Estonian Life Stories

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After a short period of independence, Estonia was occupied in World War II by the Red Army, then Nazi Germany, and again, for a lasting occupation, by the Soviets. No wonder that a greater part of the roughly one million Estonians had harshly eventful lives. This anthology contains 25 selected life stories collected from Estonians who lived through the tribulations of the 20th century, and describe the travails of ordinary people under numerous regimes. The autobiographical accounts provide authentic perspectives on events of this period, where time is placed in the context of life-spans, and subjects grounded in personal experience. Most of the life stories reveal sufferings under foreign (Russian) oppression. The life stories in this volume were selected from among those submitted to a 1999 Estonian Literary Museum life story writing competition “One Hundred Lives of the Century.” The goal was a composite “Estonian life story,” a mosaic portrait composed of one hundred life stories spanning several generations in the 20th century. Neither “simple autobiography,” nor “real history,” life stories are complex sources for making meaning of the past. Rich in humour and salty joy as well as tragedy, these are the stories of survivors and their kin, letters addressed to a contemporary public hungry to know more about the untold and the silenced past, as well as to readers at home and beyond, those who hold the future. Central European University Press Budapest – New York Sales and information: ceupress@ceu.hu Website: http://www.ceupress.com ISBN 978 963 9776 39 5 ...