The fate of Estonia in World War II was decided by the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact and its Secret Additional Protocol of August 1939 between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
World War II losses in Estonia were among the highest in Europe. Estimates of population loss stands at 25 percent. War and occupation deaths have been estimated at 90,000. These include the Soviet deportations in 1941, the German deportations and Holocaust victims. [1]
World War II began with the total destruction of an important regional ally of Estonia - Poland, during the joint operation of Germany and the Soviet Union.
Preface
Before the World War II The republic of Estonia and USSR had both signed and ratified following treaties.
Kellogg-Briand Pact
August 27, 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact renouncing war as an instrument of national policy Ratified by Estonia and USSR on July 24, 1929 [2]
Non-aggression treaty
Estonia, USSR on May 4, 1932[3]
The Convention for the Definition of Aggression
On July 3, 1933 for the first time in history aggression was defined in a binding treaty signed at the Soviet Embassy in London by USSR and among others, The Republic of Estonia. [4] [5]
Article II defines forms of aggression There shall be recognized as an aggressor that State which shall be the first to have committed one of the following actions:
Relevant chapters:
- Second—invasion by armed forces of the territory of another State even without a declaration of war.
- Fourth—a naval blockade of coasts or ports of another State.
Declaration of Neutrality Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania jointly declared their neutrality on November 18, 1938, in Riga, at the Conference of Baltic Foreign Ministers with their respective parliaments passing neutrality laws later that year. Estonia passed a law ratifying its neutrality on December 1st, 1938, which was modelled on Sweden's declaration of neutrality of May 29, 1938. [6]
The Beginning of WWII
September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland.
September 14, the Polish submarine ORP Orzeł reached Tallinn, Estonia
September 17, the Soviet Union attacked Poland.
September 18, Orzeł incident, the Polish submarine escaped from internment in Tallinn and eventually made her way to the United Kingdom, Estonia's neutrality questioned by the Soviet Union and Germany.
On September 24, 1939, after the destruction of Poland by Nazy Germany and USSR and the Orzeł incident Moscow demanded Estonia to gave assent to an agreement which allowed the USSR to establish military bases and station 25,000 troops on Estonian soil for the duration of the European war. [7] The government of Estonia accepted the ultimatum signing the corresponding agreement on September 28. 1939. Similar demands were forwarded to Finland, Latvia and Lithuania. Finland resisted similar claims, and was attacked by the Soviet Union on November 30. Because the attack was judged as illegal, the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations on December 14. Finland held out in Winter War until March 1940, when the Moscow Peace Treaty was signed.
The first loss for Estonia was the repatriation of about the 12,000 Baltic Germans to Germany.
Soviet occupation
In summer 1940 the occupation of Estonia was carried through as a regular military operation. 160,000 men, supported by 600 tanks were concentrated for the invasion into Estonia. 5 divisions of the Soviet Air Force with 1150 aircraft blockaded the whole Baltic air space against Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. The Soviet Baltic Fleet blockaded the operation from the sea. The Soviet NKVD was ordered to be ready for the reception of 58,000 prisoners of war.[8]
On June 12, 1940 the order for total military blockade of Estonia to the Soviet Baltic Fleet was given: according to the director of the Russian State Archive of the Naval Department Pavel Petrov (C.Phil.) referring to the records in the archive [9] [10]
On June 14 while world’s attention is focused on the fall of Paris to Nazi Germany a day earlier, the Soviet military blockade of Estonia went into effect. Two Soviet bombers downed Finnish passenger airplane "Kaleva" flying from Tallinn to Helsinki carrying three diplomatic pouches from the U.S. legations in Tallinn, Riga and Helsinki and over 120 kilograms of diplomatic mail by two French embassy couriers. The US Foreign Service employee Henry W. Antheil, Jr., the French couriers and other passengers were killed in the crash. [11]
On June 16, Molotov accuses the Baltic states of conspiracy against the Soviet Union and delivers an ultimatum to Estonia for the establishment of a government the Soviets approve of. The Estonian government decided according to the Kellogg-Briand Pact not to use war as an instrument of national policy. Given the overwhelming Soviet force both on the borders and inside the country, not to resist, to avoid bloodshed and open war. [12]
There is no consensus in the Estonian society about the decisions that the leadership of the Republic of Estonia that time made.
