Battle of Tannenberg Line Commemorated with Wreaths
On July 30, chaplains from the Estonian Defense Forces laid wreaths at the memorial on Grenadier Hill and the monument to the fallen Red Army soldiers in Vaivara, Ida-Viru County, to commemorate the fallen in one of the bloodiest World War II battles fought on Estonian soil, the Battle of Tannenberg Line.
According to Capt. Gustav Kutsar, the chaplain of the Headquarters of the Estonian Defense Forces, World War II brought severe consequences to lives of the Estonian people – as a result of the war, Estonia lost a quarter of its pre-war population. "The wreaths laid on behalf of the Estonian people commemorate all the victims of the acts of war carried out in the Sinimäed Hills and their vicinity, regardless of which side they fought on," said Kutsar.
The battles fought in the Sinimäed Hills in the summer of 1944 brought devastation to the area. The exact number of people who fell or were injured in the Sinimäed Hills is still unknown. According to estimates, in the battles fought on the Narva front in 1944 the losses on both sides amounted to 180,000 people, including at least 37,000 fallen soldiers.
During World War II, Estonia was occupied, with its army having been disarmed by the Soviet Union already in 1940. Regardless, Estonian men had to fight in the war due to the forced mobilizations carried out by both the Soviet Union and Germany in violation of international law.
Many Estonians who were conscripted by forced mobilizations into the German and Soviet military forces hoped to find a way to restore the independence of the Republic of Estonia that had been destroyed by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.
Sigrid Maasen