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EESTI ELU reedel, 11. septembril 2020 — Friday, September 11, 2020
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A story of a “Priboi” deportation survivor Tea Mariamidze On June 14, 1941, more than 10,000 people from Estonia were deported to Siberia by the Communists, out of whom over 7,000 were women, children, and elderly people. As archives say, approximate ly 6,000 men, women and children died of exhaustion or were killed during their exile. The experience of terror and deportation under the first Soviet occupation in 1940-1941 caused massive escape (ap proximately 80,000) to the West during August and September 1944, just before the second Soviet occupation. A second wave of deportations took place across the Baltic states in March 1949, when approximately 90,000 people, including more than 20,000 Estonians, were sent to Siberia. Through these waves of deportations, the number of Estonian population shrunk around by 10%. The victims of repressions included politicians, municipality employees, civil servants, police officers and military staff, en-
trepreneurs and more successful farmers, intellectuals and their families. Madli, 70, is the daughter of the survivor of mass deportations from Estonia, whose mother, Salme Vitismann, was saved by kind neighbors from the Soviet soldiers who came after her at March 25th night, 1949 in the center of Tallinn. Madli recalls that by that time her mother was 29 years old and was living in a 9 square meter room on the second floor flat of the house located in central Tallinn. She was sharing the flat with Henriette Härm, a 63 years old widow whom she called Aunt Härmi. “I told my son, Mart, that we both would not be here now, if the neighbors had not saved my mom from the deportation to Siberia,” Madli noted. Accord ing to her, she had heard this story from her mother and Henriette Härm many times and she often thinks how people lived in constant fear during those repression years. Madli knows from her mother
Mission impossible – surviving the fall of our discontent Kaupo Meiel, ERR, September 2020 Let us stay positive waiting for the somber fall because the year 2020 can get several times worse still in its remain ing months, Kaupo Meiel finds in Vikerraadio’s daily comment. The temperature hovers around five degrees in the mornings, schoolchildren are making preparations for striking out on their own and Saturday will see coastal dwellers celebrate the Night of the Ancient Bonfires. The sea reflects fires into which fall the salty tears of parents, weary from having to install endless schoolbook covers. All of it serves to mark the end of summer and the irreversible onslaught of autumn. Looking around, it seems the fall hardly has anything good in store. The only person in Estonia who can face the looming gloom with certainty is the recent former director of National Opera Estonia Aivar Mäe, whose €40,000 severance package should be enough to make the sun come out now and then. However, even this ointment has its fly as the September 1 premiere of Anna Karenina by Estonia teaches us that while one can find passion and love in life without a steady job, one still ends up getting hit by a train. Great hopes have been placed on Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” in terms of bringing Estonia renown and Tallinn hordes of movie tourists. The film’s stars told ETV’s Jüri Muttika that they loved Estonia
and its capital, while I’m afraid the only reason they did was the fact they were talking to Muttika. I’m sure that while they put in a good word for Muttika with foreign journalists, they likely concentrated more on the charms of Mumbai than of Tallinn when giving an interview to an Indian network. While expectations on the motion picture to advertise Estonia are not misplaced, even if fans of “Tenet” do come to Estonia, the only way for them to follow in their idol’s footsteps is to spend two weeks in quarantine at the Linnahall building. Apparently, anti-violence advocates are violent, speeches meant to unite the people serve to drive the wedge ever deeper and going mushroom picking, one can consider it luck if one finds mushrooms before being found in the forest oneself. In other words, nothing but pain and misery hitting even the most influential people in the world, such as Aleksandr Luka shenko, whose rule is being protested in Belarus and yours truly, who a few days ago got caught in a shower so fierce so as not to have had a dry spot even in between gritted teeth. To top it all off, we still have the coronavirus that can in the near future result in a nighttime alcohol sales ban and night clubs closing their doors. Because it can happen virtually at any time, we would do well to drink, dance and generally party in advance as you never know when things can take a turn for the worse and the taps get turned off. Therefore, the future seems