On June 17, Estonia accepted the ultimatum and the statehood of Estonia de facto ceased to exist as the Red Army exited from their military bases in Estonia. The following day, some 90,000 additional Soviet troops entered the country. The military occupation of the Republic of Estonia was complete by the June 21 1940 and rendered "official" by communist coup d'état supported by the Soviet troops. [13] followed by rigged "parliamentary elections" where all but pro-Communist candidates were outlawed. The "parliament" so elected proclaimed Estonia a Socialist Republic on July 21, 1940 and unanimously requested Estonia to be "accepted" into the Soviet Union. {{citation}}: Empty citation (help) Estonia was formally annexed into the Soviet Union on August 6 and renamed the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic.[14] The 1940 occupation and annexation of Estonia into the Soviet Union was considered illegal and never officially recognized by Great Britain, the United States and other Western democracies. [15]
Soviet regime of terror
The Soviet authorities, having gained control over Estonia, immediately imposed a regime of terror. Order № 001223 "On the Procedure for carrying out the Deportation of Anti-Soviet Elements from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia" was issued.
During the first year of Soviet occupation (1940-1941) over 8,000 people, including most of the country's leading politicians and military officers, were arrested. About 2,200 of the arrested were executed in Estonia, while most others were moved to prison camps in Russia, from where very few were later able to return alive. On July 19, 1940 the Commander-in-chief of the Estonian Army Johan Laidoner was captured by the NKVD and deported together with his spouse to the Town of Penza. Laidoner died in the Vladimir Prison Camp, Russia on March 13, 1953. [16] President of Estonia, Konstantin Päts was arrested and deported by the Soviets to Ufa in Russia on July 30, he died in a psychiatric hospital in Kalinin (currently Tver) in Russia in 1956. 800 Estonian officers i.e. about a half of the total were executed, arrested or starved to death in prison camps.
On June 14, 1941, when mass deportations took place simultaneously in all three Baltic countries, about 10,000 Estonian civilians were deported to Siberia and other remote areas of the Soviet Union, where nearly half of them later perished. Of the 32,100 Estonian men who were forcibly relocated to Russia under the pretext of mobilisation into the Soviet army after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, nearly 40 percent died within the next year in the "labour battalions" through hunger, cold and overworking. During the first Soviet occupation of 1940-41 about 500 Jews were deported to Siberia.
When Estonia was proclaimed the Soviet Republic, the crews of 42 Estonian ships in foreign waters refused to return to homeland (about 40% of Estonian pre-war fleet) These ships were brought into requisition by the British powers and were used in the Atlantic convoys. During the time of the war, approximately 1000 Estonian seamen served at the British militarised merchant marine, 200 of them as officers. A small number of Estonians served in the Royal Air Force, in the British Army and in the US Army, altogether no more than two hundred. [17]
German Occupation
After Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, On June 26, Finland sided with Germany. On July 3, Stalin made his public statement over the radio calling for "scorched earth" policy in the areas to be abandoned. In Estonia, the assault of the Soviet destruction battalions was the worst, because the northernmost areas were the last to be "liberated," allowing the Soviet occupiers more time to linger. The Estonian forest brothers, numbering about 50.000 inflicted heavy casualties on the remaining Soviets as many as 4800 were killed and 14000 captured.
Germans crossed the Estonian southern border on July 7-9. The Russian 8th Army (Major General Ljubovtsev), retreated in front of the 2nd corps of the German Army behind the Pärnu River- the Emajõgi line on July 12. As German 'troops' approached Tartu on July 10 and prepared for another battle with the Soviets, they realized that the Estonian partisans were already in fight with the Soviet troops. Wehrmacht stopped its advance and hung back, leaving the Estonians to do the fighting. The battle of Tartu lasted 'two 'weeks, and destroyed most of the city. Under the leadership of Friedrich Kurg the Estonian partisans drove out the Soviets from Tartu on their own. While Soviets had been in the process of murdering citizens held in Tartu Prison and had killed 192 before the Estonians captured the city.
