BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

"Maggie", major influence on 1990s Estonian economic policy, dies at 87

Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, one of the leading influences on the reformist policies practiced by successive Estonian governments since re-independence, has died, drawing eulogies from current leaders.

Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Latvian President Andris Bērziņš, who were meeting today at the president's personal Ärma farm, said Britain had lost a leader and politician whose legacy had wide implications for Europe and beyond.

"Eastern European countries will always remember Baroness Thatcher's fortitude in standing up to communist regimes and her fight for freedom and democracy in our part of Europe," read the presidents' message of condolence to the Thatcher family, Prime Minister David Cameron and the British people.

Thatcher, along with contemporaries Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II,  inspired those who would form Estonia's first governments and break decisively with Soviet-era policies, served as British premier from 1979-1990. She died afer a stroke today, the BBC and Reuters reported.

Of the three, it was Thatcher's economic policies in particular that were often cited by Mart Laar, the country's prime minister who came to power after the first post-independence parliamentary elections, as the blueprint for his free-market reforms.

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.”

Que sont devenus ces nazis ? Harry Mannil, fortune en Amérique latine

Ancien membre de la police politique estonienne, il était accusé d'avoir livré des Juifs et des communistes aux nazis. Après la guerre,  il aurait fait fortune au Venezuela. 

Harry Mannil où l'art d'échapper à la justice. Durant la guerre, il était membre de la police politique estonienne. Durant l'occupation de l'Estonie, il aurait arrêté des communistes et des Juifs, les livrant aux nazis avant que ceux-ci ne soient exécutés.

L'ancien policier était accusé, notamment pas le centre Simon Wiesenthal, qui traque les anciens criminels de la Seconde guerre mondiale, d'avoir été un "collaborateur" des nazis et d'avoir participé activement aux arrestations et interrogatoires de Juifs et de militants communistes. L'homme était interdit de séjour aux Etats-Unis du fait de ces accusations.

Une enquête en Estonie a blanchi l'ancien policier, fautes de preuves. Mais le centre Simon-Wiesenthal dénonce l'inaction des autorités estoniennes envers un homme qui a "acheté l'immunité et la respectabilité avec des paiements financiers". Car Harry Mannil aurait fait preuve de générosité pour vivre libre.

L'homme soupçonné de collaboration avec les nazis et de complicité dans le massacre des Juifs a vécu en Amérique latine. Ce collectionneur d'art aurait élu domicile depuis les années 1950 au Venezuela, où il aurait fait fortune.

Le riche mécène aurait alors financé des fondations culturelles en Estonie et dans son pays d'accueil. Ce n'est pas au Venezuela mais au Costa Rica qu'Harry Mannil est décédé, en janvier 2010. Il y aurait vécu les dernières années de sa vie.

Virginie Riviere

Tallinn mourns Jews deported to Estonia during WW II

On May 9, a memorial gathering was held in front of Tallinn's former Patarei prison to commemorate the deportation of nearly 900 French Jews during World War II.

From 1942 to 1944, over 60,000 Jews were deported from the Drancy concentration camp in France to concentration camps in Poland. One echelon - convoy No. 73, which was escorting 878 prisoners - was sent to the Baltic states on May 15, 1944, reported ETV.

600 of those prisoners were taken to Kaunas, Lithuania, and nearly 300 brought to Tallinn. Only 22 survivors were able to return to France in 1945.

Sigrid Maasen

Victims of World War II commemorated at Maarjamäe

The 8th of May saw the marking of the end of World War II in Europe, and the commemoration of all those fallen or killed in that war, in the memorial square at Maarjamäe. As a representative of the Government, Minister for Regional Affairs Siim Kiisler laid wreaths at the monuments of all those who fell in World War II, at Maarjamäe.

“Today, Estonia commemorates all those fallen or killed in World War II, irrespective of whether they were in the military or civilians, or which uniform they wore," said Minister for Regional Affairs Kiisler.

In his speech delivered at Maarjamäe, Mr Kiisler noted that World War II had been humanity’s most painful lesson, one that must not be forgotten. World War II, the biggest conflict in history, claimed the lives of approximately 55 million people, the majority of whom were civilians. Consequently, not only those having fallen in combat but also the all the civilians killed must be commemorated on 8 May,” Minister added.

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.

Arrestation and deportation : 1949 remembrance

On Sunday, March 25, 2012 from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. we will light candles and sing national songs to honor and remember the innocent citizens of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, who were arrested and deported to the Soviet Union in March, 1949, and those victims from Belarus. Bring a candle or light one of ours.

