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EESTI ELU reedel, 12. veebruaril 2021 — Friday, February 12, 2021
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From the Archives: Estonia’s Armoured Train Division Vincent Teetsov
On 5. veebruar, also known as hundi/kuu, wolf month, (Estonia’s rahvus/loom, national animal), the Estonian Weather Service’s lume/kaart (snow map) showed Tallinn as having 34 cm on the ground. This never happens in one huge (s)torm à la nor’easters in Eastern Canada, but has accumulated steadfastly as mere/efekti (sea effect) snow over the course of many weeks of sub-zero weather, set to continue. It’s the same as Suur järvistu (Great Lakes) lake-effect snow and is nature’s gift to kids and winter sports lovers of all ages in an otherwise compro mised time. Photo: Ülle Mesikäpp
Table set for lume/palli/supp “Laud on kaetud!” writes jewellery artist Ülle Mesikäpp from her home in the Tallinn suburb of Nõmme. Katma lauda = to set the table in preparation for a meal and when the laud is kaetud, you’re welcome to take a seat (asuma lauda, võtma istet). Katma is also simply to cover. This table is covered. In snow. And set. (Ready, set, go! = Tähelepanu, valmis olla, läks!) The artist continues: “Kui puudu jääb, saab puu/otsast lisa!” If there’s not enough, help yourself to more off the tree! “Eelmise talve sadamata jäänud lumi tuli ka maha!” Last year’s “unfallen” snow has also now fallen. Eesti has not seen a lot of snow in recent winters, but last talv (winter) was excep tionally, excrutiatingly lume/ vaene (“snow poor”), practical ly flakeless. This year, ALL of Eesti is snow-covered and is be ing blessed with the extended külma/kraadid (cold tempera tures) to enjoy it. So, mida pakutakse (what’s being offered), if the table is ready and set? A laste/aia/laps (kindergarden kid) might offer a heavily garnished lume/tort or jää/tort (ice torte) frozen in a bucket and full of suspended beauty, while someone with a little more expertise in the köök (kitchen) might find lume/palli/ supp (“snowball soup”) espe cially fitting. What has been made from milk and eggs in Eesti, and is very widely known and enjoyed throughout Europe,
is the classic French dessert they call oeufs à la neige (snow eggs) – pillowy, airy poached meringues (pošeeritud beseed) in a custard. Prantslased (the French) also call it île flottante (floating island), while Estonians plural it up as ujuvad saared. A true bath of crème anglaise (English custard) in cludes double cream, which down-to-earth eestlased tend to skip, but vanilli/suhkur, if not ekstrakt, adds a lot. A bird feeder is a linnu/söö gi/maja (“bird feeding house”) or linnu/söögi/LAUD (table), where ise/teenindus self-serve is the name of the game, as is the case with a külm/laud (“cold table” of traditional Estonian savoury foods) and Rootsi laud (“Swedish table”, i.e. a buffet). Linnud would really appreciate if their laud was kaetud right now as well. Watch Estonian birds enjoying lunch otse (live) via the bird camera at: www. looduskalender.ee > tali/linnu/ kaamera. Be sure to also see what’s happening on the hülge (seal) beach on Saaremaa is land’s western coast via the hall/hüljeste seire/kaamera (grey seal monitoring camera) on the same page. If you’re lucky, you can catch a peek of newborn seal pups nursing and a good amount of rolling and playing. People often wish each other kuhjaga õnne – heaps of luck. Kuhjaga õnne = kuhjaga lund. The bigger the mounds of snow, the more, the merrier.
ESTONIAN LIFE
RIINA KINDLAM, Tallinn
Your source of news about Estonia and Estonians, home and abroad
It’s understandable how, for some, history can be a daunt ing subject to delve into if you don’t know where to start. However, I’m convinced that anyone can find something of personal significance if they look back from where they originated as a person – their own time line. In learning about history, photos open up speculation and curiosity. One image can send you into a spiral of information. This is what happened when my family discovered a portrait of my great-grandfather Jaak in his officer’s uniform, from when he was in the Estonian soomus rongirügement (“Armoured Train Regiment”) as a young man. I imagine this was part of what led to his career in Esto nia’s first police force down the line, before the Second World War. This portrait was like a clue that revealed so much about how Estonia came to be. Further archival searches into the origins of the Regiment led me to find a series of photos from the autumn of 1919. In one photo, pictured above, the soldiers of an artillery railway car called “Rummu Jüri” are standing in the rail yard of Valga in southern Estonia. These soldiers were part of the predecessor to the soomusrongi rügement called the soomus rongide divisjon (“Armoured Train Division”). In the photo, we can see a momentary pause during the fight for Estonia’s independence. The Estonian War of Inde pendence started on the 28th of November, 1918, just weeks after the First World War ended, and nine months after indepen dence was declared in Estonia. The war continued until the 2nd of February, 1920. The Ar moured Train Division, started in February 1919, was part of the larger Eesti Rahvaväe (“Estonian People’s Force”) that brought independence from a dream into something more secure. Today, trains in Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Russia use a wider rail gauge/ size than the “standard gauge” used in countries like France, Germany, the UK, Canada, or the US. But at that time, there was even irregularity within Estonia. To overcome this, 12 trains with either wide or nar row gauges were used for the Armoured Train Division. Once the aforementioned junction in Valga was brought into Esto nian possession early in 1919, the trains could be used to push away invasion from all sides against the Baltische Landes wehr (an army composed of Baltic Germans) and the Soviet army. The young nation was thrown into the deep end from the beginning. Support for the
The soldiers of the “Rummu Jüri” artillery railway carriage, 1919.
