BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Estonia – like a pawn in the game between two great powers

Similar to the Soviet internal corps, the Waffen-SS were the army of the party in Germany between 1941 and 1942, forming the vanguard of troops during the war. What the blogger fails to take into account is the relationship that existed between the nations at that time and the difficulties of fleshing out the thinning ranks of the Wehrmacht after Germany’s peak in 1942. In order to understand the reasons behind the annual meetings of veterans in the Blue Mountains, it is necessary to look into the past.

Between 1930 and 1945, Europe was as a game of chess between the two great dictators Stalin and Hitler in which Stalin – formerly the better strategist – won.

Let us not forget that the Kremlin initially supported National-Socialist Germany. It was under orders from Moscow that the combined efforts of Fascist and Communist organisations led to the fall of the Weimar Republic, to the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and, until 1941, to the supply of extensive material support for Hitler’s military projects. After these efforts, a weakened Eastern Europe came under Stalin’s control. Then, with the terrible losses suffered by the Russian people, the German military machine – as if by the wave of a magic wand – turned against Stalin and the Communist leadership finally took notice.

The Republic of Estonia in 1931 was a most usual European country, especially proud of its hard-won independence and eager to keep away from the impending European military threat. Confrontation and ambition were alien concepts to its leadership, which, in the end, came to be the reason for the period of great loss suffered by this small country during the war.

Well-preserved skeleton recovered from medieval tomb

A yet-to-be identified, intact, male skeleton has been excavated from a brick tomb at the Tartu Cathedral, despite archaeologists' initial worry that the tomb would be empty.

The tomb, dating back at least to the mid-16th century, was found in March during renovation work. Digging further to a depth of 1.8 meters, archaeologists found a skeleton buried in a decomposed wooden box, a statement from the University of Tartu said.

“We found no personal belongings with the deceased, but [we found] plenty of coffin nails and some rotten wood. We're hoping that further analysis will show us the type of wood the coffin was made of, and with that, the period of the interment,” said the university's archaeologist Martin Malve.

“We can currently say that the skeleton originates from the 13-15th century, when tombs were actively used for burials. The skeleton belonged to a man aged 40-50. Initial examination shows that the teeth were relatively unworn; there were a few teeth missing from when he was alive, as well as plaque and dental cavities. The right elbow [...] had a healed bone fracture that could have resulted from trying to stop a fall,” Malve said.

The skeleton is undergoing further analysis at the University of Tartu's human bones repository. The university's history museum, which is located at the site of the ruins of the Tartu Cathedral, hopes to put the find up on display by the end of summer.

The university's experts have previously said that the find is one of the rarest in Estonia.

Ancient residences surface in Tartu

Archaeologists have unearthed four ancient dwellings since they started digging last year on the slope of Toomemägi, the hill that dominates central Tartu.

The diele-dornse style buildings are connected to walls scaling up to three meters in height which trace back several hundred years further than most of Tartu's 19th-century Old Town, Eesti Päevaleht reported.

"For a historian this is like winning the lottery," said archaeologist Aivar Kriiska.

"Perhaps in Tallinn's Old Town such a find wouldn't be anything new, but in Tartu the only things dating to this era are two churches."

The digging was commissioned by the Heino Eller Music School, which is looking to expand its campus.

The KGB bugged the hell out of Estonia hotel guests

Old Town Tallinn in Estonia feels like it should be on top of a wedding cake, the old city walls, church steeples, narrow cobblestone streets, and pastel colors putting forth a true Medievil vibe. Aside from aesthetics, the main draw of the city is the deep and relatively recent history – Estonia gained its independence from Soviet power less than 25 years ago, in 1991.

Men and women in their late 20s and early 30s can share stories of the communistic culture they experienced as children, including long lines at food markets and loss of property, all of which took place under the careful watch of the KGB. Estonians were forced to vacate or share their households with Soviets depending upon their income.

