From Files to Fates: Documenting Soviet Deportations in the Estonian National Archives

To participate in the seminar, proficiency in Estonian and Russian is required.

The 1940s and 1950s are one of the most turbulent periods in the history of Estonia, as well as for other Baltic and Eastern European countries. The Sovietization of society meant dismantling the statehood of the independence era, imposing control over all spheres of life, and neutralising the spiritual resilience of the population. The re-education of people into “Soviet citizens” involved various components, from an overwhelming sense of fear to coaxing people into cooperation. 

In 1940–41 and 1944–53, tens of thousands of people were arrested and deported. Deportations or en masse removal of residents from their traditional home was for ideological purposes, putting pressure on an – in the Soviet view – unreliable social layer, isolating it from its homeland and culture. The deportations were large-scale political operations decided at higher party and government levels. The registration of the “anti-Soviet element” in Estonia began in the autumn of 1940.

In a workshop held at the National Archives, we will examine the content of personal files (questionnaires, various testimonies, etc.) and other documents. We ask what we can learn from these documents about the fate of the deportees and what other types of sources should be used in research.