Let's show solidarity with people in Eastern Europe who gather on the same day with us to remember the tragedy that took place more than 60 years ago. We should never forget and we should never let the world forget.

The Victims of Communism Memorial is located at the intersection of Massachusetts and New Jersey Avenues NW in Washington, DC (two blocks from Union Station). See map: http://victimsofcommunism.org/contactus.php

Washington Estonian Society

Remembering the bombing of Tallinn

March 9 marks the day when, sixty eight years ago, Tallinn was caught in the crosshairs of Soviet long-range bombers. In remembrance of victims of the attacks, Ambassador and Mrs. Polt will attend a memorial candle-lighting at St. Nicholas Church, one of the thousands of buildings destroyed in the 1944 raid.

By tradition, the city’s church bells will start tolling exactly at 19:15, marking the moment when the first wave of bombers arrived, and candles will be lit along Harju Street in the Old City. The attack is tragic both in its devastating loss of life and its military inefficacy.

As many as 300 Soviet bombers dropped a total of more than 3,000 explosive and incendiary bombs on Tallinn, leveling one-third of the city and devastating the citizenry and culture of Tallinn. More than 400 people—the vast majority of whom were non-combatants—were killed, and another were 650 injured. As many as 20,000 were left without shelter in the midst of Estonian winter.

Yeltsin monument proposed in Tallinn

Thirty-nine prominent figures have backed the idea of a monument to Boris Yeltsin in Tallinn, which would honor the late Russian president for his role in Estonia's bloodless restoration of independence.

Yeltsin, who would have been 81 today, was instrumental during the failed putsch of August 1991 and the days that followed in recognizing Estonia's independence, even if the years that followed often featured sharp rhetoric from the Russian government on topics such as non-citizens.

Although no post-Soviet Russian president has visited Estonia, Yeltsin traveled to Tallinn at a crucial moment in January 1991, likely helping to avert a bloodbath similar to the ones in Latvia and Lithuania.

"We believe that Estonian society is mature enough to recognize Yeltsin's extraordinary contribution to the process of Estonia's bloodless return to independence," reads the statement from the ad hoc non-profit organization, Memorial Initiative, which includes many business leaders, former dissidents and figures from all parties.

Les naufrages les plus meurtriers en Europe depuis 20 ans

Quatre passagers et un membre d'équipage sont morts, et environ une quinzqine de personnes "manquaient à l'appel" après le naufrage, samedi matin, en Toscane (ouest), d'un navire de croisière transportant plus de 4.000 personnes. Voici un rappel des naufrages les plus meurtriers en Europe depuis vingt ans:

- 27 sept 1994: FINLANDE - 852 morts, 137 survivants dans le naufrage du ferry "Estonia" reliant Tallinn à Stockholm. C'est la pire catastrophe maritime de bateaux civils dans les eaux européennes.

- 4 jan 1995: ROUMANIE - 54 morts, aucun survivant, lorsque deux cargos, le You Xiu (de Hong Kong) et le Paris (maltais), coulent après avoir heurté la digue du port de Constantza (mer Noire).

- 25 déc 1996: MALTE - 283 morts au large de Malte, selon des rescapés, dans le mystérieux naufrage du Franship, un bateau panaméen surchargé d'immigrés clandestins asiatiques.

- 28 mars 1997: ALBANIE - 52 morts et 36 disparus dans le naufrage d'un bateau albanais après une collision avec une corvette italienne.

- 26 sept 2000: GRECE - 80 morts dans le naufrage du ferry grec Express Saména près de Paros, en mer Egée.

- 17 juin 2003: ITALIE - le naufrage, au sud de la Sicile, d'un bateau d'immigrants parti de Libye, fait 67 morts et disparus.

- 19 oct 2003: ITALIE: 83 immigrants sont morts ou disparus, selon des rescapés, dans un naufrage au large de la Sicile (sud).

Victims of ferry disaster remembered

A memorial was held in Tallinn on Tuesday to mark the 16th anniversary of the Estonia ferry disaster, one of the worst maritime tragedies in modern history.

The MS Estonia, a passenger ferry traveling from Tallinn to Stockholm, sank in rough seas on September 28, 1994, killing 852 of the 989 passengers and crew on board.

Controversy continues to surround the cause of the tragedy. An official report concluded that locks on the bow door failed, allowing the door to become detached from the ship, but later independent investigators claimed to have found evidence of an explosion.

In terms of death toll, the event was the second worst peacetime shipping disaster in Europe, surpassed only by the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912.

The Ghastly Year

The republishing of «The Ghastly Year» is not only praiseworthy and to be congratulated but also necessary. «The Ghastly year» in the life of the Latvian people refers to events which can not be kept hidden. «The Ghastly year» is the first and, at the given moment, the only documentation of events of 1940, precise evidence from that time without any connections to be made with present events within Latvia.