There are many hotels located within the Old Town walls to choose from, but if you want a true taste of KGB history during your visit, consider the Sokos Hotel Viru just outside Old Town. Opened in 1972, it's the largest hotel in Estonia with over 500 rooms, and during Soviet occupation, the KGB had an office on the top floor (the 23rd floor, which did not have a button on the elevator).

A medieval monastery in Estonia

Estonia had an interesting time in the Middle Ages. Along with the other Baltic States of Lithuania and Latvia, they were the last bastion of paganism in a continent that had become entirely Christian.

Various Christian kingdoms decided this was a good excuse for conquest and launched the Northern Crusades. From 1208 to 1224, the Germans, Danes, and Swedes attacked Estonia and eventually conquered it.

Once the knights had finished their work, it was time for the clergy to step in. Prominent among these were the Cistercians, one of the most powerful monastic orders of their time. In 1220 they were rewarded with lands at Padise near the important port of Tallinn. They built a small stone chapel there and began expanding it into a large fortified monastery in 1317.

Tallinn's medieval old town

Tallinn is a medieval wonderland. The capital of Estonia isn't on a lot of people's bucket list but anyone at all interested in history, architecture or art will love this place.

The central attraction is Old Town, a medieval walled city filled with old buildings and fortifications. The sheltered bay and the easily defended Toompea Hill made it a natural place to settle. Sometime about 1050 A.D. a fortress was built atop the hill, the first of many. In 1219 the Danes showed up as part of the Northern Crusade to subjugate the Baltics and convert the local pagans to Christianity whether they wanted to or not.

The Danes improved the fortifications and expanded the town, which became part of the Hanseatic League, a trading organization of a hundred northern cities. The Danes sold Tallinn to the Livonan Order, a branch of the Teutonic Knights, in 1346. The Swedes came next in 1561. Tallinn weathered plague and the Great Northern War and became part of Russia in 1710. In 1918, Estonia declared independence from Russia and fought a bitter war against Bolshevik Russia. Independence didn't last long, however, and the fledgling nation fell first to the Nazis and then the Soviets during World War II.

Hanseatic Days bring rare medieval toys to town

The Tartu Toy Museum is highlighting games from the Hanseatic period in the run-up to the city's annual three-day festival commemorating medieval trading.

A special exhibit of medieval games and toys opened at the museum yesterday and will run just five days.

The museum's hands-on play room will host weaving and ribbon plaiting activities. In the gallery, children and adults can roll dice and learn the rules of old board games, ERR radio reported.

After the festival opens tomorrow, the area in front of the museum on Lutsu tänav will become "Kids' City" while toy construction workshops take place in the gallery.

The nearby Teatri Kodu theatrical puppet museum will show off a 700-year-old home, a rare hypocaust system from the 14th century and various archeological finds.

The July 20-22 Hanseatic Days festival will feature different thematic areas, or "cities," new ones this year being Science City on Toome Hill and Art City on the banks of the Emajõgi.

The Hanseatic fair with artisans and artists will begin on Saturday morning.

The Tartu Triathlon on July 21-22 is also taking place in conjunction with the festival this year.

Kristopher Rikken

Hiiumaa

Archaeological evidence оf the fіrst human settlement іn Hiiumaa dates tо аs early аs the 4th century BC. The fіrst documented record оf the island оf Dageida wаs made by contemporary chroniclers іn 1228, аt the tіme when Hiiumaa, along wіth the rest оf Estonia, hаd been conquered by Germanic crusaders.

Іn 1254, Hiiumaa wаs divided between the Bishopric оf Ösel-Wiek аnd the Livonian branch оf the Teutonic Order, whо were аlsо partly acting оn behalf оf the Hanseatic League.

The island wаs part оf Swedish Estonia frоm 1563–1720, аfter whіch іt passed tо the Russian Empire аs part оf the Governorate оf Estonia, although Dagö's Swedish population kept mоst оf theіr privileges. Mоst оf the island's previously numerous Swedish-speaking population emigrated оr were "Estonianised" during the period оf Imperial Russian rule, although а small minority remains tо thіs day. Estonian Swedes аre аlsо known аs "aibofolke" оr "rannarootslased" (meaning coastal Swedes іn Estonian).

