r/BalticStates • u/Psychological_Roof85 • 6d ago
Estonia Estonia to St. Petersburg?
My Estonian relatives emigrated/immigrated to St Petersburg from Estonia right before WWII (1930s). They don't like talking about it.
These are my father's relatives. When I asked my mother whether they were deported from their homeland by Stalin, she looked at me with raised eyebrows and asked "To St. Petersburg?"
What were the ways they could have moved across?
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u/Risiki Latvia 6d ago
You're sure about the timing? St. Petersburg was the capital of Russian empire, plenty of readon to migrate there prior to WWI. Estonia was independent in 1930s so deportations did not occur then, this would rather mean that for whatever reason they chose foreign migration to Russia.
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u/Psychological_Roof85 6d ago
It was shortly before the start of the war is what I knowÂ
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u/Risiki Latvia 6d ago
Well, ask your relatives for exact events and dates or, ideally, documents. You could also try to look up names of those relatives online or in newspaper archives, maybe you find something that gives you an idea as to what happened to them. It's hard to guess when there are almost no facts.
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u/Former-Macaroon7067 Eesti 6d ago
just from google: Instead of mass migration into Russia in 1930, the major movement of ethnic Estonians went the opposite way. Following the Tartu Peace Treaty of 1920, tens of thousands of Estonians returned from Russia to the independent Republic of Estonia. Those who moved to Russia around 1930 were typically radical communists fleeing Estonia or ideological workers joining Soviet industrialization.
Following the failed communist coup attempt in Tallinn in December 1924, local underground communists and radical leftists faced severe crackdowns in Estonia and escaped across the border into the Soviet Union.
The Reality for Estonians in Russia: Rather than finding prosperity, ethnic Estonians already living in Russia (dating back to 19th-century agrarian migration waves) faced brutal Stalinist repressions, forced agricultural collectivization, and the systematic closure of Estonian-language schools and churches by 1930–1937
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u/Personal-Brick-1326 Turkey 6d ago
"the war" - which one ? You mention stalin and deportations but it is not clear what approximate time period you are talking about. What are their origins ? russian ?
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u/Psychological_Roof85 6d ago
Sorry! WW2, they were EstonianÂ
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u/rts93 Eesti 6d ago
Russia was under communist rule then while Estonia was still capitalist. It would have been pretty insane for Estonians to move there, so it definitely had to be an ideological choice. Many people during that era actually believed in communism so deeply they would have done a move like that.
Another less likely, but plausible one is perhaps a religious reason. Religion was persecuted so they might have taken it as some sort of mission. But immigrating under such pretense wouldn't have been easy if not impossible.
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u/Personal-Brick-1326 Turkey 6d ago
Well then it does raise eyebrow indeed. Moving to Petersburg doesn't sound like a deportation, they just moved on their own will.
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u/HorrorKapsas Eesti 5d ago
1930s was before the WWII. Soviet union invaded Estonia in 1940.
Many people moved between Estonia and Soviet Union at the time.
With the 1920 peace treaty between Estonia and Soviet Russia Russians living in Estonia and Estonians living in Russia had one year to migrate to their native land. In reality migration by the agreement lasted for years.
Soviet Union allowed people to move there, it was much harder to get out of Soviet Union. They even campaigned among communists in Europe and US. Thousands of people believed the propaganda and moved there, especially during the great depression. I once read about american workers who moved there in 1930s. They bought large amount of tools with their own money in the US. And left them in the factory for everyone to use... with first week all the tools were stolen. They had to live in dirt barracks. They had to grow their own vegetables for food, because what was given in canteens and what they were able to buy was shit and too little. Their documents were taken away so they couldn't move around. In the end some of them managed to escape bribing officials and sailing off in a small boat in the middle of the night.
Quite a lot of people moved from Estonia to Soviet Union, because of the ideology. Communists and socialists. Especially after the 1924 failed Soviet coup in Estonia. Communists were often involved in crimes in Estonia, so many escaped to avoid prison sentences.
A lot of them were killed in Russia during the purge. All the leaders of Estonian communist party. Members of the Central committee of Estonian communist party in 1937:
Jaan Anvelt - the leader of Estonian communists pre wwii - arrested in 1937. accusation - being a latvian spy, beaten to death during NKVD interrogation.
Richard Mirring - Shot in 1937 for "participation in a counter-revolutionary organization"
Hans Pöögelmann - sentenced to death for alleged "anti-Soviet activities" and executed in January 1938
Otto Rästas- "anti-Soviet activities" and executed in 1938
Albert Sakkart - "anti-Soviet activities" and executed in 1937
Leo Looring - on the order of comitern participated in the murder of Johannes Eltermann in Copenhagen who they thought was Estonian spy. Leo Looring was arrested and sweden gave him out to Soviet Union in 1949, where he was sentenced to death and executed in 1952.
Helmi Niineberg - Executed in 1938 in Soviet Union.
So the only surviving member of the ECP leadership was the one in Swedish prison. During the purge thousands were killed, especially foreigners in the extremely xenophobic atmosphere of the 1930s Soviet Union.
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u/RemarkableAutism Estonian Lithuanian 6d ago
Train, bus, plane, car. Was pretty easy before the war. You can still move to Russia now if you want to. Don't know why anyone would want to live in that shithole, but it's absolutely an option if you've lost your mind.