Those who have progressed through the American school system have undoubtedly learned much about the suffering of the Jewish people throughout the Holocaust. But few high school teachers (or even college professors) discuss genocidal details of Stalin’s communist regime. In her OpEd article in Harvard’s “Crimson,” entitled “100 Years. 100 Million Lives. Think Twice” (Nov. 20, 2017) Laura Nicolae states, “Statistics show that young Americans are indeed oblivious to Communism’s harrowing past. According to a You.Gov poll, only half of millennials believe that communism was a problem and about a third believe that President George W. Bush killed more people than communist leader Joseph Stalin, who killed 20 million.”
Nicolae continues, “The stories of survivors paint a more vivid picture of communism than the textbooks my classmates have read… we must tell the accounts of survivors and fight the trivialization of communism’s bloody past.”
On March 25, 1941 1/5 of the Estonian population was loaded onto cattle cars and deported to various Siberian labor camps, some as far as a ten-day’s journey. Admittedly, this is not a subject many might want to consider; in fact, many who survived the deportations can’t even bring themselves to verbalize their experiences. Those born and raised in safe and comfortable America might have a difficult time imagining what others have had the misfortune to endure. Many enjoy sharing the beautiful aspects of Estonian culture through song and dance, but to remain true to our heritage, attention and respect must be shown to the times of suffering and pain as well.
All Estonians should take the time to be reminded of what role the deportations play in our history. Please devote an hour of your year on March 27th 2:00pm at the Lakewood Estonian House, not to hear any speeches, but to watch and listen to first-hand accounts of those 1941 and 1949 deportations (many with English subtitles). They celebrate the resilience, strength and hope of those who suffered and survived innumerable injustices. Paying tribute to and memorializing those who survived or perished in the labor camps is the least we, those of Estonian heritage, can and should do. Participants include Karin Ashford, Silver Laur, Kaja-Kai Ojamaa, Külli Rannamäe, Gunnar Tamm and others. The riveting, dramatic and inspirational memories shared should incite us to clarify history and to do our best to support the safety and well-being of the land of our forefathers. Know your Estonian history!
Virve Lane
