September 2024 marks the 80th anniversary of the Great Flight (Suur põgenemine) that saw thousands of people flee Estonia to escape the country's second Soviet occupation. After the devastation Estonians encountered during the first Soviet occupation (1940 -1941), they did not want to endure that horror again, therefore when the Red Army advanced into Estonia again in 1944, many people abandoned their homes to find safety abroad.
During World War II, between 70,000 - 80,000 people fled Estonia and sought refuge in nearby Sweden, Finland and Germany. After 1945 many of those Estonian refugees emigrated to different corners of the world, finding new homes in places such as Australia, Canada and the United States of America.
A refugee database has been created and can be found on the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory website. The database contains information about Estonian residents who fled the country during World War II. You can search for relatives on the datbase here.
