Selected text
In 1948 there was the second deportation of Estonian citizens. This time the farmers were deported – those people who worked from dawn till sunset. Collectivization started in Estonia [30]. In the USSR it took place in the early 1930s, but Estonian peasants did not want to join kolkhozes. It was not common for us. Peasants lived with their families on separate farmsteads. Those who were against joining a kolkhoz, were deported.
It was harder for me in early 1953, when the Doctors’ Plot [31] took place. Estonia was also affected by that. Anti-Semitism was broader. There were a lot of people from the Soviet Union who came to Estonia after the war. They did not doubt a single word spoken by the Party. If the Party said, it was true that the Jewish doctors were murders, then this inferred that all Jews were bad.
It was harder for me in early 1953, when the Doctors’ Plot [31] took place. Estonia was also affected by that. Anti-Semitism was broader. There were a lot of people from the Soviet Union who came to Estonia after the war. They did not doubt a single word spoken by the Party. If the Party said, it was true that the Jewish doctors were murders, then this inferred that all Jews were bad.
Period
Year
1953
Location
Talinn
Estonia
Interview
Siima Shkop