The Demise and Rise of Estonia

Roosie's letter to her mother

This letter is a part of the exhibition in the newly opened National Museum of Estonia, situated in Tartu.

I do not understand Estonian very well, but I can guess the page starts with - "It is now 1 of March, it is beautiful but cold. Minus 30 degrees"

The letter was written by Rosalie Ruben who was deported from Estonia to Siberia with her two children in 1941. The first years they suffered a lack of everything and Rosalie's lettern to her mother in 1945 describes their difficult situation. While the children were able to return to Estonia in 1947, their mother died a year later in Siberia.

Rosalie and her children where a few of over 30.000 estonians deported in 1941 and 1944. Some managed to escape to Sweden (around 26.000) and other countries, but many perished.

Uppsala, the twin city of Tartu, only 470 km away have lived in peace for 498 years, and Sweden as a nation has been spared from the agony of war and unrest for more than 200 years. This in contrast with Tartu, a city first invaded by the germans in the beginning of the 13:th century. Under Swedish rule the University was founded 1632, but already in 1704 / 1706 the city was sacked again by the Russians. The 19:th century however was a golden age with a thriving University and growth, and after the first world war Estonia became an indipendent country.

Tartu University

However, Estonia was invaded again in 1940 (by the Russians), in 1941 (by the Germans) and in 1944 again by the Russians. The fights along the Emajogi, the river in the center of Tartu, were fierce, and many houses were destroyed. Under Soviet rule Tartu became a city closed for foreigners because of the great airbase for deployment of nuclear bombers.

1988 a delegation from Uppsala was sent here, and a twin city agreement was formed the same autumn. We as a city have been able to send helt to Tartu, and support the transformation from a city oppressed by the Soviet system to a thriving and developing centre for industry, science and trade. For us in Uppsala Tartu is a reminder not to take democracy, freedom and independence for granted, and has given us a thankfulness and appreciation of the opportunity to live in a city with the cathedral still standing, not as in Tartu in ruins because of wars and unrest.

The democratic system is worth fighting for, and I am hoping that Sweden soon will join NATO, aswell as Estonia so that we together can secure the peaceful future of our part of the world.