The armed struggle against Stalinism in
USSR There were also casualties on the other side.
The prewar resistance was spontaneous and limited to self-defense and protection against arrest and deportations. It is known that the Stalinist repression began immediately, with the occupation of the country by the Red Army on June 17, before the Soviet power was declared on June 21, and before Estonia became a part of the Soviet Union.
Before 1940, fleeing these arrests, Estonian officers and soldiers took arms
IN THE AREAS forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union in the Second World War, one subject remains extremely sensitive even under glasnost: the armed resistance to Soviet annexation. In Estonia, a prominent figure in the Estonian
Historical Society, Mart Laar, was indicted for what he said about the "Forest Brothers" in an article on the period of the
Stalinist terror (see /V 157, February 20, 1989, for a translation). The Soviet central press continues to cry scandal about any defense of the "Forest Brothers," and this is an element in the intensified polemics about the Baltic peoples' movements.
The following article from the June 1989 issue of Postipoiss, the monthly paper of the Estonian People's Front in the
Estonian university city of Tartu, gives a detailed account of the armed resistance to the Soviet conquest. It mentions the mass deportations estimated at nearly 100,000 (about a tenth of the Estonian people) only in passing. These are described in Laar's article. Some detail and repetition has been cut from the article for space reasons. The stress is in the original.
HERBERT LINDMAE
A
NY HISTORICAL study of the
1940s has to start from the fact that the Estonian republic was occupied by the Red Army on
June 17, 1940. This ensued from the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of August 23, 1939 and the secret protocols appended.
The occupation forces established a regime of terror on Estonian territory, unleashed crimes against humanity and other outrages. They destroyed cultural values.
The Soviet occupation and terror regime aroused opposition, including armed struggle against Stalinism.
Based on the material published during the German occupation and the literature published by Estonians living abroad, as well as historical and journalistic publications in the Estonian SSR, it is possible to divide this armed struggle into various categories.
• Armed resistance to Stalinism before the start of the war.
• Armed resistance in wartime before the arrival of the German armed forces.
• Participation of Estonian troops and militias in the defense of the Estonian frontiers.
• The independent armed struggle of
Estonian national armed units after the formation of the new goverment of the Estonian Republic under O. Tief on September 18, 1944, until the conquest of Estonia by the Red Army.
• The armed struggle of the Forest Brotherhood in re-occupied Estonia. The struggle before the start of the war
The June crisis itself did not pass without bloodshed. Late in the evening of June 21, a communications battalion opened fire on forces approaching its quarters. As a result of the events of June 17, the battalion had left its barracks and moved to a school on Tallin's Raua street. The battalion was disarmed on the evening of June 21 by Red Army soldiers with two armored cars. After that, the men of the communications battalion broke into the mobilization armory and rearmed themselves. Late in the night, the battalion's guard were asked to surrender. They refused, and an exchange of fire followed. Red Army armored cars took part in the conflict. The battalion obeyed the orders of the new minister of war and laid down its weapons. Two soldiers of the battalion were killed and three were wounded.
and ammunition. Many police and militia members also defended themselves against arrest. The first groups of Forest Brothers arose before the June deportations. For example, on June 12 a group of men who had been summoned for questioning by the NKVD in Tartu fled into the forest. Others who knew that they were going to be called in for interrogation also fled into the forest. An extensive and organized Estonian Forest Brotherhood arose at the time of the June deportations. In war time
At the beginning of July [after June 21, 1941], organized armed action by the Forest Brothers spread throughout Estonia. The freedom struggle was a target of the notorious July 3 speech by the chairman of the State Defense Committee, J. Stalin, who called for the organization of a merciless war against all those who created disorganization in the rear, deserters and spreaders of panic and rumors. He also called for the annihilation of spies, disrupters and parachute troops. If the Red Army was obliged to retreat, it should not leave the enemy a kilo of bread. Anything of value that could not be taken away had to be destroyed. On July 8, 1941, the same instruction was issued to the working people by the CC of the Estonian Communist Party and the Council of People's Commissars of the Estonian SSR.
