Yesterday marked the 76th anniversary of the mass deportations perpetrated by Soviet Russia. In March 1949, the Soviet regime forcibly deported over 20,000 Estonians—mostly women, children, and the elderly to Siberia. The youngest victim was just three weeks old, the eldest 85 years. Many of these people perished, never to see home again. It was one of the darkest chapters in Estonian history that we will never be forget.
Every family in Estonia was affected by this horrendous Soviet crime. They either had a family member taken away, or knew someone who was. It is interesting to note that some people were forewarned about the deportations that took place over a period of three days. I have met two of these people who kindly shared their stories with me.
While I was in renewing my Estonian passport in Vienna a few years ago, I met with a woman who told me her mother's family were informed about the deportations and were lucky to escape them. Another person, Mr Talivee who lived in the same building as my family, told me a rather interesting story. He said one night a soldier came to his door which naturally frightened his mother. Hesitantly she opened the door and listened to what the man had to say. He told her about the list and that her name was on it, and advised that she should go away for the next few days. Shocked and frightened, she had already lost her husband, a policeman, who the Soviets had taken away a few years earlier. Alone, with two young sons, she knew was vulnerable. Confused, she asked the soldier before he left, 'why would you tell me this?' 'Why would a Russian soldier try to help me?' He replied, 'I'm not Russian, I'm Ukrainian.' This kind act by the Ukrainian man, who was most probably drafted into the Soviet army saved the life of her and her children. Her eldest son still lives in that same apartment today.
