Selected text
In 1991 Estonia became independent again [40]. Perestroika was ardently resisted by those who were used to that the Party decided everything, that the life in a huge country was governed by the Party. Of course, they did not welcome the reforms. There were cabals. Old communists sought power. They managed to make a military d'etat [42] to get rid of Gorbachev [41] and restore dictatorship. It was horrible that those things could reemerge. We understood that they might be violent. There was no information. Messages of the GKCHP were broadcast on TV and in the intermission we saw the ballet by Tchaikovsky [43], 'Swan Lake.' A tank division arrived from Pskov. It was good that there was no bloodshed. The government of Estonia invited the newly arrived to take a rest and meanwhile they got a message from Moscow that the putsch was suppressed and the GKCHP were arrested. The tanks swerved and left.
There was a Baltic chain: the citizens of the three republics - Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia - were standing shoulder to shoulder with lit candles. Everybody was singing - Estonians, Jews, Russians. They sang the songs about their long-awaited freedom. My husband and I were on the way back from a trip, and we also lit a candle in our car. We stopped on the outskirts of Tallinn and joined in.
The next day I saw a white-blue-and-black flag on the citadel tower of the old city. It was the flag of the First Estonian Republic. There was a red flag with a blue wave and white stripes when Estonia was Soviet. Now there was our Estonian flag! I was overwhelmed with happiness, people were standing and looking at the flying banner and cried from happiness. I also cried.
When I came back home, I told Mom what I had seen and she said, 'You see, I lived to see that !' By the way, what is the story behind it? The flag was preserved by a lady, the Estonian language teacher who worked for our Jewish lyceum. Many people knew about and respected her for that. During the Soviet times Estonian Jews helped her a lot and mostly because she was the keeper of the Estonian flag. Estonia regained independence. The day is as great of a holiday for our family as the day of Israeli independence.
I never regretted the breakup of the Soviet Union. I think that none of the people who inhabited Estonia before 1940 regret it. We regained the right to decide to live the way we wish in our country.
The breakup of the Soviet Union made our lives better. I am glad it happened. The world became open for us. People could travel and communicate. Now life depends on us and it is very important as before there was not such a notion as personality, there was only a common notion - Soviet peoples. The freedom does not only infer democratic values, but makes the human being the biggest value. It is the most important that we have a democracy. Of course, it should not allow permissiveness. Not all things were bad in Soviet times. There were free education and medicine, cheap books, affordable theaters, but there was no choosing of one's life path, which was the most important.
There was a Baltic chain: the citizens of the three republics - Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia - were standing shoulder to shoulder with lit candles. Everybody was singing - Estonians, Jews, Russians. They sang the songs about their long-awaited freedom. My husband and I were on the way back from a trip, and we also lit a candle in our car. We stopped on the outskirts of Tallinn and joined in.
The next day I saw a white-blue-and-black flag on the citadel tower of the old city. It was the flag of the First Estonian Republic. There was a red flag with a blue wave and white stripes when Estonia was Soviet. Now there was our Estonian flag! I was overwhelmed with happiness, people were standing and looking at the flying banner and cried from happiness. I also cried.
When I came back home, I told Mom what I had seen and she said, 'You see, I lived to see that !' By the way, what is the story behind it? The flag was preserved by a lady, the Estonian language teacher who worked for our Jewish lyceum. Many people knew about and respected her for that. During the Soviet times Estonian Jews helped her a lot and mostly because she was the keeper of the Estonian flag. Estonia regained independence. The day is as great of a holiday for our family as the day of Israeli independence.
I never regretted the breakup of the Soviet Union. I think that none of the people who inhabited Estonia before 1940 regret it. We regained the right to decide to live the way we wish in our country.
The breakup of the Soviet Union made our lives better. I am glad it happened. The world became open for us. People could travel and communicate. Now life depends on us and it is very important as before there was not such a notion as personality, there was only a common notion - Soviet peoples. The freedom does not only infer democratic values, but makes the human being the biggest value. It is the most important that we have a democracy. Of course, it should not allow permissiveness. Not all things were bad in Soviet times. There were free education and medicine, cheap books, affordable theaters, but there was no choosing of one's life path, which was the most important.
Period
Year
1991
Location
Talinn
Estonia
Interview
Cilja Laud