded by historians,
are still not familiar to the general public and there is much confusion as to the development and reaons
for such a turn in history.
The immediate negative impact of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, signed on 23 August 1939, for
the Republic of Estonia were the military bases imposed by Soviet Russia, which resulted in bringing
over 10,000 Soviet soldiers to Estonia from 18 October 1939 onwards. The soldiers were positioned in
coastal areas and various ports. As a result, thousands of local inhabitants were relocated.
Between 15 October 1939 and 15 May 1940, the majority of Baltic Germans living in Estonia
(a total of 12,660 people) were forced to abandon their homes, and were relocated to the territory of
Poland.
On 17 June 1940, the Soviet Army occupied the whole territory of Estonia. This was followed by
large-scale arrests and deportations of the population.
On 19 July 1940, Commander-in-Chief of the Estonian military, Johannes Laidoner, was deported
to Russia. On 30 July, Konstantin Päts, President of Estonia, faced the same fate. By 4 July 1940, 1,200
former state officials and military personnel had been deported to Ussolag in the region of Perm.
Following the decision of the Communist Party from 14 May 1941 to “get rid of the socially alien
element” in the occupied Baltic States, 10,157 people were deported from Estonia on 13–14 June 1941,
half of them women or children.
After war broke out between Germany and Russia on 21 June 1941, approximately 50,000
Estonians were forced to join the Red army, from whom 32,187 were taken to Russia. Over 10,000 of
these men died in the forced labour camps in Russia.
When the German occupation started in August 1941, new exterminations followed. With the
frontier coming closer towards the end of the war, mass deportations began. On 26 September 1943,
the population behind Lake Peipsi and the town Narva was evacuated. On 25–31 January 1944, the
Germans cleared the whole town of Narva from its population of over 20,000 civilians. The last
deportation took place in October the same year, when 2,500 local people from the island Saaremaa
were taken to Germany. Parallel to the military activities on the German-Russian frontier, the Soviet
military systematically kept destroying the historic cities of Estonia that had already been abandoned by
the German troops. The cities of Narva, Tallinn, Tartu and Pärnu were severely bombed; these medieval
Hansa towns were turned into ruins, killing hundreds.
These events have left a deep impression on the population of Estonia, and their reflections
continue to haunt the civil society with the unspeakable terror that they left on the minds and memories
of the survived.
A number of countries faced similar destinies in the 1940s and the 1950s.
On the occasion of the 15 th year anniversary of locating the burial place of Konstantin Päts, first
President of Estonia, and in memory of the victims of mass repression and deportations during 1939–1945,
the Estonian Heritage Society organised an international conference “Archaeology of Terror” in Tallinn
on 20–21 October.
The conference was preceded by a memorial service at Metsakalmistu, where President Päts now
rests, and by the opening of a photo exhibition “The Return of the President, Burashevo 1988–1990”.
Speakers included experts from several European countries: Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Finland,
Hungary, Russia, the Ukraine and Estonia. The conference was opened by Arnold Rüütel, President
of the Republic. Trivimi Velliste, Member of the Estonian Parliament, made an introduction to the
conference with his presentation “Estonian Heritage Society as Bearer of National Memory”. Matti
Päts, grandson of the first president Konstantin Päts attended the conference and gave a speech “The
return of my grandfather”. Conference delegates included Dr Jaan Tamm “Archaeology of Terror
* Jaan Tamm, Chairman, Estonian Heritage Society.
** Helle Solnask, Vice-Chair, Estonian Heirtage Society.
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