Estonians in exile

When Estonia was struck by the Soviet occupation, tens of thousands of Estonians fled west — and many of them became world-famous abroad. Poets, composers, artists, scientists and diplomats carried Estonia's name far, while keeping alive the hope of a free homeland. This page gathers the best-known Estonian exiles — a story that is also part of the Estonian Tatar community's fate, for the occupation touched everyone.

The Great Flight of 1944

The greatest wave of departure struck Estonia in the autumn of 1944, as the Red Army approached and a second Soviet occupation became inevitable. An estimated 70,000–80,000 people fled west in 1944: about 27,000 reached Sweden across the Baltic Sea and more than 40,000 reached Germany. The journey was dangerous — an estimated 6–9% of the refugees lost their lives on it. So a large exile-Estonian community was born, one that kept the Estonian language, culture and idea of statehood alive throughout the occupation. Some well-known Estonians left earlier or later — the architect Louis Kahn as early as 1906, the composer Arvo Pärt and the conductor Neeme Järvi in 1980.

The state in exile: the diplomats who preserved continuity

The quietest and most important work was done by the diplomats. When the occupation authorities liquidated Estonia's foreign service in 1940, the Estonian legations and consulates in the free world remained — for the United States and other democracies never recognised the Soviet annexation de jure. The Consulate General in New York worked without interruption until the restoration of Estonia's independence in 1991. Its central figure was Ernst Jaakson, who represented the Republic of Estonia in exile for decades and became the world's longest-serving diplomat; the documents he issued were proof of citizenship for thousands of exile Estonians. So the diplomats kept alive the legal continuity of the Estonian state — the same continuity that rests on the Treaty of Tartu and on which, in 1991, the state was restored, not created.

Literature: poets and writers abroad

A vibrant exile Estonian literature grew up in Sweden, its heart in Lund. Its greatest name was Marie Under — one of Estonia's most influential poets, nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature 16 times over 15 years. Under fled to Sweden with her family in 1944 and lived near Stockholm until her death in 1980. In prose Karl Ristikivi stood out with his historical novels; the poet and novelist Bernard Kangro founded a publishing house in Lund and issued the cultural journal Tulimuld (1950–1993). The storyteller August Gailit and the poet Kalju Lepik also wrote in exile.

Music

The composer Eduard Tubin fled to Sweden in 1944, found work at the Drottningholm Palace Theatre in Stockholm and wrote much of his symphonic output there; his music reached the wider world largely thanks to the conductor Neeme Järvi, who left Estonia in 1980 and made an international career in the West. In 1980 the composer Arvo Pärt was likewise forced to emigrate, and became for years the world's most performed living composer.

Art

The graphic artist Eduard Wiiralt, regarded as the master of Estonian graphic art, lived and worked much of his life in Paris, where he died in 1954 and is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery. The illustrator Ilon Wikland fled from Haapsalu to Sweden in 1944 and became the artist of Astrid Lindgren's books — millions of children worldwide know Lindgren's characters through her pictures. In 2009 “Ilon's Wonderland” opened in her honour in Haapsalu.

Science

The astronomer Ernst Öpik fled the Red Army in 1944 and, after refugee years in Germany, reached the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland, where he worked for three decades. The most eminent psychologist of Estonian origin, Endel Tulving, also fled as a war refugee in 1944 and did his life's work at the University of Toronto. Both are told of at greater length in the story of Estonian science that changed the world.

Architecture: Louis Kahn

One of the 20th century's most influential architects, Louis Kahn, was born in 1901 in Kuressaare on Saaremaa and emigrated with his family to America as early as 1906 — his departure was not tied to the occupation but to earlier emigration. Kahn became a classic of modern architecture, his masterworks including the National Parliament of Bangladesh and the Salk Institute in California.

And the return

When Estonia's independence was restored in 1991, the exile community began to reunite with the homeland. Its symbol is Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who was born in Stockholm to Estonian refugees, grew up in America and later became President of Estonia (2006–2016). So the circle closed: the Estonia carried into exile came home.

The tie to our own story

The exile story is an Estonian Tatar story too. The same occupation that scattered the Estonians touched the Estonian Tatar community; some Tatars integrated into exile-Estonian communities in Sweden, America and Australia — this knowledge base calls them foreign-Estonian Tatars. Freedom often came at the price of the homeland, whatever the refugee's nationality.