Thousands of KGB-snapped singing revolution photos enter archives

ERR, May 2020

6,000 original camera negatives were given to the film section of the National Archives (Riigiarhiiv) recently.

The negatives are from snaps by the KGB – the Soviet Union’s main internal security organ – during the Singing Revolution era, and concern mass events between 1987– 1991. The ETV show “Pealtnägija” had the chance to see the photos.

The film reels had been stored in a safe belonging to Jaanus Rohumaa, who has been a security company owner for 30 years. “To my knowledge, the existence of these photos is unique, not mention that this is the only place in the former Soviet Union where photos have been preserved of events that affected us so deeply,” Rohumaa said.

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A selection of the thousands of KGB-snapped photos during the Singing Revolution of the late 1980s-early 1990s in Estonia.

Photos: National Archives