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EESTI ELU reedel, 18. juunil 2021 — Friday, June 18, 2021
We must hold the perpetrators of Soviet crimes to account Marcus Kolga, The Toronto Sun, June 2021 Eighty years ago, a targeted campaign of Soviet commu nist repression against the people of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania peaked with mass deportations carried out over several nights in June of 1941. The dreaded sound of a heavy knock on the door in the middle of the night signalled that a troika of Stalin’s hench men were waiting to storm into the home or farm to herd fami lies onto waiting trucks at gun point. From their homes, they were driven to central railway depots and onto waiting cattle cars, which would carry the vic tims off to distant Gulag slave labour camps – often never to return. Over 40,000 people were arrested and deported by the Soviets in this way around the night of June 14th, 1941. Their only crime was to be teachers, police officers, professors, entrepreneurs, religious leaders, elected officials or farmers. A large portion were children – whose only crime was to have a parent who belonged in one of the Soviet’s categories of “un desirables.” Millions of people throughout Eastern and Central Europe would experience wave after wave of brutal Soviet repression and terror over the following 50 years. The memories of the survi vors of the first 1940-41 Soviet occupation and the June 1941 targeted mass deportations are harrowing. Tiiu Salus, a child victim, was arrested with her pregnant mother and physically chal lenged brother in the middle of the night by a Soviet Destroyer Battalion. As they were being marched to the train station, Tiiu’s young brother collapsed. When a Soviet soldier raised his rifle to shoot the little boy, Tiiu took hold of the end of the barrel crying and begged the Soviet soldier not to kill him. According to Estonian historical statistics, nearly 4,000 children were deported by the Com munist Soviets on the night of June 14, 1941. Of them, over 1,000 were under the age of 4 – most of whom never survived the journey and a rare few ever returned home. Not every Estonian, Latvian or Lithuanian was a victim of the occupying Soviets or Nazis. As in other European nations,
Canada and Europe… (Continued from page 16)
coherent full spectrum force package, in complementarity with NATO.” Extending the invitation for participation to the key partners increases the effectiveness of military partnerships, improves logistical capabilities, and
there were collaborators too – although not to the same degree as in other nations like Italy or France. While Nazi collabora tors have been researched and some have been brought to jus tice, very few Soviet criminals or collaborators have. Two years ago, I was horri fied to discover that Soviet col laborators have lived freely among us in Canada. While researching Soviet and Nazi collaborators and victims in an Estonian archive, I no ticed a familiar name in the records that matched that of a distant relative in Toronto. I remembered the man from my childhood, as a member of our small community. That man spent some summer nights in the company of my grand parents, alongside others who had fled their homes because of the Soviet terror and crimes that this so-called friend had osten sibly had a hand in carrying out. In addition to sharing the same name, the person’s date of birth and birthplace in the Estonian records were reflected in his Canadian obituary. While the records only identify the man as having been a member of a Soviet Destroyer Battalion, the role of these groups in carrying out arrests, executions and mass human rights abuse is a basic historical fact. While this man’s friends and family grieved the victims of Soviet terror, who died from starvation, disease and torture in cold and grimy gulag camps, he lived among them freely, dying peacefully, in a clean bed with his family around him in Toronto, never being held to account for his role. The circumstances and level of his collaboration, if any, in executing the Soviet mass crimes and the June 1941 de portations may never be known. But this does underscore the urgent need to research and identify the few remaining Nazi German and Communist Soviet collaborators who continue to live among us in Canada and other democratic nations who have escaped justice for the past 80 years. We owe this to the victims of the June 1941 Baltic deportations, and all other vic tims of Soviet and Nazi crimes. (Marcus Kolga is a human rights activist and president of the Central and Eastern European Council in Canada.)
bolsters conventional deter rence. Partners’ input will help PESCO to reach its potential and goals. Canada stands firmly with its European partners. Thus, Cana da and Europe are entwined in their past and future. (Toomas Lukk is the Estonian ambassador to Canada.)
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Employment Opportunity The Estonian Foundation of Canada seeks an OFFICE AND MARKETING MANAGER who will lead marketing, communications and community/donor relations for this national charity. The successful candidate will manage the Foundation’s office and one part time employee. The Manager will oversee and lead the funding applications program (as directed by the Board), create and manage fundraising and community awareness campaigns, and ideally plan and write content for platforms such as the EFC website and community news outlets, and assume other duties. The applicant must have excellent project management skills, good writing and communication skills, as well as a basic understanding of Estonian. Familiarity with the Estonian community in Canada would be an asset. This position can provide flexible hours and could evolve in future. We are interested in hearing from you if you have most of these skills or willing to learn. Compensation commensurate with experience. Please apply with resume by June 30, 2021 to president@estonianfoundation.ca. Estonian Foundation of Canada is a registered charity that supports Estonian cultural and heritage initiatives across Canada.
The Yearly Rendezvous of Dawn and Dusk Vincent Teetsov Every Jaaniõhtu, it’s said that koit (dawn) and hämarik (dusk) join together for one day, and one day only. When the days are at their very longest in the northern hemi sphere, one can see how the end of one day and the begin ning of the next fade into each other. These times of day are anthropomorphized as lovers who meet briefly, before they are separated for 12 months until the following solstice. This story has become espe cially pronounced in Estonian folk culture since Friedrich Robert Faehlmann published his story Koit ja Hämarik in 1840. Faehlmann is also known for being the co-founder of the Learned Estonian Society at the University of Tartu. In his story, dawn is a young man who ignites the sun in the morning, while dusk is a young woman who extinguishes the flame in the evening. Upon crossing paths at the time of Jaanipäev, they fall in love and wish to stay together. However, they must carry on in their duties, and so they kiss and part ways. For its connection to a moment of the year that’s cen tral to the Estonian calendar, Faehlmann’s story became cele brated as a monument of Estonian literature, especially during the Estonian Age of Awakening (Ärkamisaeg). The story’s roots extend deep into the Baltic region. As folklorist Matthias Johann Eisen ex plained in his book Eesti mütoloogia, some scholars have pointed out the similarities be tween Koit ja Hämarik and other local legends, such as the Lithuanian folk tale of Aušrine· (the Morning Star) and Vakarine· (the Evening Star), who take opposite roles in waking up and preparing the sun for bed. Koit and Hämarik, along with a grandfather figure played (Continued on page 18)
EFC Scholarship recipient
Max Tuju MAX TUJU is an Estonian-Canadian university student who received a 2020 EFC Scholarship. Max is currently com pleting his undergraduate degree in Geography at Lake head University. Attending Jõekääru was an important experience for Max to feel connected to his heritage. Max isn’t quite sure yet what his future will hold after gradua tion. On being Estonian Since visiting Estonia in 2015, I have gained a greater understanding and appreciation of what be ing Estonian means. The fact that I was able to travel to a land that stands strong today in spite of numerous foreign in vasions and occupations in the past stood out to me as a tes tament of the strength and resilience of our people in the Fatherland. That against all odds, we have retained our cultural identity and remain united as a nation, no matter where we may have ended up in the world. Personal and family ex periences have taught me very much about what being Estonian collectively means. It means that we are a resilient and strong people who are willing to persevere in our goals as a nation, no matter what we may face. I feel empowered by this because I know that our nation will continue to not only survive, but also thrive in the face of today’s world. On the role of EFC Estonian Foundation of Cana da is important to the c ommunity because it provides Canada’s Estonian communi ty with a cultural institution that acts as a cornerstone to unite, inform, and serve the wider Estonian diaspora in Canada, as well as provide a sense of common purpose for this community. Based on personal experience, I can see why the mission of the Estonian Foundation of Canada remains vital, as I have gained a greater understanding of what being of Estonian descent means for me and my family.
Photo: traveller.ee