that everyone was very fearful and stressed those times. No one could sleep calmly at night and they used to wake up even due to a slight noise. “That night a truck stopped in front of the house of my mother and she immediately woke up. She realized the soldiers came after her. She woke Aunt Härmi up and ran upstairs, to the attic while the widow was trying to hide her clothes. The attic key used to hang in the second floor toilet, so the Aunt Härmi took it and locked my mother in the attic from the outside. The soldiers had to wake the landlord up from outside of the house as there were buttons for door bells there, the first step to get inside the house. While he woke up, dressed and opened the main door, the hiding operation of my mom on the second floor took place.” Madli remembers that the landlord’s name was Johannes Perker and by the time of the deportation night he was 50-60 (Continued on page 12)
to hold little in the way of comfort whichever way one looks at it, with the new season of “Rannamaja” sure to drive the final nail into the coffin of autumn depression. One ray of hope in the midst of all this negativity is the knowing that I will not be alone in my dejectedness. “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity,” I say, quoting the Ecclesiastes, knowing that many of my fellow Estonians feel the same way. Feeling a part of something greater is, of course, good, but all it really means at the end is the glumness taking on a national dimension. At the same time, hundreds if not thousands of seers and life coaches are going to a great deal of trouble and organizing group sessions to stop us worrying and start us living. Some of these courses aren’t even all that expensive – just half a month’s salary buys you a miracle-working crystal to put in your mouth and because it is rude to talk with your mouth full, you can watch the quality of your life and the lives of your loved ones soar. Still, I am for some reason reluctant to believe that a life coach’s brilliant exterior hides true passion for life and rather suspect it is love for money. But hey, it’s something – one should accept love where one finds it. How to overcome the fall of our discontent is a perpetual question repeated at nauseam. The only practicable and universal solace is knowing that things are never so bad as not to have any more potential for getting worse. Therefore, let us regardless stay positive waiting for the somber fall because the year 2020 can get several times worse still in its remaining months. So it goes.
Eesti Sihtkapitali Kanadas stipendiaat
Peggy (Margaret) Jupe Peggy Jupe is one of 7 exceptional Canadian-Estonian youth to be granted a 2019 EFC Scholarship. Peggy is in 3rd year studying Vocal Music and Music History with a Minor in Psychology at Western University. Her goal is to become a Music Therapist and further the management of mood disorders through choral singing. Though not active in the Estonian community growing up, she has always cherished her Estonian heritage and visited family in Estonia when touring the Baltic States with her youth choir. The EFC Scholarship will help Peggy to support herself while completing her education. On being Estonian:
“My Estonian identity and my love of music are intimately linked. The tradition of choral music is a deep, rich [respected] part of Estonian culture. I hope to be a part of that tradition, and further its place on the world stage, and present the world with the significance that my Estonian heritage has impressed upon my music: namely its power of community, identity, and improvement. It is through the inspiring lessons of my Estonian culture that I learned the ways in which music can change lives.” On the role of EFC:
The Estonian Foundation of Canada is of vital importance to the community… as a unifying and vocal presence for the Estonian community, the Foundation ensures the Estonian presence in [the Canadian] tapestry…[by promoting the ability of] Estonian-Canadians to unite under and share our unique and beautiful culture with our community and the rest of Canada. •
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, Estonian Foundation of Canada has granted over 130 scholar ships to Canadian-Estonian youth since 2003. See www. estonianfoundation.ca for details on eligibility and ap plication dates or to make a donation to help support youth in our community.
Building Estonia’s… (Continued from page 10)
troubles in this pursuit of urban virtue is the way it portrays music venues as loud, danger ous purveyors of unwanted behaviour. In the end, the cultural figures that were attracted by low rents could become pushed out themselves, leading to the disintegration of cultural scenes and venues where people felt at home. The event’s panel used Helsinki as an unfortunate example of lost venues. However, the city of Helsinki is working to heal this through the recent appointment of a
Night Liaison. This Liaison, or “Night Mayor” on more informal terms, happened to be the moderator of the event, Salla Vallius. Vallius is one of several Night Mayors present in cities across the world, including Amsterdam, New York, and San Francisco. In December 2019, Michael Thompson was appoin ted the city of Toronto’s first Night Economy Ambassador. Each city has a different personality and needs. But maybe more cities, including Tallinn and Tartu, could benefit from a Night Mayor to interpret between the government and key cultural and community representatives.
