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On 22nd September 1944 Tallinn was liberated from the Germans. My mother was one of the first to be sent to Estonia. On 14th October we were in Tallinn. I remember that date clearly, as we went to the birth center to visit Father’s sister, who gave birth to her daughter Asya.
My aunt had an amazing fate. She is one out of the five Estonian Jews, who had remained in Estonia during the war and survived. She married her husband, Ioan Emeliannikov, shortly before war. When over the war started, he changed apartments right away. He chose a district where nobody knew them. Then he hid Lena on a farmstead not far from Tallinn. The villagers were Estonians, whom Ioan knew. They sheltered Lena in the daytime and at night she came out for a walk. She didn’t look like a Jew. After two years they came back to Tallinn. The Germans were still there and Lena walked around Tallinn and wasn’t afraid of them. The Germans arrested Ioan and my aunt went to the police and Gestapo, trying to save him. She managed to rescue him from prison. This is their story.
My aunt had an amazing fate. She is one out of the five Estonian Jews, who had remained in Estonia during the war and survived. She married her husband, Ioan Emeliannikov, shortly before war. When over the war started, he changed apartments right away. He chose a district where nobody knew them. Then he hid Lena on a farmstead not far from Tallinn. The villagers were Estonians, whom Ioan knew. They sheltered Lena in the daytime and at night she came out for a walk. She didn’t look like a Jew. After two years they came back to Tallinn. The Germans were still there and Lena walked around Tallinn and wasn’t afraid of them. The Germans arrested Ioan and my aunt went to the police and Gestapo, trying to save him. She managed to rescue him from prison. This is their story.
Period
Location
Estonia
Interview
Avi Dobrysh
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