Hi...back again.

In my first post I mentioned briefly the circumstances that led to Walter, Lilian, Helve and Edla making the journey to Australia. The full story is much more complex than those few words indicated and I thought it might be of interest to you if I were to recount the story more fully. I think it helps those of us who have had the privilege of being born and raised in Australia in this particular period of history to understand what it means to be an asylum seeker displaced by war. Perhaps we could better understand and empathise with those, who in these times, are striving to enter our country in their search for safety and peace. Perhaps too it will give you some understanding of why this year in Estonia is so important to Helve and family in understanding their roots.

During the period of the Second World War Estonia found itself subject to a virtual "tug of war" between the great powers of the Soviet Union and Hitlers Germany. The Red Army occupied Estonia on the 17th June 1940 and declared it to be part of the Soviet Union. By 1941 the Soviets in Estonia were under severe attack from the German army. Many Estonian men assisted the Germans hoping, mistakenly as it turned out, that the Germans would help to drive Russia out and return Estonia to self rule again. By Dec 1941 the German Army did in fact drive the Soviets back over the boarder, but it soon became clear that they also wished to occupy Estonia under the German flag. By 1944, with the German Army facing defeat all over Europe the Soviets again invaded Estonia entering the capital Tallinn on 22 Sept 1944. Many Estonian men were conscripted into both these armies over that tumultuous time, and when it became plain that neither power was going to restore their independence most men formed into various resistance groups working underground to try and thwart the advances of the occupying Soviet army.
This is Walters story. Early, he like others fought alongside the Germans to liberate his beloved country from Russian domination. Soon, disillusioned with German intentions, he became a key figure in the Estonian resistance. As a soldier, paratrooper and wireless operator, he gathered information and recruited men into the resistance. This put a very high price on his head and it was clear that if he remained in Estonia death most surely awaited him. In addition and in spite of the turmoil, Walter had met Lilian on one of his missions that took him to Helsinki and they had married. Lilian's family were Estonians living and working in Helsinki where her father managed a large textile works, the building of which stands to this day. Soon after Lilian and Walter married,Lilians parents separated and her father married again. This second marriage set in train events that would surface again some 60 years later, but that is a story for a later post. Even after marriage Walter continued to serve in the resistance. Lilian was mostly on her own and soon after the birth of her first child, Helve, Helsinki came under heavy bombing attack forcing this young mum and her baby to flee to Stockholm in Sweden for safety. They went on their own as Walters whereabouts were not known, nor did Lilian know if she would ever see her man again, such were the times. The legacy they took with them to Stockholm was Lilian's second pregnancy and it was while they were alone in Sweden that their second daughter, Edla was born.
Meantime things were getting harder in the resistance and the time had come for Walter to leave his fatherland if he had any hopes of seeing his young family again. Against the odds Walter managed to avoid the Russian patrols and escape into Finland. This was not the only time he had accomplished this escape. On one previous occasion, Walter and his close friend, who was later killed in a raid behind enemy lines, managed to commandeer a canoe and row the 80 nautical miles of Baltic Sea that separated Estonia from Finland. This incredible journey, achieved under the cover of darkness, and in spite of the presence of numerous Russian navy patrols, was indicative of the courage of these men and their love of their country. This time we do not know how Walter managed to get to Finland, but we do know that one day, without prior notice, he walked in the door of the little apartment in Stockholm to rejoin his family and to meet his daughters for the first time. It is hard to imagine the relief that Lilian experienced after her long wait without any news of his wellbeing.
With heavy hearts, Walter and Lilian knew there could be no going back to their beloved little country, Estonia, yet no clear view of what the future held. They were refugees.

Soon after Walter rejoined the family, with the war in Europe now over, the Soviet Union began to pressurise Sweden to send Estonian citizens back to Estonia. Sweden, being neutral, was unable to refuse this request, but understood that many of the Estonians sheltering in their country could not return safely to Estonia. The Swedish government decided to 'turn a blind eye' to any Estonian who decided to leave Sweden for another country. Many applied to USA and Canada and Walter also did the same. Unfortunately by the time of their application, the USA and Canada's quota of refugees was full so they were refused. They were then offered the chance to go to Argentina. It was then they received contact from an uncle of Walter's who had escaped earlier in a small yacht and finally reached South Africa. He had established a small business and urged Walter and Lilian to come and join him in South Africa. So, some four years after Lilian arrived alone in Stockholm, this little, heavy hearted, displaced family boarded a cargo boat and made the long and difficult voyage to Capetown.
Any hope that South Africa would be a place where they could find peace and security soon began to diminish. Walter worked with his uncle and the children began their schooling but all was not well. Around three years into their time in Cape Town the South African Government brought in apartheid. Walter and Lilian were active Christians and refused to accept that any one race was more important than another. They found the new regulations relating to the black community to be completely unacceptable to them, and realised that this was no place to raise their little family. Once again they had to move. This time they heard from Estonian friends that had immigrated to Australia and were living in Thirlmia  just south of Sydney. No ships were transiting between South Africa and Australia at that time but finally they caught another tramp steamer which took them to the then country of Ceylon. After an anxious wait in Ceylon they managed to get a passage on a ship bound for Sydney.
Finally, in August 1951 Walter, Lilian, Helve and Edla arrived in the country that was to become their home. Helve was just about to have her eighth birthday.
What happened in the ensuing years in Australia is not the subject of this post, suffice to say that it was , of course, how I came, many years later, to meet this lovely young lady with the foreign name, and the rest is history.

