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I was going to finish school to be drafted in the army when reaching draft age. When I found out about the Estonian corps [21] being formed in Ural, I went to the military enlistment office with the request to join the lines as a volunteer. I was 17 and the draft age was 18. They closely reviewed my case in the military enlistment office and I was assigned to the Estonian corps. Uncle David was also sent there. Of course, I did not tell my mother about my decision. She found out about it shortly before my departure. Of course, she was horrified. Once she had to be in the state of abeyance and she was put through that once again.
Uncle David and I went to the place of formation of the Estonian corps. I started my military life. My uncle was killed in action. He was a doctor and he was trying to make it so that our Estonian corps soldiers got a better ration and living condition. Our commanders were perturbed by that. To boot, they found out that my uncle was from a rich family, i.e., an alien element, an enemy of the people [22]. That is why he was sent to the penal battalion, which was the worst punishment. A common saying for it was ‘washing off the guilt with blood.’ If a person from the penal battalion was wounded in battle, he was to return to the ordinary union and nobody would be concerned with his past. It happened rarely. As a rule, people from the penal battalion were used as cannon fodder. They were the first in the fierce battles, being the targets for the guns. There were very few of them who survived. Thus, Uncle David perished. His squad was the first to go to the German positions when our troops were to attack. Uncle David was killed in that battle.
Uncle David and I went to the place of formation of the Estonian corps. I started my military life. My uncle was killed in action. He was a doctor and he was trying to make it so that our Estonian corps soldiers got a better ration and living condition. Our commanders were perturbed by that. To boot, they found out that my uncle was from a rich family, i.e., an alien element, an enemy of the people [22]. That is why he was sent to the penal battalion, which was the worst punishment. A common saying for it was ‘washing off the guilt with blood.’ If a person from the penal battalion was wounded in battle, he was to return to the ordinary union and nobody would be concerned with his past. It happened rarely. As a rule, people from the penal battalion were used as cannon fodder. They were the first in the fierce battles, being the targets for the guns. There were very few of them who survived. Thus, Uncle David perished. His squad was the first to go to the German positions when our troops were to attack. Uncle David was killed in that battle.
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Interview
Anatoli Kraemer