At the end July the Germans resumed their advance in Estonia working in tandem with the Estonian forest brothers. Both German troops and Estonian partisans took Narva on August 17 and the Estonian capital Tallinn on August 28. Before the German invasion about 33,000 Estonians had been recruited into Soviet Army. As it became clear the Soviets would be driven our from Estonia, several thousand deserted the Red Army and joined the German side. After the Soviets were driven out from Estonia German troops disarmed all the partisan groups. [18]
Most Estonians greeted the Germans with relatively open arms and hoped for restoration of independence. Estonia set up a government administrations, led by Jüri Uluots as soon as the Soviet regime retreated and before German troops arrived. Estonian partisans that drove the Red Army from Tartu made it possible. That all was for nothing since the Germans disbanded the provisional government and Estonia became a part of the German-occupied "Ostland". A Sicherheitspolizei was established for internal security under the leadership of Ain-Ervin Mere.
In April 1941, on the eve on the German invasion, Alfred Rosenberg, Reich minister for the Occupied Eastern territories, a Baltic German, born and raised in Tallinn, Estonia, laid out his plans for the East. According to Rosenberg a future policy was created:
- Germanization (Eindeutschung) of the "racially suitable" elements.
- Colonization by Germanic peoples.
- Exile, deportations of undesirable elements.
Rosenberg felt that the "Estonians were the most Germanic out of the people living in the Baltic area, having already reached 50 percent of Germanization through Danish, Swedish and German influence". Non-suitable Estonians were to be moved to a region that Rosenberg called "Peipusland" to make room for German colonists. [19]
The initial enthusiasm that accompanied the liberation from Soviet occupation quickly waned as a result and the Germans had limited success in recruiting volunteers. The draft was introduced in 1942, resulting in some 3400 men fleeing to Finland to fight in the Finnish Army rather than join the Germans. Finnish Infantry Regiment 200 AKA (Estonian: soomepoisid) was formed out of Estonian volunteers in Finland. With the Allied victory over Germany becoming certain in 1944, the only option to save Estonia's independence was to stave off a new Soviet invasion of Estonia until Germany's capitulation.
Estonian National Army Units in 1941-1944
Up to March 1942 drafted Estonians mostly served in the rear of the Army Group North security. On August 28, 1942 the German powers announced the legal compilation of the Estonian Legion within the Waffen SS. Oberführer Frans Augsberger was nominated the commander of the legion. Up to the end of 1942 about 1280 men volunteered into the training camp. Bataillon Narwa was formed from the first 800 men of the Legion to have finished their training at Heidelager, being sent in April 1943 to join the Division Wiking in Ukraine. They replaced the Finnish Volunteer Battalion, recalled to Finland for political reasons. [20] In March 1943 the partial mobilisation was carried out in Estonia during which 12,000 men were called into service. On May 5, 1943 the 3rd Estonian Waffen-SS brigade was formed and sent to front near Nevel.
