Читать книгу WE WERE ESTONIAN SOLDIERS - Carl Orav - Страница 6

My father compiled four voluminous documents that are pieces of Estonian history. These are:

1. Description of the Estonian Military Technical Academy 1920 - 1923

2. Detailed description of the Estonian Military Technical Academy 1936 - 1940

3. Memoirs of some of the graduating officers

4. Photo album of life at the Academy and beyond

My father’s work: The basis upon which this book was written.

From the third document I have compiled and translated into English my father’s memoirs along with those of four other Estonian officers from the period 1939 through the end of World War II in 1945. Although the memoirs he wrote and collected extend past the period of the war, I have condensed and eliminated the postwar portions. Likewise, there are many names mentioned in the original manuscripts. Unless these are central to the story, I have omitted them in order to focus on the events and personal experiences. The interested student of Estonian history can read the original manuscripts at the Estonian War Museum in Viimsi, Estonia.

Many of the photographs in this book are from my father’s or Tiiu Võhmas photo albums. Others are included to convey the mood and setting of the times to give the reader a visual picture of what things were like during the war. The supplementary photographs are courtesy of the Estonian War Museum, the Estonian History Museum, The Estonian Film Archives, and Wehrmacht.pri.ee.

The five uncensored memoirs were written after the war in western countries where the former Estonian officers were free from fear of retribution for telling their stories. Other soldiers’ memoirs that were published in Estonia during the Soviet era have a very strong slant toward the righteousness of Communism and the Russian empire. I am proud to be able to publish the tales of five Estonian soldiers who I believe tell it like it really was.

I would like to thank Peep Aarne Vesilind who encouraged me to write the book and who provided material for the brief historical background of Estonia. Special thanks also to Tiiu Võhma who provided material about her father and assisted me with the initial editing.

Carl Orav

2011