The call for destroying property and the outlawing of people forced the Forest Brothers to intensify their armed struggle to defend their lives, homes and possessions. By occupying town halls and government buildings, they tried to save their centers from the destruction that could follow from application of the order to leave nothing behind. Getting weapons was also an objective. According to A. Suve! 1941 there were a total of 426 armed attacks on Soviet installations.
On July 2, the Forest Brothers took the Ahja town hall and post office. On July 3, they took over the forestry department at the University of Tartu as well as the Rannu and Puhja town halls and unsuccessfully attacked the Konguta and Saare town halls. On the same day, they occupied the Jogeva, Vaimastvere and Laiuse town 1. "Klassivoitlus Ecestis 1940.1950onail aastail" Rava Sa gle in onian i in the 19 rand 1950, 19 Rahva Hââl [the Estonian CP organ], March 20,1988.
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Estonia
International Viewpoint #169 • September 18, 1989
USSR halls, took over the Altskivi town hall, and raised the Estonian flag over Alatskivi castle. On July 4, they took over the Vonnu and Meeksi town halls.
The first German troops entered the Tartu district on July 12, the northern Tartu district on July 25. July 8-10, the Tähvere, Puhja, Elva, Rannu and Röngu Forest Brothers fought battles to defend the Ulila electric power station, to prevent it from being blown up. Reportedly, on the morning of July 10, the Nöo Forest Brothers clashed sharply with a destruction battalion that was burning down town halls and an old people's home.
The partisan struggle started in Tartu on July 10 early in the morning. Moreover, on July 9, at 6:30 in the morning, shots were fired into the air at Kivisild. At midday, there was an unsuccessful attempt to blow up the Ropka arms and munitions dump, from which the Forest Brothers got arms and ammunition. At 8:40 in the eve- Baxator ning of July 20, shots were fired into the air at Vabadussild. After that there was prolonged cannon fire aimed at the southern part of Tartu. The city burned.
Reportedly, toward the night of July 11 the entire bank of the Emajogi river from the Tähtvere center to the Ropka center was guarded by armed groups of partisans. The territory controlled by partisan units was provided with regular communications. At the same time, defense was organized along the Emajogi front from
Vörtsjärve to Lake Peipus.
Battles took place in the sector between
Vortsjärve and Tartu. In particular, there were battles at Tähtvere and
Ropka against units of the Red Army trying to cross the Emajogi.
On July 11, the police prefect in Tartu took over and began to organize the police. On July 12, the partisan units in
Tartu begun to be organized into a battalion including about a partisan
- thousand men.
Advance units of the German armed forces came into
Tartu on July 12,
1941.
The largest For-
Brotherhoods est arose in the western part of Järin the vemaa,
Albu and
Kautla swamps and forests.
Concentrations of men were mobilized in Järva and
Harjumaa, soldiers and officers who fled from Estonian units and army group of parachute troops sent by Fin-
"Ema"
land, the unit. About 1,500 fought at men
Kautla (beginning
July 31).
Germans
The entered Estonia on
July 7-9.
When
- = they crossed the
Estonian border, they were confronted with an established fact.
In southern Estoalong the nia,
Emajogi-Viljandi-
Pärnu line, the
Soviet occupying
- power was effectively broken as a result of the partisans' resistance.
Estonian national flags were flying, and institutions of
Estonian self- government were operating. Armed struggle against the Red Army
In the expulsion of the Red Army from the mainland and islands of Estonia, Forest-Brothers' self-defense units participated along with the German armed forces.
In the anti-Stalinist armed resistance, more than 1,550 men were killed or remain unaccounted for, and more than 300 were wounded. Among the mass of documents in the archives of the Estonian Self-Government security police have been preserved charts and maps of the deployment of Estonian volunteer units.
