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The 14th of June 1941 is a horrific day in the history of Estonia. This was the day of deportation [see Deportations from the Baltics (1940-1953)] [14]. One week before the war began Soviet authorities started the deportation of ‘hostile elements’ from Estonia. That day 10,000 people were deported to camps and were sent into exile. I think, this was just the beginning, and if it hadn’t been for the war, there would be many more victims of this act. Rosa’s family was also deported from Valga. Her husband Efrayim was taken to the Gulag [15], and Rosa and her five-year-old daughter Roni, were sent into exile to Siberia. This was done secretly and happened early in the morning. I heard about the deportation, when I got to work in the morning.
When I returned home in the evening, my mother told me about my sister. She somehow knew about it. We were shocked. I don’t remember how I got the information about the trains taking those people to Siberia. I took all the money we had at home, some clothes and food and went to the station where these trains were to stop. I was lucky. The train stopped. There were many other people from different parts of Estonia. They had come to see their dear ones. I was running around asking whether somebody knew where the Shein family was. Somebody showed me their carriage. I saw Rosa and gave her the package. Efrayim’s younger brother Herz Shein’s wife and their daughter Irene were also on this train. Men were taken by different trains. Their wives didn’t know that the train routes were different. My sister was hoping that her husband was being taken to the same destination where they could reunite. Rosa and I exchanged a few words before the train started taking my sister to the new and horrible life, full of hardships, losses and humiliation.
When I returned home in the evening, my mother told me about my sister. She somehow knew about it. We were shocked. I don’t remember how I got the information about the trains taking those people to Siberia. I took all the money we had at home, some clothes and food and went to the station where these trains were to stop. I was lucky. The train stopped. There were many other people from different parts of Estonia. They had come to see their dear ones. I was running around asking whether somebody knew where the Shein family was. Somebody showed me their carriage. I saw Rosa and gave her the package. Efrayim’s younger brother Herz Shein’s wife and their daughter Irene were also on this train. Men were taken by different trains. Their wives didn’t know that the train routes were different. My sister was hoping that her husband was being taken to the same destination where they could reunite. Rosa and I exchanged a few words before the train started taking my sister to the new and horrible life, full of hardships, losses and humiliation.
Period
Year
1941
Location
Tartu
Estonia
Interview
Maria Sorkina