Hiiumaa wаs occupied during World War I by the Imperial German Army, іn Operation Albion. Аfter the war, іt became а part оf independent Estonia. Іt wаs annexed by the Soviet Union іn 1940, by Nazi Germany іn 1941, аnd by the Soviets again іn 1944. Іt wаs then а part оf the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic until the Soviet Union's collapse іn 1991. During the Soviet era Hiiumaa wаs declared а restricted zone, closed tо foreigners аnd tо mоst mainland Estonians. Since 1991, the island has been а part оf independent Estonia.

War survivor smuggled refugees to safety

In her 94 years she has seen occupations, wars, tragedy, compassion, and the triumph of humanity over hardship.

Invermere resident, Leida Peepre, grew up among the ancient architecture of coastal Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. But her carefree childhood and teen years spent playing within the 13th century city were cut short by the dark shadow of imminent occupation.

During the Second World War, the Soviet Union blockaded Tallinn’s port and on June 14th, 1940, aerial bomber patrols began to fill the skies above the city.

The Soviets demanded that Estonia agree to allow them to create military bases in the country and install a pro-Soviet government. Under the threat of invasion, the administration of Jüri Uluots agreed to the Russian terms and resigned the country to Soviet control.

Life under the occupation was tough and dissent with the ruling regime was not tolerated, Leida said. “So many were killed by the Russians at the time or deported,” she said. “Anybody they picked up from the street, including women and children, they sent with no food on train cars to Siberia. They used cattle cars with nothing but a hole at the bottom for a toilet. Men, women, children, teenagers — as many as could fit in these cars they shipped to Siberia to work camps.”

Estonian citizen is opinion leader in Moscow

At first glance, he seems to be a valuable asset for Estonia with an established position within the intellectual elite of Moscow opinion makers. His observations in brief:

The Soviets did occupy Estonia; the independence of the Estonian state was destroyed; Soviet deportations of women, children and the elderly were inhumane; in diplomatic standoffs between Estonian and Russia, the latter comes off as an idiot.

He’s Mihhail Veller, best-selling Russian author, Estonian citizen, recipient of the Estonia’s White Star presidential order, who keeps homes both in Tallinn and Moscow. A member of the Estonian Federation of Authors, Veller was born in Soviet Ukraine, of Jewish parents, graduated from Leningrad State University in Russian language and was “forced” by the authorities to move to Estonian in 1979. (It’s also said that Teet Kallas, editor of the literary journal “Looming” brought him to Estonia as an up and coming writer. There is a wide difference between the two reasons for moving to Tallinn. The first implies opposition to the regime. The second leaves the motivation open.)

Bold decisions after Soviet era provided essentials for Estonia's success

TALLINN - On his desk in the presidential palace in Estonia's capital, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, the third elected president of Estonia in modern times, has an iMac and a MacBook Air. He can also write computer code. Estonia has won itself a reputation for being a tech-savvy nation, a country that produces more digital start-ups per head of population than any other in Europe. And that starts at the top.

Mr. Ilves, in his second and final five-year term, was recently in the news for a very public spat with the economist Paul Krugman. It says something about Mr. Ilves's embrace of technology, and his belief in openness, that he chose the public micro-blogging network Twitter to slam Mr. Krugman.

Mr. Ilves won't be drawn but instead produces two graphs plotting Estonia's gross domestic product: The one used by Mr. Krugman that covers the years 2007-2012, showing GDP to be at little more than 90% of peak value, and another charting from 1996 onward. This tells a different story, namely that, despite the dip, GDP has doubled.