By January 1944, the front was pushed back by the Soviet Army almost all the way to the former Estonian border. Jüri Uluots, the last legitimate prime minister of the Republic of Estonia (according to the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia) prior to its fall to the Soviet Union in 1940, delivered a radio address that implored all able-bodied men born from 1904 through 1923 to report for military service (Before this, Uluots had opposed Estonian mobilization.) The call drew support from all across the country: 38.000 volunteers jammed registration centers. [21] Several thousand Estonians who had joined the Finnish army came back across the Gulf of Finland to join the newly formed Territorial Defense Force, assigned to defend Estonia against the Soviet advance. In autumn 1944 there was the same amount of Estonians as at the time of the Estonian War of Independence, in total about 100,000 men. The initial formation of the volunteer Estonian Legion created in 1942 was eventually expanded to become a full-sized conscript division of the Waffen SS in 1944, the 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian). The Estonian units saw action defending the Narva line throughout 1944. It was hoped that by engaging in such a war Estonia would be able to attract Western support for the cause of Estonia's independence from the USSR and thus ultimately succeed in achieving independence. [22]
On February 1, 1944 the Red Army reached the border of Estonia as a part of the great offensive which began on January 14. Field Marshal Walter Model was nominated the leader of the German Army Group North. The Soviet attack leaded by Soviet General Leonid A. Govorov, the commander of the Leningrad Front, began on February 13. On February 24 ( Estonian National Day) the counterattack of the Estonian division to break the Soviet bridgeheads began. The Estonian battalion leaded by Rudolf Bruus destroyed the Soviet bridgehead. The Estonian battalion leaded by Ain - Ervin Meri liquidated another bridgehead of Vaasa-Siivertsi-Vepsaküla. On March 6, the task was fulfilled. The leadership of the Red Army draw 9 corps under Narva against 7 divisions and one brigade. On March 1, a new Soviet offensive began in the direction of Auvere. The assault was stopped by the 658th battalion leaded by Alfons Rebane. On March 17, Soviets attacked with the forces of 20 divisions against 3 defensive, but could not break the defence. On April 7, the leadership of the Red Army ordered to go over to defence. In March the Soviets organised many bombing attacks towards the towns of Estonia incl. bombing of Tallinn on March 9. In June 1944. On July 24 the Soviets began a new attack in the direction of Auvere . They were stopped by I battalion (Stubaf Paul Maitla) of the 45 regiment (Riipalu) and the fusiliers (previous "Narva") under the leadership of Hatuf Hando Ruus. Finally The evacuation of Narva was organised and front was settled on the line of "Tannenberg" in Sinimäed.
On August 1 the Finnish government and President Ryti were to resign. On the next day, Aleksander Warma the Estonia's Ambassador to Finland (1939-1944) announced that the National Committee of the Estonian Republic had sent a telegram, which stated "Estonians return home!" On the following day, the Finnish government received a letter from the Estonians. It had been signed in the name of "all national organizations of Estonia" by Aleksander Warma, Karl Talpak and several others. In the letter, the Finnish government was asked to send the Estonian volunteer regiment back to Estonia fully equipped. It was then announced that JR 200 would be disbanded and that the volunteers were free to return home. An agreement had been reached with the Germans, and the Estonians were promised amnesty if they were to return. As soon as they landed, the regiment was sent to perform a counter-attack against the Soviet 3rd Baltic Front, which had managed a break-through on the Tartu front, and was threatening the capital Tallinn.
When the break-through in Tannenberg Line/Sinimäed failed, the main struggle was carried to the south of the Lake Peipus, where on August 11, Petseri was taken and Võru on August13. Near Tartu the enemy was stopped by the military groups sent from Narva under the command of Alfons Rebane and Paul Vent and 5th SS Volunteer Sturmbrigade Wallonien leaded by Léon Degrelle. As Finland left the war on September 4, 1944 according to the peace agreement with Soviets the defence of the mainland became impossible and the command of the German Army decided to evacuate from Estonia. Estonian islands showed resistance until November 23, 1944, when Sõrve was evacuated. According to the Soviet data, the conquering of the territory of Estonia cost them 126,000 casualties, in the German data the number is 170,000. On the German side, their own data shows 30,000 dead which is most likely underrated, the more realistic figure would be 45,000. [23]
Other volunteers that paricipated in the battles of Battle of Narva and the Battle of the Tannenberg Line within the Waffen SS were from Norway, Denmark, Holland and Belgium.
As the Germans retreated in September 1944, Jüri Uluots, the last Prime Minister of the Estonian Republic prior to Soviet occupation, assumed the responsibilities of president (as dictated in the Constitution) and appointed a new government while seeking recognition from the Allies. The new government fled to Stockholm, Sweden and operated in exile until 1992, when Heinrich Mark, the prime minister of the Estonian government in exile acting as president, presented his credentials to incoming president Lennart Meri.
