Selected text
My father didn’t join the army voluntarily, he was mobilized. One of those people told me that he put on an SS-uniform once when his picture was taken for the documents. Then he wore the ordinary German military uniform. Germans ordered those young guys to fight with Soviet troops. Estonians fought against the Soviet army because they didn’t want the Bolsheviks to return. It was not their fault. They knew what the Soviet regime was about. They fought for independent Estonian Republic.
Why did Estonians, who had always disliked Germans, welcome the German army? Because they hoped to get rid of the Bolsheviks and the communists, who did so much harm to Estonian people during the Soviet regime that Estonians forgot about their hostility towards the Germans. Everybody remembers the deportations of that time and it is still cutting to the quick. Even now, many Jews, who came to Estonia from the USSR, who were fighting for the Soviets, are not willing to understand those Estonians who fought on the German side. They call them Nazis and fascists, but it is not like that in actuality. It is not as easy and nobody can talk about it like that.
Why did Estonians, who had always disliked Germans, welcome the German army? Because they hoped to get rid of the Bolsheviks and the communists, who did so much harm to Estonian people during the Soviet regime that Estonians forgot about their hostility towards the Germans. Everybody remembers the deportations of that time and it is still cutting to the quick. Even now, many Jews, who came to Estonia from the USSR, who were fighting for the Soviets, are not willing to understand those Estonians who fought on the German side. They call them Nazis and fascists, but it is not like that in actuality. It is not as easy and nobody can talk about it like that.
Period
Location
Estonia
Interview
Avi Dobrysh