When you look at Estonia's path from throwing off Soviet occupation in 1991 to the highest per capita GDP of any of the three Baltic states today, it is hard not to be impressed by how much this tiny country -- its population at 1.3 million, only the size of Copenhagen's -- with an obscure language and unenviable weather has achieved. Mr. Ilves pays credit to the decisions made two decades ago as the country returned to the map.

Notes on a divided Europe from the Finnish frontier

Greetings from Lappeenranta, in eastern Finland. Everyone is talking about the euro crisis, and the divisions between northern and southern Europe. But another European border is more evident here. The frontier between eastern and western Europe has been bitterly contested for centuries.

In the 20th century, argument over the location of that border cost upwards of a 100m lives. Timothy Snyder’s recent book, Bloodlands, recounts the tragedy of the contested areas in horrific detail. From 1948 to 1989, the border was as far west as it has ever reached following Russia’s victory in the Great Patriotic War.

Today the border has shuffled far to the east. America won the cold war and many Soviet satellite states were rapidly welcomed into the EU. But the line remains uneasy. Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia seem fully attached to the western side, while Hungary is regressing towards totalitarianism. Several states further east are still uneasy partners in the new Europe.

The Finnish border is an anomaly. In 1918 the Finns won independence for a state that extended to the gates of St Petersburg. Russia captured territory in the 1939-40 Winter War. Finland then fought on the losing side in the second world war and did not remain neutral in the cold war. So the once thriving Finnish industrial city of Viipuri is today the depressed Russian outpost of Vyborg.

The wisdom of the ages for Estonia

The boat is shallow draft, some 40-feet long and 18-feet of beam, tar pitched, almost clinker built, wide on the Mother of Rivers, the Emajõgi. For 600 years these boats, with their single square sails, plied the Mother of Rivers from Estonia half way to Moscow with spices, returning with furs.

The last of these boats worked some 70 years ago. A federation of Estonians have gathered lost knowledge and built just one, wide on the river, easing its way, Estonian pastries for the guests, of which I am one. Magic.

Eleven thousand years ago these Finno-Ugric-Altaic peoples came here. Just in time, they say, for a 50-meter drop in the Baltic at the end of the last Ice Age. As it retreated, what may have been an ice-bound Baltic came into free contact with the surrounding region.

Estonian is, in fact, close to Finnish and far from Hungarian. Latvia and Lithuania, the two more southern Baltic states, stretching to Poland, speak Indo-European languages. But they are only distantly related to the Germanic and Latin-rooted languages of much of Europe, or the Slavic languages.

When and where did these Balts come from?

Kerli and Hannah

Apologies to Milan Kundera for borrowing from the title from his literary masterpiece, which explores artistic behaviour during the Prague Spring with an intellectual and philosophical vigour, that apparently is untranslatable. Kundera is on record saying Hollywood’s version of The Unbearable Lightness of Being with Daniel Day-Lewis had little if nothing in common with his book, which was written in 1982, but only published, with Kundera’s approval in the Czech Republic in the original Czech in 2006. Kundera has remarked that the movie had very little to do with either the spirit of the novel or the characters in it.

Yet after listening to the feather-brained Kerli’s now officially, (as of yesterday) released single “Zero Gravity”, and seeing the brand new video, courtesy of Õhtuleht (link below) I found no other words to describe this vapid paean to all that Hollywood in its brainwashing fervour holds dear.

What is truly a weightless number was actually already on the air, if you will excuse the attempt at humour, already last year. Kerli performed “Zero Gravity” at Vabaduse laul, Freedom song, in Tallinn, along with other English language numbers (that August 20th festival marked 20 years of reindependence from Soviet occupation for the younger set). The 25 year-old from Elva apparently has very few Estonian selections in her repertoire. So a young man, who greeted my news about Kerli’s release by beginning to sing the song, tells me.

I’ll leave the blatant anti-Christian symbolism in the video for others to comment on, but it is there – just as it was when Kerli first came to my attention with her initial attempt at swaying young minds with the help of superficial America and Hollywood. That was with the release of “Walking on Air”, which demonstrated more musical and lyrical fluff coupled with mind control symbolism.

