Recently, the editor of Estonian Life learned I was going to visit the northeast part of Estonia. He asked me if I would take some pictures and possibly even write about something he was interested in, namely the current condition of a memorial wall to Estonian World War II veterans located in the old Vaivara cemetery.

Most Estonian language readers of this paper are well aware of the history of the small corner of the country known as “Sinimäed“ or literally translated, “Blue Hills“. Although much has been written about this place, some English language readers may not have heard of it at all or know very little about it.

It was named Blue Hills because at one time the three small hills were heavily forested with blue conifers. It is a small strip of land protected on either side by the sea, Lake Peipsi or swamps and it provides the only access for from invaders from the east. This gateway has been the site of numerous battles between Russia and various European powers. The Russian Tsar Peter the Great called Narva, some 20 kilometers east, the window to Europe.

It was the site of a major battle in late July, 1944, that has sometimes been referred to as the battle of the European Waffen SS. In addition to regular German SS units, volunteers from various other nationalities fought the Red Army wearing German uniforms. Estonians were prominent in this group, their main formation being the 20th SS Division consisting of about 15,000 men. There were also smaller numbers of Danes, Norwegians, Belgians and volunteers from other European countries. General Steiner was in overall command of the German forces.

Although not on a scale quite comparable to the titanic struggles at Kursk and Stalingrad, this was the largest battle ever fought on Estonian soil. The Red Army never did succeed in breaking through despite very heavy pressure against the defending German forces. This lack of success had much to do with the high morale factor among the troops. By all accounts, resistance in the heat of battle was fierce, sometimes even verging on being almost fanatical.

Estonians had a special motivation in preventing the Red Army from once again occupying their country and re-imposing a brutal Stalinist reign of terror from which they had bitter experience during the first Soviet occupation. Many were probably reluctant to be fighting on the side of Nazis that had in their turn occupied Estonia. However, given practical realities at the time, they really had little choice but to go with the lesser of two evils. They hoped that the Western Allies would honour the Atlantic Charter which was supposed to guarantee that after the war countries could freely chose their governments.

Among other elements of the Red Army facing the defenders of Estonia was the Estonian Rifle Corps. As all too often in Estonia’s past, brothers, sons and fathers were often on opposite sides either through choice or circumstance.

I had hoped to contact someone who had actually taken part in the battle to hear their story and possibly even have them act as a guide on the battle site which I was told was poorly marked. Unfortunately, our family reunion in Saaremaa took place on the same weekend that the veterans who had fought on the German side had gathered to celebrate the 61st anniversary of the battle.

Monuments in Jõhvi

Driving through the small city of Jõhvi the following week, I stopped for lunch and called one of the veterans from Canada that I knew was spending the summer there. Unfortunately, he was away and I was unable to make the necessary arrangements. The person that he was staying with was very helpful and said that possibly her girlfriend who was there on vacation and knowledgeable could help me out right away, that same day.

While I was waiting for her, I noticed some monuments in the little park just behind the Privaat Pub where I had parked my little rented car. I wandered over, noticed a modest, fairly new gravestone and discovered that two Estonian officers had been buried there in mid-1944, one of them being Major Georg Sooden, the other 1st Lt. Raul Jüriado.

There was also a monument to those that had lost their lives during the Estonian war for independence. Behind the park was a Lutheran church that looked like it had been there a very long time. It turned out to be the Jõhvi fortress-church, dating back to the 13th century. Even back then the Germans and Russians were duking it out and in 1367 it had suffered significant war damage.

After a while my contact person, a middle aged woman arrived somewhat out of breath, having walked over at a brisk pace. It turned out that she was in the middle of picking berries and making jam at her mother’s place. She was prepared to come with me but suggested that perhaps she could just show me on a map how to get to the battlefield and tell me what there was to see. This was fine with me.

I also asked her if there were any monuments or other markers at the site of the large concentration camp complex which the Nazis had set up at Vaivara. This visibly upset her and she immediately and curtly demanded to know why I wanted to see this place. I told her that I was interested in the history of the area and that the general location of this, the main holocaust camp on Estonian soil was common knowledge. I sensed from her reaction that this was a very sensitive topic and did not pursue it further.

The directions I was given got me in off the right paved road that ran off the Narva highway. I immediately discovered I was in an area where there were many large cemeteries, most with Orthodox cross grave markers. There was also a large well-marked Red Army cemetery complete with a large impressive monument.

Vaivara memorial wall

I had been told that what I was looking for was on the wall of the old Vaivara cemetery - which should have been to my right. Having visited many old cemeteries in Estonia I was looking for a two hundred year old stone fence so I drove right by the new wall enclosing the cemetery to my right which didn’t look to be that old.

A little while later, I spotted a muddy little parking lot off to my right with only one car parked there. I looked up and there was the hill on top of which there were the crosses I had been told about. I suppose that in my own mind I was expecting Estonia’s version of Gettysburg so I was both a little let down, as well as being somewhat concerned about getting stuck in the mud.

On the way up the small grassy windswept hill, I met an Estonian couple about my age who were coming down to their car. They asked me if I knew where the memorial cemetery wall was. They seemed surprised to find that I was a foreign visitor who knew even less than they did. The husband turned out to be a psychologist with the Centre for Vocational Education of Võru County and the wife a teacher. She commented that the battle site was notorious for having poor or non-existent signs. I agreed.

They drove off east towards Narva and I followed them to the main road. Still nothing that looked like an old cemetery, but I did find a small marker indicating that General Steiner’s SS panzer corps had fought there. I took a photo and turned back.

Something about the cemetery with the new wall made me stop. I got out of my little rented car and spotted a single black marker on the inside wall. I walked over and read the plaque which said that Major Sooden had been killed on that spot. I now noticed that despite the new wall, this cemetery seemed to be a lot older than those surrounding it. On a hunch I walked uphill and discovered the wall I had been looking for.

Everything was in good shape although one plaque seemed cracked. I took several pictures, some of which appear here. On my way back, I noticed the ruins of what appeared to have been a small chapel. I wondered whether this had been caused by vandals that had defaced the memorial wall a few years ago.

Just as I was about to drive off another car appeared with another man and woman about my age. It turned out to be a man who grew up in the area that now lived in Tallinn and was visiting his old school chum. He was a close relative of Major Sooden and they had come to view the plaque. It turned out that the major had not been killed at that exact spot but rather a short way up the hill. Major Sooden’s command post had been located in the small destroyed chapel I had wondered about. He had emerged to view the battlefield situation through field glasses and was killed by a shell which also destroyed the chapel.

Transit camp memorial

I asked whether either one of them knew where the site of the former German concentration camp was and the man seemed quite surprised and said that although he had grown up in the area this was the first time he had heard about this. The woman merely said I should follow their car.

The location of the camp was close to the railroad. This was the main labour and transit camp for Jews and others considered undesirable that were shipped to Estonia from other areas occupied by Nazi Germany. Although its purpose was not a death camp, many died through hunger, disease or simply being worked to death. Nothing remains and houses have been built nearby. There are two small monuments, both bearing the Star of David. Both had small bunches of flowers in front of them. Behind was a large erratic boulder, carried there during the ice age. On top of the boulder were a few small rocks and pebbles.

The two local people said good-bye and departed. I took a couple of pictures and remained deep in thought for a few minutes about the tragic events that occured on this seemingly cursed rail line that had also carried tens of thousands of other innocents, including Jews, to similar camps in Siberia.

I had not brought flowers with me, but I placed my small pebble on top of the large rock to show that I had visited and drove off in the direction of Narva.

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