Estonian Rifle Corps in the Red Army
In June 1940 while the Estonian army was integrated into the Soviet military structure, where in June 1940 there were 16,800 men, was changed into "22nd Territorial Rifle Corps" 5 500 Estonian soldiers served in the corps during the first battle. 4 500 of them went over to the German side. In September 1941, when the corps was liquidated, there were still 500 previous Estonian soldiers.
Having mobilized some 33,000 Estonians as the Soviets were evacuating in the summer of 1941, no more than half of those men were used for military service, the rest perished in Soviet labor camps, mainly in the early months of the war.
Estonian National military Units within the Red Army began to be formed in January 1942 from among ethnic Estonians living in the USSR, A Soviet source suggest that in May 1942 there were nearly 20.000 Estonians in the national units. The Eight Estonian Rifle Corps, as these units came to be called after September 1942, reached the troops at front in Velikie Luki in December 1942 and suffered heavy losses in battle as well as the defection of about 1000 men to the German side. After Velikie Luki the Rifle Corps was replaced with other nationalities from USSR. The corps' major activity in the latter part of the war was participation in the battles for Estonia. [24]
Holocaust
Historical background
The process of Jewish settlement in Estonia began in the nineteenth century, when in 1865 the Russian Tsar Alexander II granted them the right to enter the region. The creation of the Republic of Estonia in 1918 marked the beginning of a new era for the Jews. Approximately 200 Jews fought in combat for the creation of the Republic of Estonia and 70 of these men were volunteers. From the very first days of her existence as a state, Estonia showed her tolerance towards all the peoples inhabiting her territories. On 12 February 1925 The Estonian government passed a law pertaining to the cultural autonomy of minority peoples. The Jewish community quickly prepared its application for cultural autonomy. Statistics on Jewish citizens were compiled. They totaled 3,045, fulfilling the minimum requirement of 3000. In June 1926 the Jewish Cultural Council was elected and Jewish cultural autonomy was declared. Jewish cultural autonomy was of great interest to global Jewish community. The Jewish National Endowment presented the Government of the Republic of Estonia with a certificate of gratitude for this achievement.[25]
There were, at the time of Soviet occupation in 1940, approximately 2000 Estonian Jews. Many of Jewish people were deported to Siberia along with other Estonians by the Soviets. It is estimated that 500 Jews suffered this fate. With the invasion of the Baltics, it was the intention of the Nazi government to use the Baltics countries as their main area of mass genocide. Consequently, Jews from countries outside the Baltics were shipped there to be exterminated. Out the approximately 4,300 Jews in Estonia prior to the war, between 1,500 and 2,000 were entrapped by the Nazis. [26]
and an estimated 10,000 Jews were killed in Estonia after having been deported to camps there from elsewhere in Eastern Europe. [27] There have been knowingly 7 ethnic Estonians: Ralf Gerrets, Ain-Ervin Mere, Jaan Viik, Juhan Jüriste, Karl Linnas,Aleksander Laak and Ervin Viks that have faced trials for crimes against humanity. Since the reestablishment of the Estonian independence Estonian International Commission for Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity has been established. [28] Markers were put in place for the 60th anniversary of the mass executions that were carried out at the Lagedi, Vaivara [29] and Klooga (Kalevi-Liiva) camps in September of 1944.[30]
Soviet return
Soviet forces reconquered Estonia in the autumn of 1944 after fierce battles in the northeast of the country on the Narva river and on the Tannenberg Line (Sinimäed). In the face of the country being re-occupied by the Red Army, In 1944, 80,000 people fled from Estonia by sea flee to Finland or Sweden, becoming war refugees and later, expatriates. 25,000 Estonians reached Sweden and a further 42,000 Germany. During the war about 8 000 Estonian Swedes and their family members had emigrated to Sweden. After the retreat of Germans, about 30,000 partisans remained in hiding in the Estonian forests, further on leading a massive guerrilla war. In 1949 27.650 Soviet troops still led the war against the local partisans. Only the 1949 mass deportation when about 21,000 people were taken away broke the basis of the partisan movement.6 600 partisans gave themselves up in November of 1949. Later on a the failure of the Hungarian uprising broke the resistance moral of the 700 men still remaining under cover. According to the Soviet data, up to 1953, 20,351 partisans were disarmed. Of these, 1510 perished in the battles. During that period, 1 728 members of the Red Army, NKVD and the militia were killed by the "forest brothers". August Sabbe, the last surviving Forest Brother in Estonia, was discovered and killed [31] by KGB agents in 1978.