This book can not be accepted as an invitation to a specific action or as blame upon some nationality. It is evidence left by history on events in 1940 within Latvia so few of which are documented or depicted. It was a period of time filled with tragedy, and the misrepresentation of actual historical events in order to serve present needs is unacceptable.

This historical, unedited republication of the «The Ghastly Year» , unexpurgated for the current political state of affairs, has the blessing of God, and there are no grounds to consider this to be anti-Semitic literature.

Check it all here

A shy, unique genius... Joey Dunlop was a true great

Joey Dunlop was the icon with the common touch - like George Best in football, Dunlop captivated thousands with his genius-like skills on the motorcycle road racing track, particularly at the Isle of Man TT.

It is amazing to think that 10 years ago Joey was winning a treble at the Isle of Man at 46 years of age and showing everyone that he could still perform at the highest level.

Then, only a few weeks later, he was dead. There were many who asked at the time why Joey went to Estonia after being so successful at the Isle of Man.

Davy Wood, Joey’s late manager, told me the King of the Road loved the people of Estonia and didn’t want to let them down.

Wood believed Joey was also prompted by a desire to get away from everything.

He said: “I was his long-time manager and friend and my theory is that Joey left for Estonia following the death of his close friend Andy McMenemy in Cookstown.”

It upset Dunlop greatly, according to Wood, who added: “He was not a chap who voiced his feelings but the shock and sadness were very evident.”

Joey Dunlop was a unique character and the bike which he took to Estonia was hung up in the bar he owned in Ballymoney, but that was Joey’s way.

Also the fact that he liked to be on his own, and in this respect I have to refer back to the last days of his tragic end in Estonia.

Cookstown fan Lavinia Cooke told me she would never forget the day Joey died. It was not that she was a close friend, it is just the circumstances surrounding the crash and everything that led up it are etched in her memory forever.

On that fateful afternoon of Sunday July 2, 2000, it seemed like any other day. But Joey found it difficult to sleep the previous night and joined fellow rider John Caffrey round a camp fire where they discussed what lay ahead.

Stepashin honors Estonia independence fighters

The Chairman of the Russian Audit Chamber Sergei Stepashin has laid flowers to the Red Army Memorial in Tallinn and to a memorial to Estonians who fell in their country’s independence war in 1918-1920.

Stepashin is the first top Russian official to pay tribute to those who fought against the Germans and the Bolsheviks.

The war ended with the signing of a peace treaty under which Soviet Russia became the first country to recognize the independence of Estonia.

In an interview broadcast by Interfax, he said he had laid flowers on his own accord as a humanitarian move.

The Russian Audit Chamber chief is on a visit to Estonia at the invitation of the country’s state inspection agency.

The War of Independence 1918-1920 and 23rd June 1919

Võidupüha or Victory Day is an Estonian public holiday, which has been celebrated on 23 June every year since 1934 until 1939 and after the restoration of Estonian independence from 1992. Victory Day recalls the decisive battle during the War of Independence in which the Estonian military forces and their allies defeated the German forces who sought to re-assert Baltic-German control over the region. Today, Võidupüha also marks the contributions of all Estonians in their fight to regain and retain their independence.

At the end of World War I, Estonia was engaged in a War of Independence with two former major powers. At the time of the Armistice on 11 November 1918, the Estonian Provisional Government was forced to defend its declaration of independence against attacks by Soviet-Russian troops and a Baltic-German Landeswehr army under General von der Goltz. By the end of December 1918, the Soviet-Russian forces, in an effort to re-establish the borders of the Tsarist Empire, had succeeded in occupying half of Estonia.

However, the tide began to turn in late December 1918 when Finnish volunteers as well as British naval assistance began to arrive in Estonia to support Estonia's defence. By the time the volunteers and equipment reached the front, the Soviet advance had been halted and in less than a month Estonia was virtually cleared of all Soviet forces.

The War of Independence was carried out by a multi-national force of 85,500 Estonians, 3,700 Finns, more than 5,000 Russians of the North West White Army (under the command of the Estonian Defence Forces General Staff), 9,800 Latvians, 3,000 British, 400 Swedes and 250 Danes and up to 700 Baltic Germans (who were Estonian citizens but had a separate Baltic Battalion).

Holocaust survivor honours French Jews killed in Estonia

Survivors, relatives and government officials Wednesday honoured the memory of hundreds of French Jews who were killed by Nazi Germany in Estonia during the Holocaust.

