New book of memories from Estonian children born in Siberia published
A new book containing a collection of childhood stories from Estonian children, who were born in different locations in Sibera following the deportations, was presented at the Estonian National Museum (ERM) in Tartu.
The book features recollections from 84 Estonians of their childhood in Siberia. One of the book's authors is Virve Tuubel, who is also a methodologist at the ERM's Education Center. Tuubel said that through the stories we can learn a lot about how people perceived the place where they were born and the living conditions they experienced as children.
In one story, a child describes their home, "that dirt floor, that one room. A lot of different kinds of people lived there together, but there were also rats, mice, cockroaches, lice, fleas, and mosquitoes in summer. And, he says that when he and his mother returned to Estonia, they were not very welcome here. We lived here and there," says Tuubel.
According to Tuubel, the memories collected in the book are both harsher and brighter than one might expect.
The book was compiled and published by the NGO "Siberis sündinud laste" ("Children born in Sibera"), which was founded two years ago and now has 200 members.
"Obviously, we are now the third generation, after our grandparents, then our parents, and now us. And we are probably now at an age where we have a bit of time to look back and reflect," said Tuubel.
The ERM also invited the authors of the stories in the book to bring items to the museum that they had with them after being deported. These could have been items that were made in Siberia or sent to them from Estonia.
The items are on display as part of the museum's permanent exhibition "Encounters." One example is a small saw and an axe that a father packed for his 11-year-old son Jüri on June 14, 1941.
"The father was then executed, but the son and mother were deported to Tomsk Oblast. And in fact, Jüri kept himself and his mother alive there in Siberia by using the tools his father had packed for him, because his mother was still a city woman and had not done this type of Siberian work or such tough physical labor," explained ERM ethnologist Terje Anepaio.
In 1963, however, Jüri was able to return to Estonia for good. He used that same axe and saw for the rest of his life.
The items on loan to the museum will remain on permanent display there for a year.
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Editor: Merili Nael, Michael Cole
Source: Aktuaalne kaamera
