ESTONIA: I CRY FOR YOU

Last week I stayed in Tallinn. I bought two small books about the history of Estonia dealing with the Second World War. Two small books and a movie too. The books were written by Mart Laar: “ Estonia in World War II” and “ Rød terror. Den sovjetiska ockupationsmaktens førtryck av Estland-Red terror. Repressions of the Soviet Occupation Authorities in Estonia”.

 A review of “ Estonia in World War II” was made by me January 7, 2010. Eight years ago. But the book is still topical as a historical document. Mart Laar was born in Viljandi. He graduated in 1983 from the University of Tartu. History was his favorite subject. In 1995 Mart Laar received his Master’s degree in Philosophy from the same university and his Doctorate in 2005. I think he is qualified to make historical statements about the different political and military issues dealt with in his books. The title of the movie I bought is: “1944”.

The movie is splendid contenting the complicated political and military situations for Estonian during the WWII. The film was released in 2015. The war drama was directed by Elmo Nuganen. The film deals with the mental conflicts of young Estonians who had been conscrited into the German forces and of those who had joined the Soviet forces. You do not find any heroes in the movies. The story of the battles are described to make you understand the difficult situations for all Estonians who were betrayed by all: The country was first occupied by Soviet Union, then the country was occupied by the German forces and finally occupied by the Red Army.The movie contents information about Scandinavians who sided with the German forces fighting in Estonia. But the Norwegian soldiers are not mentioned only the Danish soldiers. The Estonians hoped to gain independence by supporting the German forces. Betrayed by the German forces independent Estonian resistance movement tried to liberate the country by hard fighting. The Forest Brothers made an attempt to fight the communist terror and occupation- but invain. I cry for you, Estonia. You have suffered too much. Good luck.

The young Norwegian boy was only nineteen years of age when he died in Estonia.His name was: Thorvald Sandli Bergum.