"Here, before this memorial, I am torn with feelings of unease because I survived, and by sadness in the face of the pain of the families," said Henri Zadjenwergier, 83, at the unveiling of a monument in the Baltic state's capital Tallinn.

"As long as I have breath left in my body, I will bear witness to the fate of those innocent victims whose only 'crime' was to be Jews," he said.

Zadjenwergier is the only remaining survivor of Convoy 73, a train that left German-occupied France in May 1944 carrying 878 Jews.

It was one of 79 trains sent eastwards from a camp at Drancy near Paris.

While most went to German-occupied Poland, location of the notorious Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, Convoy 73 was the only one to travel to the Baltic. Historians been unable to establish why.

Some 600 victims were disembarked in Lithuania and killed.

Tallinn to operate a special bus for visiting ‘bronze soldier’ monument on May 9th

The Tallinn City Government will operate a special bus route on May 9th, the anniversary of the end to the Russian Great Patriotic War to take people to the so-called bronze soldier monument, writes LETA/EPL Online.

The Tallinn City Government where the Centre Party is on power announced that it will increase transport capacity on several routes that day as well.

Temporary bus route No 42 travelling on the route Bus Station-Juhkentali will be operated from 9 o’clock in the morning to 6 o’clock in the evening and rides an average of three times an hour.

Russia holds number of events in Estonia to celebrate May 9

Russian ambassador to Estonia Nikolai Uspenski stated that a number of events will be organised across Estonia in order to celebrate the anniversary of the end to the Second World War, LETA/Eesti Päevaleht writes.

Uspenski stated that the focus will be on the veterans’ organisations and the compatriots’ co-ordination council and the organising committee that will bear the main burden for technical aspects was formed last autumn already. He said that veterans are granted jubilee medals in the name of the Russian president and over 6,000 medals would have to be handed to veterans before May 9, a half of which have already been handed over. He said that he personally has already attended 15 events in several places in Estonia.

According to Uspenski, one of the major events will take place on May 10 in the Estonia Concert Hall where two renowned conductors, Valeri Gergijev and Eri Klas, and the symphony orchestra of St Petersburg’s Maria Theatre will perform.

Since Match films on WWII are shown in the Russian culture centre and Lindakivi centre in Tallinn. On May 5, there will be a scientific conference in taking care of monuments. On May 8 and May 9 there will be several festive concerts in the Russian culture centre in Tallinn. On May 9 wreaths will be laid on several monuments and graves of war veterans.

The thirty years of Reval Hotel Olümpia

Today, 6th April, Reval Hotel Olümpia will travel thirty years back in time and exhibit interesting events, photos, and recollections from the past three decades. A special exhibition composed of archival images will be opened in the hotel, and the hotel restaurant and cafés will serve a "retro" menu. The menu will include Olümpia's legendary "Kikerikii" salad, ham and cheese-filled pancakes, a cake called "Pidupäevasai", and tarte called "White Roses" (Valged Roosid in Estonian).

The opening of the Hotel "Olümpia" to honour the XVIIth Summer Olympics Yachting Regatta was a top event for the Soviet Union. Arnold Green (the Deputy Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic (ESSR), the organiser of 1980 Olympic Games Yachting Regatta in Tallinn), Bruno Saul (the Deputy Chairman of the ESSR Council of Ministers), and Karl Vaino (the Chairman of the ESSR Presidium of the Supreme Council) participated in the inauguration ceremony. The festive opening of the hotel was organised by Fred Raudberg, the legendary movement director of the Estonian song festivals and the head of the Leisure Parks Direction.

When the hotel was opened 30 years ago, guests could use 405 rooms, the Restaurant Olümpia, and cafés and bars on 2nd, 14th and 26th stories. Guests were entertained by the famous variety group "Olümpia", in which Anne Veski, Ivo Linna, Tarmo Pihlap, and others once performed. A night in the new hotel cost 9 roubles and 80 kopecks; the price for a night in a suite was 14 roubles and 40 kopecks.

Vabaduse väljak : 20 000 candles for 20 000 deportees

Young people initiated this candlelighting ceremony on March 25th to mark the anniversary of the 1949 deportation of over 20,000 innocent people - the youngest 3 days old, the oldest 96 years old - from Estonia to Siberia by the Communist Soviet Union.  Each candle = one person. 

What an extraordinary site Freedom Square now is - on one side the Monument to Estonia's War of Independence, on the other Jaani Kirik.

It was an honor to form a 3 person team with my friend, former political prisoner Ageeda Pavel (arrested at 15 by the KGB, now 80 years old) and Mare Liivak - our little group lit and placed several hundred candles.

Hoia, Jumal Eestit!