Deportations, a centuries-old terror mechanism used both by the Russian and Soviet governments

Deportations, whether perpetrated by Russians or Soviets have been in their arsenal of rule by terror for centuries. They have always represented an attempt to violently remove those whom the authorities have deemed disloyal, distrusted, a political rival etc. This forced resettlement of millions of children, women and men has led to predictable human misery and immortality.

Soviet rule over the Baltic states was a classical colonial occupation complete with armed resistance, economic exploitation and foreign settlement. One should note here that Moscow’s continual denial and rejection of the actuality of the occupation has never been challenged seriously by the international community in a manner with which holocaust deniers have been universally condemned.

Deportations in Estonia can be traced back to the 1500’s: Russia’s Ivan IV deported some of Tartu’s rebellious German population to Russia in 1572; from 1701 to 1708 the armed forces of Peter I deported some 10,000 Estonians to Siberia; in 1708 a large portion of Germans in Tartu were deported to the Vologda region; in the same year nearly 1400 Germans from Narva were deported to various destinations in Russia. Only 700 made it back; in 1781 Catherine II ordered Swedish families in Hiiumaa to be deported to the southern Steppes of Russia. The above are just examples of the numerous deportation operations carried out in the Baltic states.

Let freedom sing

Sacred ground

That’s what our guide, Magrit, calls the vast open-air theater on the outskirts of Tallinn, the ancient capital of the tiny Baltic nation of Estonia. Here, in the late 1980s, Estonians gathered by the thousands to sing patriotic songs and express their deep disdain for their Soviet rulers. Finally, in 1991, the “Singing Revolution” triumphed, and Estonia became free.

Our trip to Tallinn coincides with a national celebration in that theater, marking 20 years of independence. As we enter the grounds, someone hands us small paper versions of the Estonian flag — horizontal bands of black, white and blue — and we edge our way into the vast crowd and find a spot on the grass. Extended families, including seniors in lawn chairs and babies in arms, are everywhere. A local band is playing a fast-paced tune — who knew that a violin and an accordion could be so stirring? — and folks all around us are waving flags and white balloons. We join in eagerly, hoisting our little pennants on their wooden sticks, sharing briefly in this moment of national exhilaration.

Between songs, a huge screen projects images of Estonians offering their observations on the meaning of independence. An athlete urges expatriates to “come back home [on] a ship of songs.” A poet suggests that “survivors are messengers” and that “through them I can remember the future.” A woman says simply: “Something wonderful has happened here. A miracle, really.”

Then Brainstorm, a rock band from the neighboring country of Latvia, plays a tune with the recurring refrain, “That’s all we have.” I think the singer is talking about love, but he could mean the land.

Or liberty

Russia dismayed by U.S. statement on 1944 Tallinn air raid

Moscow has condemned a statement by the U.S. Embassy in Estonia that called the Soviet air attack on Nazi-held Tallinn in 1944 an act of "foreign occupation," the Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

“It is regrettable that American diplomats in Tallinn are once again conniving in the attempts by certain powers in the Baltic States to distort the historic truth and set the Russian and Estonian people at loggerheads,” the ministry said in a statement.

Russia's reaction came after the U.S. Embassy in Estonia issued a statement on March 9 announcing a ceremony commemorating the 1944 Soviet bombing of Tallinn that called the attack “tragic both in its devastating loss of life and its military inefficacy.”

Over 300 Soviet bombers raided Tallinn on March 9, 1944 in an attempt to destroy the Nazi forces occupying the city. However, the bombing mainly claimed the lives of civilians, killing over 500 people and injuring almost 700.

The attack, seen by many Estonians as an act of Russian aggression, remains one of the most controversial issues in the history of the World War II.

The U.S. statement also said the bombing failed to “break the spirit of the Estonian people,” a phrase that Moscow views with “condemnation and outrage.”

