Ibrahim Zarip
Ibrahim Zarip (7 October 1925, Tallinn – 22 September 1994) was an Estonian Tatar (Mišär Tatar), a “Finnish Boy” (soomepoiss) and an exile politician. In Sweden he served on the board of the Foreign Association of the Estonian Socialist Party and in the Estonian National Council, fighting the Soviet occupation from exile, and was one of the founders of Sweden's first Muslim community; later in New York he was an active member of the foreign-Estonian community. He was born in Estonia as an Estonian citizen, the son of the Tallinn merchant Umiar Zarip.
Ibrahim Zarip as a young man and in later life.
“What the talk is about — Estonian Turks”: the exile-Estonian newspaper piece in which a young Ibrahim walks into the editorial office and speaks clear Estonian — “I was born in Estonia and am an Estonian citizen.”
The Estonian Philatelic Society's 15th-anniversary outing to Morristown, New Jersey; Ibrahim Zarip in the back row.
Finland and Sweden
In 1943 Ibrahim Zarip escaped to Finland to avoid conscription into the German occupation forces. He joined the Finnish Navy as a sailor (matruus), trained in Turku and served on a minesweeper; he was a “Finnish Boy” of the Continuation War. In 1944 he reached Sweden as a political refugee — the peace treaty between Finland and the Soviet Union contained a clause for the return of “people of the Soviet Union.” In 1949 he was a co-founder of Sweden’s first Muslim organization, the Turk-Islam Föreningen i Sverige. He was active in the foreign section of the Estonian Socialist Party alongside its chairman Johannes Mihkelson and Gustav Suits.
On arrival he was registered as a Turkish citizen — a Tatar refugee's shield against repatriation to the USSR — and he fought for years until the authority re-registered him on 4 August 1952: “former Estonian citizen, born 7 Oct 1925”; the protocol carries his own words: “I have always considered myself an Estonian citizen.” He worked on a farm at Fogdö, in a Borås weaving mill, in the Eskilstuna metal industries and as a lampshade-frame master in Stockholm; his employer's 1955 assessment: “orderly and diligent — the best one can imagine”. In 1950 he visited his sister Umugulsum in Butzbach (the US zone of Germany). In 1956 he emigrated to the USA under the Refugee Relief Act's special refugee quota.
United States
In 1956 Ibrahim Zarip moved to New York and became an offset printer. In 1971 he was granted U.S. Patent No. 3,605,622 for a printing-plate alignment method. He was active in New York’s Estonian community: he helped put the paperwork for the renovation of the New York Estonian House in order (1991), took part in the preparations for ESTO ’92, and was involved in the New York Estonian Philatelic Society.
Timeline
Finland (1943–1944)
9 November 1943 — arrived in Finland and volunteered for the Finnish Armed Forces.
20 November 1943 — officially accepted into the Finnish Navy as a sailor (matruus).
1943–1944 — trained in Turku; served on a minesweeper (unit 1/eriP/Tur.LA).
18 September 1944 — discharged from Finnish naval service.
Sweden (1944–1956)
9–18 August 1944 — arrived in Sweden as a political refugee.
30–31 December 1946 — received an invitation from Johannes Mihkelson to join the Estonian Socialist Society (Eskilstuna).
22 October 1949 — co-founder of Turk-Islam Föreningen i Sverige (Sweden’s first Muslim organization).
March 1952 — elected to the audit committee of the Foreign Section. Source: Eesti Teataja, 22.03.1952; Stockholms-Tidningen Eestlastele, 20.03.1952.
15 March 1953 — elected to the audit committee of the Foreign Section of the Estonian Socialist Party.
9 May 1953 — elected to the board of the Foreign Section (Stockholm). Source: Teataja, 25.05.1953.
24 April 1954 — re-elected to the board of the Foreign Section. Source: Välis-Eesti, 09.05.1954; Stockholms-Tidningen Eestlastele, 05.05.1954.
20 March 1955 — appointed to the council of the publishing house “Teataja”.
12 June 1955 — as an ESPVK delegate, part of the general composition of the Estonian National Council (alongside J. Mihkelson, B. Mäelo, R. Kolk and M. Treilman). Source: Eesti Rahvusnõukogu Bülletään, 01.09.1955.
1955 — deputy treasurer (abilaekur) of the ESPVK and a member of the party's youth section (led by R. Kolk). Source: Eesti Rahvusnõukogu Bülletään, 01.09.1955.
24 February 1956 — the Swedish State Alien Commission issued a “Certificate of Readmission”.
March–April 1956 — emigrated from Sweden to New York. Source: Vaba Eesti Sõna, 05.04.1956.
Teataja, 25 May 1953: a report on the ESPVK's 1953 general meeting and board, whose members included Ibrahim Zarip.
The composition of the Estonian National Council's general assembly, 12 June 1955: among the ESPVK delegates is Ibrahim Zarip (with J. Mihkelson, B. Mäelo, R. Kolk and M. Treilman).
United States (1956–1994)
1956–1960s — settled in New York; attended New York City Technical College and became a professional offset printer.
7 April 1967 — elected to the board of the New York Estonian Philatelic Society (chairman August Veri; other members A. Kotkas, G. Plaks and J. Vinnal); the society published the journal “Eesti Filatelist”. Source: Eesti Päevaleht (Estniska Dagbladet), 07.04.1967.
21 April 1968 — elected Secretary of the New York Estonian Philatelic Society.
14 July 1969 — filed a US patent application (a printing-plate alignment method).
20 September 1971 — granted US Patent No. 3,605,622.
1978 — recorded as a donor to the Estonian Relief Committee (EAK); Long Island City.
1 August 1991 — appointed to the technical committee for the New York Estonian House renovation; spent days in New York City municipal offices getting the renovation paperwork in order (Vaba Eesti Sõna, 01.08.1991).
13 June 1992 — helped clean up the Estonian House ahead of ESTO ’92 (Vaba Eesti Sõna, 25.06.1992).
22 September 1994 — died after a bicycle accident, when a car struck him. Buried in the “Garden of Mohammed” section of Valley Memorial Park in Novato.
1994 — after his death all his personal belongings were sold at auction to cover the medical bills.
See also
See also: The Estonian Socialist Party's Foreign Association (ESPVK).
Sources: the exile Estonian press (Vaba Eesti Sõna); Finnish Boys (soomepoisid) materials; U.S. Patent No. 3,605,622. Swedish National Archives: Statens Utlänningskommission, file F 1 AC-23106 (Zarip, Ibrahim).