We now have a goodly amount of English language memoirs written by Estonians and Balts, about events that took place during the Second World War and during the Cold War, from the long journey into exile in 1944 until Estonia regained its independence in 1991. 

Every memoir is interesting and important in the mosaic that brings it all together into what we call history. Alas, however, it is a well known fact that history is always written on a slant, tilted towards the victors and what actually remains depends on whose account prevails.  It is a large picture but with few details about the true goings-on, the personal and embarrassing truths that would mar the victory parades if they were widely known.  In the case of the Second World War, there is an entire industry busily falsifying the consequences of Communism.

Blame urbanization: being cut off from your mullased (soil covered) roots, becoming a store snob... It just seems somehow kohatu (out of place; unusual) to gather and eat plants that abound in the wild close to home. Like dandelions (või/lill). You know there's nothing really wrong with them, yet there's a slight aversion felt towards a plant that pops up in your face from every crack in the sidewalk (kõnni/tee). As a kid in Toronto, I remember hearing that local Italians made and ate dandelion salad. That somehow made it okay, since they're people who know what they're doing when it comes to food. Usaldus/väärsed – trustworthy. Nowadays it seems rukola may just be glorified võilill.

ERR News  - Three Esto-nian entries will be shown in the “Atlas of the Unbuilt World” exhibition, which is part of the London Festival of Architecture set to take place in June.

The exhibition opens at the Bartlett School of Architecture in London on June 6.

Cultural adviser to the Estonian Embassy in London, Kristel Oitmaa, said that the invitation to participate is a great acknowledgment and could open doors to foreign markets.

Estonia’s first satellite, ESTCube-1, was rocketed off to orbit the Earth early morning on May 7, 2013, thus making Estonia the 41st nation to have a man-made object in space.

Estonia has become the 41st nation in space, beating out Finland and the other Baltic countries, all of which are due to launch their first satellites in the coming years.

ERR News - The Estonian History Museum is reaching out to participants of the Baltic Chain in an effort to gather historical materials related to the event.

The Baltic Chain, aka the Baltic Way, is the name given to a demonstration that took place on August 23, 1989 in which over 1 million people formed a 600-kilometer human chain through the three Baltic countries, speaking out to attain freedom from the Soviet Union. 

The Estonian American Na-tional Council enabled three young Estonian Americans to attend the the10th Joint Baltic American National Committee Baltic Conference in Washing-ton DC on April 19-20, 2013.  Candidates were required to submit a short essay stating why they wanted to attend.  The three attendees were Elle Lawe,  Alessandra Suuberg and Siim Vakkur.  Here are a few of their observations: