Selected text
When the fascists led by Hitler came to power in 1933, I didn’t pay much attention to it. Germany was far away, and we had our own lives. I remember my mother visiting me at this time. She read newspapers and liked telling me the news. I didn’t like reading newspapers. I was busy at work, and I didn’t care about politics. I preferred fiction, if I had spare time. I remember how my mother was worried saying, ‘This crazy Hitler! He persecutes Jews!’ It never occurred to me that he would expand his ambitions beyond Germany. When in 1939 Hitler’s forces attacked Poland [see Invasion of Poland] [8], I realized that the threat was getting closer to our borders. Fortunately, it ended promptly then, when Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Cooperation and Non-Aggression Pact [see Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact] [9]. The Soviet military bases established in Estonia in 1939 [see Estonia in 1939-1940] [10] didn’t bother me. I worked and had a home and a husband, and didn’t care about politics. The establishment of the Soviet regime in Estonia in 1940 [Occupation of the Baltic Republics] [11] didn’t affect me either. My husband and I continued to work. We rented an apartment as we did before.
Shortly before the Soviet regime was established, my husband was thinking of buying an apartment, but fortunately, we didn’t do it. Anyway, if we had an apartment, the Soviets would have nationalized it. So, hardly anything changed in our lives, but it was different with my beloved Rosa and her family. Rosa’s family was wealthy. They owned a house. Rosa converted one room into her dentist office where she received her patients. The Soviets nationalized Rosa and her husband’s property, and also, Rosa’s equipment from her office. It was given to the budget clinic. However, Rosa got a job in this same clinic. Efrayim lost his job. The wealthier people, whose property the state had nationalized, were called ‘hostile elements’ and ‘enemies of people’ [see Enemy of the people] [12]. My husband and I had no property or real estate and we escaped repression. Later fear came into our lives. Fear was everywhere. People were afraid of arrests and searches. Everybody knew the procedure. If the NKVD [13] wanted to eliminate someone, they often waited for the person near their home. They captured people on their way home. His family often didn’t even know what had happened. Just somebody never came home from work. That was it. Of course, later it became clear what was happening, but at that stage arrests weren’t so numerous.
Shortly before the Soviet regime was established, my husband was thinking of buying an apartment, but fortunately, we didn’t do it. Anyway, if we had an apartment, the Soviets would have nationalized it. So, hardly anything changed in our lives, but it was different with my beloved Rosa and her family. Rosa’s family was wealthy. They owned a house. Rosa converted one room into her dentist office where she received her patients. The Soviets nationalized Rosa and her husband’s property, and also, Rosa’s equipment from her office. It was given to the budget clinic. However, Rosa got a job in this same clinic. Efrayim lost his job. The wealthier people, whose property the state had nationalized, were called ‘hostile elements’ and ‘enemies of people’ [see Enemy of the people] [12]. My husband and I had no property or real estate and we escaped repression. Later fear came into our lives. Fear was everywhere. People were afraid of arrests and searches. Everybody knew the procedure. If the NKVD [13] wanted to eliminate someone, they often waited for the person near their home. They captured people on their way home. His family often didn’t even know what had happened. Just somebody never came home from work. That was it. Of course, later it became clear what was happening, but at that stage arrests weren’t so numerous.
Period
Year
1940
Location
Tartu
Estonia
Interview
Maria Sorkina