Henrich Kurizkes with veterans of the Estonian Corps

I am standing in the center at the meeting of veterans of the Estonian Corps in Sigulda in 1995. To my left is medical nurse Ida Gershovich, she is a Jew who was part of the Estonian Corps. She lives in Tallinn, but we don?t keep in touch. To my right is Kadot, our Corps doctor. He was born in Tallinn in 1922. After the war he returned to live in Tallinn. He retired recently. In 1957 I was employed as a Pension Manager in the military enlistment office. I accepted the offer and worked in the military office for 26 years. I was promoted to Financial Pensions manager. I applied for resignation when I turned 60; it was difficult for me to work at this age. Even generals resign at 60. However, they didn't accept my resignation. They had to find a replacement, who knew Russian and Estonian to communicate with the institutions and ministries. Finally I started looking for a replacement myself and found an Estonian financial specialist working somewhere in Ukraine. I sent his information to the Ministry of Defense and they relocated him to Tallinn, whereupon I resigned. I started my service in the army in 1942 and resigned in 1985, having 43 years of service. One and a half years at the front accounted for three years. I receive the Russian military pension, which is more than the ordinary old age pension. I was very positive about the independence of Estonia. I remember life in Estonia before it was annexed to the USSR and I knew we would do well. Thank God, my hopes became true. Estonians are very accurate people, and it didn't take long before our life improved. My wife and I were too old to start our own business, but there are good opportunities for younger people.