Hi,

Goodness. I have become a blogger! They say that "you can't teach and old dog new tricks" and maybe that is true, but this old dog is going to try anyway. So here goes...

Firstly, some administrative details. You will have received an email from me regarding this blog and a link that will enable you to find  it. When you first log onto the site you will be given an opportunity to "register". If you select that option, you will receive  a reminder anytime that I send off a new post. In this way you can keep up with our "adventures" and also send feedback or comments (which we would love) if you desire. By the way, the name of this blog...'Neville let the truth...'   was the brain child of Michelle, our beautiful daughter-in-law (Davids wife) and it was Michelle who set this up for me and instructed me in the fine art of blogging. Thanks Michelle and I will accept all responsibility for any blunders. That's all the instructions.

Now...the reason I have decided to commence this blog is because (as some of you will already know) Helve and I have been given the opportunity to live in Estonia for a whole year commencing April 2017. This has come about through the generosity of Helve's relations in Estonia, Anti & Karin, a wonderful young couple living in Elva (Estonia) just south of Tartu the city in which we shall be living during our time there. They have made available for us an apartment they own in Tartu and it was this offer that made this whole "adventure" possible. So, seeing we were going to be missing for a whole year, and experiencing lots of different things, I thought I would become a blogger and keep you in touch, as well as encouraging you to keep in touch with us with your news also.

Firstly some information about Estonia and the places already mentioned. The Estonians refer to their country by the name 'Eesti'. This is pronounced as "airsti" and I will be using that name in the blog from here on. Eesti is a small country in the area know as the Baltic States. The Baltic States embrace Eesti, Latvia and Lithuania. Eesti is the northernmost of these three countries and is bordered on the north and west by the Baltic Sea, on the south by Latvia and on the east by Russia. While Latvians and Lithuanians are of slavic origin, the Estonians are of Finno-Ugric origin and have their own unique language which shares some familiarity with Finnish but no connection with the slavic languages of its fellow Baltic States of Latvia and Lithuania. In area, Eesti is about the size of Gippsland, or about a third the size of Tasmania. Currently it has a population of about 1.2 million and achieved its independence from Russia not long ago in 1992. Eesti had know a short period of independence from 1919 up until the Second World War, but then were reoccupied by the USSR in 1941/42. There followed a 60 year period of occupation which imposed severe restrictions and considerable hardship on all Estonian citizens, as well as complete exile for those Estonians who had escaped to live abroad. Helve's parents, Walter and Lilian,were one such family, who through circumstances were forced to leave their country and, after some years on the move through Finland, Sweden and South Africa, finally to settle in Australia. They brought with them their two little girls, Helve and her sister Edla. The family's place of origin in Eesti was Eesti's second largest city, the university town of Tartu. The capital city of Eesti is Tallinn situated on the Baltic Sea in Eesti's north. Tartu is roughly 180kms south east of Tallinn, approximately 60kms from the Russian boarder to the east and 100kms from the Latvian boarder to the south. It has population of around 100,000 and is the home of Eesti's largest and oldest university, in fact one of the oldest, if not the oldest,  university in Europe, established by King Gustav of Sweden in the 1600's.

It is in this University town of Tartu that we will be living through 2017/18. In later posts we will be able to share a bit more of Eesti's story and of life in this new emerging nation. Fortunately, Helve speaks quite fluent Estonian while I am struggling to learn this complex language. A year exposed to the language on a daily basis I hope will result in my learning to understand and speak Estonian much better than my current ability. The good news is that we have room for visitors. Some of our family have indicated that they hope to visit while we are there, and as they all (both our children and grandchildren) have been generously given Estonian citizenship by the Estonian government, it will be good for them to make their maiden visit to their "other country". We would love to welcome you as well if the opportunity arises for a visit to Europe. If you would like to come, please feel free to contact us either on email or by phone (0418563208) so we can work out mutually acceptable dates for your visit. We would be glad to have you as our guests and to show you some of the beauty and features of this great little country.

Well...this is a beginning. We will keep in touch through this blog as we prepare and close in on our travel date which is March 29 next year. Meantime, don't overdo it coming up to Christmas and have a great time with your family on that special day. 
Neville & Helve.