newly independent Estonia even came from the British Royal Navy, led by Rear Admiral Sir Edwyn Alexander-Sinclair. But it was the ferocious pace of the trains that kept ground forces fast and light on their feet. The trains could carry turrets and artillery to fire at invading forces, as well as protectively carrying soldiers to the front line. They navigated the turns of the railway system across Estonia and northern Latvia. Lithuania was fighting for its independence at the same time and also had armoured trains. This was not the first occasion that armoured trains had been used; Union forces in the American Civil War are said to have applied this concept first, similar to the ironclad ships they used at sea. These vehicles were built and used on multiple subsequent occasions, and it met the Estonian need for a robust form of defence. The train shown in the group photo is one of the 12 used by the Division. This train, number six, operated on a wide gauge. According to the book Eesti soomusrongid ja soomusrong lased 1918–1941 by Tiit Noor mets, Jaak Pihlak, and Mati Õun, train number six had a few railway cars attached to it. These included “Leitnant Sa bolotnõi Kartetsch”, another called “Tommi”, and then “Rummu Jüri.” Interestingly, the name “Rummu Jüri” has a large backstory, too. We might think of Rummu Jüri as a kind of Estonian Robin Hood. In the late 1800s, he is said to have stolen from many manor houses across Estonia, giving the stolen goods to the poor, and deftly escaping out of prisons when ever he was caught. Throughout the War of Independence, Captains Karl Parts and Anton Irv alternated in the position of Commander of the Division, with Captain Parts ultimately taking com mand for the last part of the war when Captain Irv was shot in battle. Irv insisted on being among the soldiers he was com manding. For his qualities as a leader, he is commemorated in Johannes Kaup’s book Kapten Anton Irv: soomusrongide löö givaimu kehastaja (“Captain Anton Irv: the embodiment of the spirit of armored trains”). This small book is part of the archive collection of VEMU (the Museum of Estonian Abroad). When I look at my greatgrandfather’s old portrait, I can’t
help but think about all those who grew up in that time of un certainty and hope. With the 103rd commemoration of In dependence Day approaching, looking at photos and books like these remind us not of lines and squares on a map, but of each person who made sacri fices and pushed those lines so that Estonia could be a free and prosperous nation.
Mihkel Raud… (Continued from page 8)
therapists working in Estonia. But in America, everybody has one. Whereas I have never done it before. My wife is very Americanized in that sense, as she likes to talk about stuff. In hindsight, I think that was probably one of the things that created the crisis. I was very unwilling to share my feelings or talk about them. Whereas in America, everybody does it. Americans are not afraid or ashamed of their problems. They’re probably ashamed if they don’t have problems... Writing about relationships as a 52-year-old Estonian man, is unheard of, weird, bizarre.” Raud contends that the dif ference between his book and other relationship books is that the others come from authors who are “winners” who have “tools and knowledge to share.” Conversely, Raud’s book is taken from the perspective of someone whom he considers to be more of a “loser.” Someone who is still learning. For that reason, some of the content may be apparent to readers already. “I would hope the most entertaining part is about the story of this one person, rather than some knowledge that they’re about to acquire. There are so many better and more sophisticated, informative books if you want to learn about relationships. But if you want to have a laugh, or relate to someone who has been really bad with relationships throughout his entire life, I think that’s what my book aims to achieve.” Being able to take things less seriously sometimes is a dire necessity. Humour isn’t flaw less. It may distract us from real problems. But, as Mihkel Raud tries to achieve with Võtku homme mind või saatan, humour can also reveal deeper truths.
