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EESTI ELU reedel, 28. mail 2021 — Friday, May 28, 2021
Nr. 21
English-language supplement to the Estonian weekly “EESTI ELU” Tartu College Publications Founding Chairman: Elmar Tampõld Editor: Laas Leivat 3 Madison Avenue, Toronto, ON M5R 2S2 T: 416-733-4550 • F: 416-733-0944 • E-mail: editor@eestielu.ca Digital: www.eestielu.ca
Repeating some parts of Russian history will be a crime Equating Soviet leaders, army decision-making, military activity with their ally, Nazi Germany, will be a criminal violation. Calling the details in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 a Soviet/Nazi collaboration will be a crime. As will the denial of the Soviet Union’s leading contri bution in ending WWII. Legislation introduced recently in the State Duma entitled “The Soviet Peoples’ Victory in the Great War for the Fatherland 1941–1945” would penalize anyone denying the “the Soviet peoples’ decisive role in destroying Nazi Germany and trivializing the Soviet Union’s humanitarian mission in liberating the Euro pean states”. The proposed law does not mention the possible penalties. As a guideline, the Russian criminal code law already specifies a five-year sentence for attempts at rehabilitating Nazism, for using unsanctioned facts about Soviet WWI activity including the possible criminal activity of Soviet soldiers. Picture this: On September 22, 1939, the streets of BrestLitovsk were decorated with intertwined swastika and ham mer and sickle banners marking the Nazi-Soviet Pact signed a month earlier on August 23. The Wehrmacht and Red Army held a joint parade there on September 22 celebrating their successful invasion of Poland, exactly as the Pact had intended. The Brest-Litovsk scenario above is just one example of a genuine Nazi-Communist al liance. The Hitler-Stalin agree ment to divide the Baltic states and Poland between them, Moscow’s promise to feed Berlin’s military industry with millions of tons of raw materials, the long friendly letters between Stalin and Hitler, Stalin’s personal birthday greetings to the Fuehrer published in Pravda, the Gestapo’s briefings to the NKVD on how best to run concentration camps, they and numerous other instances confirm the close co-operation between allies. Russia will ban these from public mention if used as proof of Nazi-Commu nist collusion and their shared culpability in initiating WWII. Putin’s revisionist history
includes the justification for the occupation of the Baltic states and Poland. To strengthen its military and strategic defence in 1939, Putin’s sanctioned history stresses the necessity for starting the incorporation of the Baltics into the USSR. The process was “contractual’, Putin writes, “with the consent of elected authorities”. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania “preserved their government bodies”. Putin negates the violent, illegal action of an aggressive regime. The Baltic states recall the developments in drastically different terms – the arrest and imprisonment of governing officials and political leader ship, the executions, the liquidation of the cultural and social elite. Some 100.000 Baltic residents were detained and deported into the Russian hinterlands. What drives the introduction of new legislation is manifestly obvious: Putin’s continuing obsession with focusing on the Soviet role in ending WWII, not in starting it. That history is written by the victorious has been taken by Putin as an immutable law that can’t be violated. After WWII both the Soviet and Western narratives of the war had one commonality; the glorious victory over Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. This endured till the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. It’s said that the freedom enjoyed by the former captive nations of central and eastern Europe made it possible to correct the memory of recent history. While the essence of the prevailing narrative was a uni versal struggle between good and evil, the evolving inter pretation has emphasized the struggle between freedom and tyranny. Thus newly free Esto nia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, etc., have resolutely rejected the Red Army’s ‘liberation’ of eastern and central Europe. The new narrative calls it like it was – repressive occupation. One cannot ignore the position taken by the refugee communities in the West regarding the European captive nations for 50 years. It coincided perfectly with the new version espoused by the new democratic governments of the region. But
A concept image of the new museum’s entrance.
