Selected text
In 1949 there was another stage of deportation of the Estonian population. Jews remained untouched, Estonian peasants, the owners of land, were exiled. The Soviet regime started the formation of kolkhozes in Estonia. Estonian peasants have always lived on farmsteads. They lived separately and worked in their husbandry. Before 1940 agriculture was one of the major export trends in Estonia. People could not understand why they should unite in kolkhozes and create large state joint ventures. It was savage for them.
Thus, the Soviet regime started the same campaign of dispossession that was carried out in Russia and Ukraine in the 1930s. Those peasants, who refused joining the kolkhoz, were deported. Lists were made. Moscow sent the figures: numbers of people to be deported, but the lists with the names were made on the spot in order to come up with the right number of people. Back then the Estonian population was about 1.5 million people, of which 24,000 were deported in 1949. That’s a huge number.
Thus, the Soviet regime started the same campaign of dispossession that was carried out in Russia and Ukraine in the 1930s. Those peasants, who refused joining the kolkhoz, were deported. Lists were made. Moscow sent the figures: numbers of people to be deported, but the lists with the names were made on the spot in order to come up with the right number of people. Back then the Estonian population was about 1.5 million people, of which 24,000 were deported in 1949. That’s a huge number.
Year
1949
Location
Talinn
Estonia
Interview
Avi Dobrysh