The Forest Brothers are national heroes of Estonia. They were brave resistance fighters who opposed Soviet rule and tried their best to restore Estonia's independence. When Estonia was re-occupied by the Soviet Union in 1944, many had hoped that the West would come and help liberate Estonia once World War Two ended but help never came. After 1945 the Forest Brothers were the only ones fighting for Estonia's freedom and they made life very difficult for the Soviet occupiers. Unfortunately they were vastly outnumbered and hunted down one by one. The Forest Brothers were active in Estonia until 1953 and the last one, August Sabbe, was captured and killed in September 1978.
There are many restored Forest Brothers bunkers/hideouts in Estonia, which visitors can go discover how the forest brothers spent their days. Locations of the various bunkers can be found on the Military Heritage Tourism website. Two of the most popular locations is Forest Brother (Metsavenna) Farm and Põrgupõhja bunker. The fully reconstructed Põrgupõhja Bunker was opened to the public in 2015 and showcases the everyday life of the Forest Brothers. Anyone interested can spend the night in the bunker and imagine what it must have been like to live in hiding.