During the first post-war decade of Soviet regime, Eestonia was governed by Moscow via Russian-born Estonian governors. Born into the families of native Estonians in Russia, the latter had obtained their Red education in the Soviet Union during the Stalinist repressions at the end of the 1930s. Many of them had fought in the Red Army (in the Estonian Rifle Corps), few of them had mastered the Estonian language.[32]
Although the United States and the United Kingdom, the allies of the USSR against Germany during the WWII recognized the occupation of the Republic of Estonia by USSR at Yalta Conference in 1945 de facto. The governments as the rest of the western democracies did not recognize the seizure of Estonia by the USSR in 1940 and in 1944 de jure according to the Sumner Welles' declaration of July 23, 1940 [33][34][35] Such countries recognized Estonian diplomats and consuls who still functioned in many countries in the name of their former governments. These aging diplomats persisted in this anomalous situation until the ultimate restoration of Estonia's independence in 1991.[36]
Controversies
Views diverge on history of Estonia during the WWII
The position of the Estonian Government
Occupation of Estonia by Nazi Germany ended with five decades of Soviet occupation of the Baltic nations. [37] The European parliament has issued a resolution on the issue supporting the positions of The Estonian Government: as an independent Member State of the EU and NATO, has the sovereign right to assess its recent tragic past, starting with the loss of independence as a result of the Hitler-Stalin Pact of 1939 and including three years under Hitler’s occupation and terror, as well as 48 years under Soviet occupation and terror whereas the Soviet occupation and annexation of the Baltic States was never recognized as legal by the Western democracies, [38]
Position of the Russian government
Russian government and officials however continue to maintain that the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states was legitimate[39] and that the Soviet Union liberated the countries from the Nazis[40][41]. They state that the Soviet troops had entered the Baltics in 1940 following the agreements and with the consent of the then governments of the Baltic republics. They maintain that the USSR was not in a state of war and was not waging any combat activities on the territory of the three Baltic states, therefore, the argument goes, the word 'occupation' can not be used [42] [43]. "The assertions about [the] 'occupation' by the Soviet Union and the related claims ignore all legal, historical and political realities, and are therefore utterly groundless." (Russian Foreign Ministry)[44]
Russia maintains that Soviet forces liberated the Estonian SSR from Nazi occupation [45]
Positions of the soldiers from both sides
- Views of WWII veteran, an Estonian Ilmar Haaviste fought on the German side: “Both regimes were equally evil - there was no difference between the two except that Stalin was more cunning”.
- Views of WWII veteran, an Estonian Arnold Meri fought on the Soviet side: "Estonia's participation in World War II was inevitable. Every Estonian had only one decision to make: whose side to take in that bloody fight - the Nazis' or the anti-Hitler coalition's."
- Views of WWII veteran, a Russian fought on the Soviet side in Estonia answering a question: How do you feel being called an "occupier"? " Viktor Andreyev: "Half believe one thing half believe another. That's in the run of things." [46]
In 2004 controversy regarding the events of WWII in Estonia surrounded the Monument of Lihula.
In April 2007 the diverge views on history of WWII in Estonia centered around the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn.
References
- ^ | Baltic states, WWII losses at Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ Kellogg-Briand Pact at Yale University
- ^ League of Nations Treaty Series, Vol. CXXXI, pp. 297-307.
- ^ Aggression Defined at Time Magazine the Convention for the Definition of Aggression.