It argues the attack has been “taken out of the historical context” and that the bombing was part of Soviet military actions to liberate the Baltic States from Nazi troops, the Foreign Ministry said.

Dina Danilova

Estonia strives to shake off Soviet energy dependence

The three Soviet republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were always undigested morsels in the maw of the USSR.

Liberated by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles into independence, the three nations enjoyed freedom until the cynical Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact of August 1939 assigned them to the Soviet sphere of influence between Hitler and Stalin.

Subsequently absorbed by the USSR, the states were “liberated’ by the Nazis in their 1941 Soviet invasion plan Operation Barbarossa, only to be “re-liberated” in 1944 by the Red Army.

They remained under Soviet thralldom until the late 1980s, when “reformist” Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev’s twin policies of “glasnost” (“openness”) and perestroika (“reconstruction”) were taken seriously by citizens of the three republics, whose stroppiness helped encourage other Soviet citizens to end Lenin’s grand experience in coercing peoples to a better future in December 1991.

But, as the old pop song puts it, “breaking up is hard to do,” and Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia have remained tied to Russian energy exports even as they have joined both the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO).

So, how to break the last (energy) umbilical cord to Moscow, subject to the whims of state-owned natural gas monopoly Gazprom?

In Estonia’s case, find other energy suppliers beyond the Russian Federation.

Let's Go : Music from the Baltic

Cantus will perform “The Singing Revolution,” an inspiring story of music and revolution in the Baltic States.

In 1989 the people of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia joined hands in a peaceful revolution of song to gain their independence from the Soviet Union. Cantus shares this inspiring story and the music of the Baltic states.

Time: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 15
Cost: Adults $25; students $10
Location: The Cowles Center, 528 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis

Time: 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 23
Cost: Adults $25; students $10
Location: Colonial Church, 6200 Colonial Way, Edina

Info: cantussings.org or (612) 435-0055

Read more: Chanhassen Villager - Let s Go Music from the Baltic

Historic Centre of Tallinn

Tallinn is an outstanding and exceptionally complete and well-preserved example of a medieval northern European trading city. It retains the salient features of this unique form of economic and social community to a remarkable degree.

Archaeological investigations have shown that a fort on the limestone plateau of Toompea and a trading post and harbour at its foot, on the Viking route to Constantinople, have existed since the 10th-11th centuries. With the expansion of Baltic trade, the settlement known at that time as Lyndanise (Reval in German, Kolyvan in Russian) was occupied in 1219 by troops of Waldemar II of Denmark, who strengthened the fortifications on Toompea and built the first church.

After coming under direct papal jurisdiction in 1226-27, the town was divided into two parts: the fortress (castrum ) and the lower town (suburbum ). In 1230 the order invited 200 German merchants from Gotland to Tallinn, where they settled around a new church dedicated to St Nicholas, alongside the existing Estonian, Scandinavian and Russian trading posts. In 1248 Tallinn adopted the Lübeck statute, becoming a full member of the Hanseatic League in 1285. Its prosperity was reflected by its rapid growth in the 14th century: work began on the massive town wall in 1310, enclosing an area laid out according to the characteristic Baltic trading pattern with radiating streets. Along with the territory of northern Estonia, the town was sold to the Livonian Order, and it was the latter that was responsible for rebuilding the castle on Toompea as one of the strongest in the region.

With the fall of Visby in 1361 the importance of Tallinn increased substantially. The 15th century saw the transformation of the town, with the construction of a new town hall and other public buildings and the rebuilding of the merchants' wooden houses in stone. It was annexed by Sweden in 1561, and it was Swedish architects who were responsible for the reconstruction of the Toompea area after a disastrous fire in 1684 and for the addition of a system of bastions to the fortifications. In 1710 the town surrendered to the troops of Tsar Peter I, entering into a half-century of commercial and cultural stagnation, but this came to an end when its role as a provincial administrative centre was confirmed, with the castle as its seat. The town was heavily bombed in 1944. The church of St Nicholas and the area around it suffered grave damage.