Vabamu

The Republic of Estonia celebrated its 108th birthday this year. On the age scale, compared with the old countries of Europe, we have reached rebellious adolescence. But for us this number symbolises something much deeper and more important – FREEDOM. To the beat of this word our ancestors have rejoiced, grieved, won and lost, yet even in the darkest moments the Estonian never stopped dreaming of freedom. Deep in their hearts they always carried that fragile but unshakeable hope: one day we will live in a free land again.

In 1918 the twists of history gave Estonia the chance to declare itself free and, step by step, begin building its own state. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, signed on 23 August 1939, robbed us of that hard-won freedom for nearly 50 years.

But looking back at the 1940s, what were the real choices people here had? It was a time when there were no “right” choices at all:

• The heart wished to stay, but fear and the threat of deportation or execution forced people to leave their homeland into the unknown;
• Better death here than in Siberia — the Forest Brothers and resistance to the red regime;
• Ending up on the deportation lists and being sent to the “cold land”;
• Adapting to the new rules in order to survive.

Who made the right choice? Did a right choice even exist in those circumstances? These are questions to which answers are hard to find.

The Vabamu tour can be combined with the KGB or Price of Freedom tour. If you wish, we can also visit the memorial to the victims of communism at Maarjamäe.

Ticket prices and museum opening hours can be found here.