These documents show that on August 20, 1942, 11,602 Estonian volunteers were on the eastern frontier. At the same time (February 1942), there were 40,837 under arms in the Self-Defense Forces [Omakaitse] (43,757 according to other data). In May 1943, there were already 22,849 Estonians in Hitler's armed forces.? At the same time, by way of comparison, there were 22,125 men in the Eighth Estonian Defense Force [Eesti Laskurkorpus]. Defense of the Estonian frontiers
At the beginning of 1944, the Red Army reached the Estonian border. At that point, the Estonian armed forces massed to defend the border. Thus, February 12-20, the Estonian Twentieth Division appeared on the bank of the Narva. Units of this division took part in the liquidation of the Riigiküla and Vepsküla-Süvertski marshalling points and in the ensuing battles. In February, a general mobilization was proclaimed, which was supported by the acting president of the Estonian Republic, J. Uluots.
About 45,000 men were mobilized, forming six border defense regiments. Part of those mobilized were grouped in Self-Defense Forces [Omakaitse], fighting units and reserve regiments. The border defense regiments and the SelfDefense Forces units, along with other Estonian armed forces fought on the bank of the Narva as well as at Kaguja in eastern Estonia.
On September 18, with Professor J. Uluot's authority, a government of the Estonian Republic was formed in Tallin, headed by O. Tief. In the city, power was assumed by Admiral J. Pitka's battalion and other Estonian armed forces. The Estonian national flag flew from the Long Herman tower. At that stage, Estonian units were continuing to fight against both Red Army and German forces.3 Against the re-occupation regime
After the conquest of the Estonian 2. See E. Sprit, V. Timusk, "Tigeduse politika" ["Politics of Rage"), Edasi, February 26, March 1, 1989. 3. See M. Laar, "Eesti Soduritest II maailmasojas" ["Estonian Soldiering in World War I"], Vikerkaar, No. 3, 1989.
Republic's territory in the fall of 1944, the armed struggle of the Estonian Forest Brotherhood continued. It was fanned by the continuing outrages of the occupation regime. The Stalinist regime established after the expulsion of the German occupation forces resumed what it had only half finished in 1941. It is estimated that between 1944 and 1953, about 30,000 persons were arrested in Estonia. 4
The March 1949 deportations were part of a genocidal plan. They were followed by forced collectivization.
At that stage, the Forest Brotherhood was very extensive and had many officers. The amnesty, arrests and liquidation in 1947 removed more than 15,000 men from the forest struggle, but far from liqui-
The armed struggle against Stalinism was fundamentally a struggle of Estonian people for liberation. In the summer of 1944, more than 90,000 Estonians participated in it. The fact that during the war people involved in it fought on the side of fascist Germany is strictly the fault of Stalinism. The Soviet occupation and terror regime made people forget 700 years of hostility to the German conquerors. It was hoped that the Germans would reestablish Estonian independence or that it would be re-established when Germany lost the war to the Western Allies. The Hague and Geneva Conventions
The legal rules relating to armed struggle against Stalinism derive:
Primarily from the international treaties that regulate the legal system in occupied territories.
The legal system for occupied territories was established mainly by the Hague Convention of 1907 and the Geneva Convention of August 12, 1949, on defense of civilians in wartime. tized the norms and customs of international law concerning protection of civilians. Civilians as well as combatants are under the protection of international law. The lives and property of inhabitants have to be respected.
The Geneva convention on protection of civilians establishes that a nation occupying a territory is obliged to respect the residents and the inviolability of their property.
• Any destruction of property that is not absolutely necessary for the sake of military operations is forbidden. (Paragraph 53).
• The occupying country cannot force the inhabitants of an occupied territory to serve in its own armed or auxiliary forces in wartime. Any compulsion or propaganda to enlist is forbidden. (Paragraph 51.)
• No rules established by the occupying nation concerning non-criminal activity can have retroactive force. (Paragraph 65.)
• An occupying nation cannot prosecute, arrest or condemn inhabitants of an occupied country for activity that took place before the occupation or for the expression of opinion. (Paragraph 70.)