Annual meeting shows that the Estonian Studies Centre is on the precipice of a new era Vincent Teetsov Following on from last week’s Tartu College AMM, on Thursday May 20th, the Estonian Studies Centre also held its annual meeting. 18 members and one proxy were present of the 20 total members who represent ESC. These members are active in organizations that include, but are not limited to, the VEMU Collections Program, the Bibliography Club, ES Library, and TEAS Ööbik. Jaan Meri, Chair, ESC Board of Directors, began the meeting’s business by reminding members of the ESC policy, that “all donations received go towards the new Museum’s capital fund. The only exception is for donations that are directed for specific programming at the ESC.” For instance, last year, the Estonian Arts Centre completed a deal to donate their art collection and financial resources. After a year, the deal was concluded on the 1st of September, 2020. This is a huge boost for the ESC Archival Collection, which currently possesses materials that include 15,000 catalogued books, 10,000 photos, 1,500 digitized videos, 120 personal and organizational archives, and more. $147 thousand in assets was transferred, accounting for $57 thousand in cash, $50 thousand in a note receivable, and a 355 piece art collection with a stated value of $40 thousand. These
now the authentic facts are even more troubling for the Kremlin, being confirmed by the very peoples who had to withstand 50 years of Soviet domination. Putin knows that by controlling history, he controls the people. That’s what makes official Russian history so un predictable. LAAS LEIVAT
assets will only be used for ESC’s own Art Collection Program. With a future museum for Estonian-Canadians in mind, Meri also spoke of the future of Bloor Street West. Construction will be taking place on three sides of Tartu College: Bloor Street United Church’s high rise development, condos at 316 Bloor Street West, and KESKUS to the north of Tartu College. The first phase of the Museum project was approved by the ESC Board of Directors, which encompasses “preliminary architectural design and key issues” as well as “ownership of museum space.” It must be decided whether the building envelope of the Museum will be owned by Tartu College or ESC. The Committee of Adjust ment will need to approve Alar Kongats’ conceptual drawings. It was reported by the ESC Board that this first phase will be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2022. Chief Archivist Piret Noorhani detailed ESC’s programming and deepening of Estonian diaspora research in 2020, which thrived despite limitations on normal gatherings. Among these activities were 36 interviews with people about their Tartu College experiences and involvement over the years, for TC 50. The volunteers of the Bibliography Club started work ing online in Autumn 2020. ESC teamed up with the Estonian Literary Museum to run the The School Lore Competition. In partnership with Baltic Canadian Imprints, there was the “We Are All in This Together: COVID-19” collection initiative. Online programming included episodes of VEMU ÖÖTV, Estonian Music Week’s online concerts, and Dr. Peeter Põldre’s lecture “COVID-19: Past, Present and Future.” Overall, 43 events took place in 2020, with strong turnout across the board and reduced program-
ming costs in some cases. As was reflected in Tartu College’s annual meeting, the overarching financial narrative in 2020 was one of reduced revenue due to the COVID pandemic. The amount of support given to ESC by TC was reduced to $253 thousand, in contrast to $353 thousand donated in 2019. This is due to TC’s own reduced student residence revenue. In terms of donations, ESC received $113 thousand in 2020, just over $1 million less than in 2019. However, net assets increased to $1.95 million in 2020, from $1.84 million in 2019. The outlook is positive then, as ESC has endured and its members look to higher revenue and fundraising in the not too distant future. In other business, among the ESC Board of Directors, three Directors had terms ending in 2021. These Directors – Anne Agur, Andres Kasekamp, and Käbi Lokk – were voted in for another term by ESC members. Members also voted and approved for MNP LLP to continue as the auditor of ESC’s financial statement in 2021. Among the reasons for this decision was the auditor’s specialized knowledge of notfor-profit corporations. The meeting concluded before one hour was through, at which point Jaan Meri expressed his anticipation for holding the meeting in person next year. Undoubtedly, many people await the coming flurry of activity that is to arrive soon enough. The overwhelming takeaway of this meeting is that the Estonian community is quietly but enthusiastically preparing to enter an era unlike one it has ever seen before, one that will forever redefine the nature of diaspora communities in North America.
