Maria Sorkina with her husband David Sorkin

This is me and my husband David Sorkin. My husband had demobilized, but we didn't have money to buy him a new suit and he was wearing his military uniform. This photo was taken in Tallinn in 1947.

I looked forward to the liberation of Estonia from fascism until finally this day came. It was clear that the war was coming to its end. I arrived in Tallinn in fall 1944. I went to the Ministry of Health where they offered me a job. They also accommodated me in a house where the Ministry was located. It was a little room, but there was a bed and a table in it. There was also a shared kitchen and a bathroom. However, whatever the discomforts, they weren't so important. I was happy to have a place to live and a job. After the evacuation I felt like it was a fairy-tale. There were many little cozy cafes in the town. In the beginning I couldn't believe that all the hardships were in the past. I went from one cafe to another having coffee, the taste of which I had forgotten during evacuation. I enjoyed a peaceful life. I felt very sorry that I couldn't share the pleasures of life with my mother, and I was concerned about my husband, who was still at the front. I looked forward to receiving his next letter.

At first I worked as a dentist in a children's clinic, and later I got a job in the clinic for adults. The clinic was far from my home. There was no transport, and I had to walk to work. This took a huge effort. When I got to work, I had to take a rest. However, I was young and it didn't take me long to restore my energy. My husband arrived in 1946. He demobilized from the army and went to work in a hospital and then in a polyclinic. When he arrived I had no utensils at home, and we had lunches in the canteen at the Ministry. Life was gradually improving. A few years later we received an apartment.