Fully vaccinated Estonians can now travel abroad with VaccineGuard

The Estonian Government recently announced it has gone live with VaccineGuard to support the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Secure Vaccination Certificates, issued through the VaccineGuard platform for international travel are available immediately enabling Estonia citizens to cross borders with proof of vaccination status. The platform is based on a year long collaboration with the Estonian, Hungarian, and Icelandic Governments, the World Health Organisation and AstraZeneca Estonia.

President Kaljuliad with the VaccineGuard app

VaccineGuard is a digital platform that connects the different participants in the vaccine ecosystem. This includes vaccine manufacturers, hospitals, public health authorities and citizens. By enabling these participants to share data and verify its authenticity across organisational boundaries and international borders, VaccineGuard enables real-time insights, pharmacovigilance, counterfeit detection and many other benefits enabling a faster and reliable pandemic response.

More information can be found here: VaccineGuard: Secure Vaccination Certificates

Remembering Kopli Cemetery

With the recent funeral of Prince Philip it made think about longevity, death, the people I have loved and lost. My grandfather Alexander was born the same year as Phillip (1921) and how wonderful it would have been to see him live into his nineties. Sadly, my grandfather passed away in 1978 at age 58.

 I have always felt particularly drawn to cemeteries. It is the one place you can go to, to be near deceased loved ones. Many times while I've been in Estonia, I've visited  the final resting place of family members. They can be found at Kadrina, the Metsakalmistu in Tallinn and Kopli cemetery. For me, Kopli cemetery is quite a sad place as I have no way of knowing where my family are located. 

Kopli cemetery was Estonia's largest Lutheran Baltic German cemetery. It was built in 1772 and contained thousands of graves of prominent citizens of Tallinn. During the 1950s the occupying Soviet authorities decided to destroy the cemetery. It was completely flattened,  headstones were removed and turned into building materials. When families discovered this had taken place, they were left absolutely distraught. The final resting place of their loved ones has been desecrated. 

Kopli cemetery as it once was. 

Many members of my family were buried at Kopli cemetery including my grandfather's sister, uncle and cousin. When my grandfather's aunt Anette heard the news that the Soviets were destroying the cemetery, she raced there to rescue her husbands headstone. She managed to save it and when she died in 1961 the family decided to re-use the headstone and inscribe her details on the reverse side.  It was the best thing they could do to ensure that Anette and Hans could rest in peace together.

I once walked back from Pirita to Tallinn along the promenade and looking down on the pavement I could see names and dates in the stone. These are some of the headstones taken from Kopli cemetery. Such a dreadful sight to behold. 

In 1993 Kopli cemetery became a nature conservation area with paths, benches and a children's play area. At the centre of the park is a memorial water cascade. The park is nice and peaceful yet its hard not to feel sad knowing that below are thousands of people in unmarked graves.

Exploring Estonia | A Cinematic Travel Video

Watching videos like this make me long to return to Estonia!

Film: Goodbye Soviet Union

Inspired by his childhood in Estonia, Lauri Randla's Goodbye Soviet Union is a humouristic coming of age film set during the last years of Soviet Union. Randla has reportedly said 'that while the past can be tragic, you can also laugh at it'. For many, this film will be a reminder of some of the crazy things that took place during Soviet times and how life was in Estonia during the brink a new era. 

Estonian literature: The Last Train From Estonia

It was my birthday recently and one of the gifts I received was 'The Last Train From Estonia' by Jaak Jurison. I enjoy reading Estonian literature, both fact and fiction, and pleased with the ever expanding list of titles in my collection. Jaan Kross is one of my favourite Estonian authors and I have been eagerly awaiting the release of A Book of Falsehoods : Between Three Plagues Volume 3 (translated into English) but the release date keeps getting delayed. I will have to wait until August 2022 to read it.

I'm looking forward to reading The Last Train From Estonia. The story is sure to resonate and no doubt make me think of my own family's plight during those dark years in Estonian history. 

Explore the Arolsen Archives

The Arolsen Archives has an extensive collection of ducuments relating to the victims and survivors of National Socialism. If you have family members who lived in Germany during or after World War Two, then you may find records here. I have found several records relating to my grandparents living in German DP camps.  You may find something too.

You can begin your search by simply entering your family name here: Arolsen Archives

Tallinn (1939) Restored and coloured