- ^ League of Nations Treaty Series, 1934, No. 3391.
- ^ Estonian Neutrality Law of December lst, 1938
- ^ The Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by David J. Smith, Page 24, ISBN-10: 0415285801
- ^ Estonia in World War II by Hannes Walter
- ^ [1]Pavel Petrov] at Finnish Defence Forces home page
- ^ documents published from the State Archive of the Russian Navy
- ^ The Last Flight from Tallinn at American Foreign Service Association
- ^ The Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by David J. Smith p.19 ISBN-10: 0415285801
- ^ Estonia: Identity and Independence by Jean-Jacques Subrenat, David Cousins, Alexander Harding, Richard C. Waterhouse ISBN-10: 9042008903
- ^ Magnus Ilmjärv Hääletu alistumine, (Silent Submission), Tallinn, Argo, 2004, ISBN 9949-415-04-7
- ^ U.S.-Baltic Relations: Celebrating 85 Years of Friendship at U.S Department of State
- ^ General Johan Laidonerat The Estonian War Museum
- ^ Estonia in World War II by Hannes Walter
- ^ Resistance! Occupied Europe and Its Defiance of Hitler by Dave Lande on Page 188, ISBN-10: 0760307458
- ^ Estonia and the Estonians (Studies of Nationalities) Toivo U. Raun page 161
- ^ ESTONIAN VIKINGS: Estnisches SS-Freiwilligen Bataillon Narwa and Subsequent Units, Eastern Front, 1943-1944
- ^ Resistance! Occupied Europe and Its Defiance of Hitler by Dave Lande on Page 200 ISBN-10: 0760307458
- ^ The Baltic States: The National Self-Determination of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania Graham Smith p.91 ISBN-10: 0312161921
- ^ Estonia in World War II by Hannes Walter
- ^ Estonia and the Estonians (Studies of Nationalities)Toivo U. Raun on P. 160 ISBN-10: 0817928529
- ^ http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Estonia.html?title=Jews_in_Estonia&action=edit
- ^ http://depts.washington.edu/baltic/papers/holocaust.html
- ^ http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Estonia.html?title=Jews_in_Estonia&action=edit
- ^ http://www.historycommission.ee/
- ^ http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Vaivara.html
- ^ http://www.heritageabroad.gov/projects/estonia1.html
- ^ Laar, p. 203-208
- ^ Biographical Research in Eastern Europe: Altered Lives and Broken Biographies Robin Humphrey, Robert Miller, Eleana Zdravomyslova
- ^ Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary of State at U.S Department of State
- ^ The Baltic States and their Region: New Europe or Old? by David J. Smith ISBN-10: 9042016663 on Page 48: during Soviet times the United States did not recognize de jure the incorporation of Estonia into the USSR.
- ^ Post-Cold War Identity Politics: Northern and Baltic Experiences by Marko Lehti ISBN-10: 0714683515 on Page 272: Soviet occupation in Baltic countries - a position supported by the fact that an overwhelming majority of states never recognized the 1940 incorporation de jure.
- ^ Diplomats Without a Country: Baltic Diplomacy, International Law, and the Cold War by James T. McHugh , James S. Pacy, Page 2. ISBN-10: 0313318786
- ^ http://newsfromrussia.com/cis/2005/05/03/59549.html
- ^ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+MOTION+B6-2007-0215+0+DOC+PDF+V0//EN
- ^ BBC News. "Russia denies Baltic 'occupation'". Retrieved 09-03-2007.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Text "Europe" ignored (help) - ^ BBC News. "Bush denounces Soviet domination". Retrieved 09-03-2007.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Text "Europe" ignored (help) - ^ http://www.lfpr.lt/uploads/File/Current/Jurgeleviciute.pdf.
- ^ http://www.newsfromrussia.com/main/2005/05/05/59601.html
- ^ http://www.newsfromrussia.com/main/2005/05/05/59605.html
- ^ http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070118/59322624.html
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4521663.stm
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6637895.stm