• Citizens of an occupied country can be found guilty and punished only by a competent court of the occupying contry. Moreover, guarantees internationally recognized by civilized people must be observed - searches and court rulings have to follow established procedure. In the courts, the accused have the right to present evidence in their own defense; they can call witnesses and have a right to qualified lawyers of their choice. (Paragraphs 66, 71 and 72).
On August 12, 1949, it was recognized that the Geneva Convention applied to prisoners of war taken in partisan warfare. According to this convention, members of organized resistance movements in occupied territories are recognized as prisoners of war and enjoy the corresponding legal rights. The Geneva Convention was ratified on April 17, 1954, by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
On June 10, 1977, a protocol was appended to the Geneva which recognized the applicability of the elementary human rights guaranteed by the UN charter to people engaged in armed struggle against foreign occupaAnd Nuremburg and Tokyo crimes tribunals' statutes included instructions in defense of the inhabitants of occupied territories. Killing, torturing and deporting inhabitants of occupied territories were recognized as
The statutes of the Nuremburg and Tokyo war crimes tribunals were ratified by a UN General Assembly resolution of November 11, 1946. Consequently, they internationally recognized
According to the constitution of the Estonian SSR, provisions of international pacts and declarations ratified by the USSR are an inalienable part of the legal system of the Estonian SSR. Therefore, the legal evaluation of the anti-Stalinist armed struggle should derive from these
In its first two stages and especially in its final stage, the anti-Stalinist armed struggle was a partisan struggle in accordance with international law. In the conditions of occupation it has to be considered a struggle for national self-determination. These conceptions are also based on international law, which clearly applied to the partisan struggle in the German occupied parts of the USSR, also applied to occupied Estonia.
In an occupied area, only competent judicial bodies of the occupying power can pronounce judgment, and there is a right of defense in these courts. Summary
USSR trials of participants in the anti-Stalinist armed struggle and bringing them before kangaroo courts was illegal. These persons could not be legally condemned because their guilt for violating the rules and conventions of the law of war was not established according to judicial procedure. This was not observed in the practice of the Estonian SSR. Thus, on December 7, 1988, the Estonian SSR declared illegal " the extrajudicial mass repression in Soviet Estonia in the 1940s and 1950s," regardless of whether persons sentenced by special judgment were guilty or not.
If special tribunals or other exceptional bodies are given the role of courts, then the punishment commissions and other kangaroo courts put together in the time of the German occupation have to be considered courts.
The fact that the anti-Stalinist armed struggle waged in Estonia was a freedom struggle against an occupation regime was not taken into account in the law, "Additional measures for the rehabilitation of victims of repression in the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s," adopted by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on January 16, 1989. This law annulled the verdicts of threejudge and other special tribunals in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, that had not been tenced by these bodies can be considered
But in fact not all. This law does not apply to traitors to the fatherland and punishment battalions formed during the Great Fatherland War, to Nazi criminals, members of nationalist bands, their satel-
Punishment of such persons, who were not guilty of violating internationally recognized norms and customs of warfare, is contrary to international law. It follows therefore that there is no right to apply to these persons the January 16 law of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet stating that traitors to the fatherland and members of nationalist bands and their satellites are not rehabilitated. Such persons must also be considered rehabilitated.
That does not mean justification of murder and other crimes. Naturally, summary executions and exactions accompanying the anti-Stalinist armed struggle have to be condemned, including participation in the mass murders committed in Estonia during the German occupation and the mass repression outside the borders of the Estonian Republic. Such actions are specifically defined as crimes against humanity according to international Criminals cannot be considered freedom Against Humanity," Kodumaa, November 16, 1988. 5. E. Lassi, "Monede lünkade täiteks" ["Many gaps are filled in"], Sirp ja Vasar, November 27, 1987. 6. M. Laar, "Eesti soduritest II Maailmansojas." 7. A. Uustal. Rahvusheline oigus 'ntemational 21 Law"), Eesti Raamat, 1984, pps. 344, 349.
International Viewpoint #169 • September 18, 1989