Nonprofit organization Baltic Heritage Network’s summer school “Diaspora Estonian cultural heritage abroad. XII. How to tell the Diaspora Estonian story?” took place from June 16th-19th in Tallinn, Viinistu, and Rakvere. On the first day of the summer school, everyone gathered at St. Nicholas’ Church and Museum in Tallinn, where Tiiu Reimo introduced the exhibition “Estonian Book 500.” Next, we met with employees of Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom, who presented a collection campaign and thematic exhibition on the topic of the Great Escape. A meeting with author Elin Toona brought the day to a close, where her memoir “Into Exile. A Life Story of War and Peace” was discussed.
June 17th was the first official work day of the summer school in Viinistu. Representative of the Association of Estonians in Sweden, Sirle Sööt, spoke about the recent ESTO festival “As One,” which took place in Stockholm, Narva, and Tallinn in 2025. The topic of togetherness with the Estonian land and people was emphasized and the story of Narva, along with the development of Eastern Virumaa and questions of security was introduced at the festival. Kristel Rattus talked about the recently opened exhibition at the Estonian National Museum “Estonian Swedes,” which is based on the expansive collections of the National Museum, and interviews conducted for the exhibit. Marko Poolamets from the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory presented on the topic “The ship cuts through the roiling sea, the Estonian beach disappears from the horizon…” in which he gave an overview of the collection of oral history, the creation and development of the online environment “Kogu me lugu,” the refugee database (2024.wwii-refugees.ee/en/andmebaas), and the database of repressed peoples (memoriaal. ee).
PhD student at the University of Tartu, Katariina Sofia-Päts, handled the topics of the Swedish Estonian friendship society and activities of the Estonian information office in Stockholm – a short, but critical period of time at the beginning of the 1990’s. Merike Kiipus from the Estonian Literary Museum spoke about activities that have taken place during the Year of the Book, delving into exhibits, educational and special projects. Marin Laak, also from the Estonian Literary Museum, introduced the content environment “Estonian Book 500: The Story’s Story” (er500.ee), the goal of which is to collect information along with links for databases, where credible information regarding the history of Estonian literature can be found. Piret Noorhani from VEMU Estonian Museum Canada presented an overview of Year of the Book events in Canada, where film screenings, translation competition, book fairs, recording for episodes of the podcast EstoCast and a book club meetings take place, in addition to exhibitions. VEMU board member Anne Remmel did an online presentation “Life between two worlds: searching for and finding Estonian roots,” in which she discussed life with dual identities and the challenges of documenting family history, through her book “Two Worlds Within.”
A general discussion on the topic of preservation of diaspora Estonian cultural heritage, in regards to updating the “Estonian Diaspora Action Plan” took place. Kadri Linnas from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs participated, speaking about existing support measures and activities, and the necessity of involving youth. P. Noorhani found that each new initiative does indeed need an enthusiastic leader who’s initiative allows for things to be born and to continue, but financial support is also necessary. M. Laak was also of the opinion that work with archives is continuous, and so funding should also be continuous. K.S. Päts added that although students at the University of Tartu have increasingly composed research projects on diaspora Estonian topics over the past few years, it is still tough for them to find funding for their projects in diaspora archives and communities. I. Tomingas from the Film Archives noted that funding from the Estonian government could also support the activities of Estonian Houses. P. Noorhani emphasized the importance of keeping up to date with the situation of archives that preserve diaspora Estonian heritage, and since the organization of their collections has been largely dependent on government support to date, the continuation of this support is of key importance.
A film screening of “Anna Kaljas. The Untold Story” took place that evening, and a Zoom discussion with filmmaker Dwight Storring followed.
A presentation by Kadri Linnas titled “Estonian and abroad gravesites of Estonian diplomats sworn to office before 1991” kicked off the program on June 18th and focused on the continuity of the Estonian nationality through embassies in exile. Ave-Maria Blithe (Estonian Archives in the U.S.) spoke about diaspora Estonian memoirs through the example of her institution. Monika Siim from VEMU conducted a presentation on the topic of “The stories of professional Canadian-Estonian women in the archives.” Riina Reinvelt from the Estonian National Museum discussed the topic “Everything is equally great? Objects with and without a story in the museum,” reminding us that the story that goes along with an object adds value. Keila Kopvillem from VEMU introduced the story of diaspora Estonians via newspaper advertisements, focusing on the search for lost loved ones and relatives in post-war chaos. Ülle Kraft presented an overview of the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory’s World War II refugee database (2024.wwii-refugees.ee), which includes the collection, entering, and editing the data of individuals who fled Estonia from 1940-1944. As of June 2025, the information of 70,833 people had been gathered. Researcher Aivar Jürgenson from Estonian National Museum presented on the topic “Three escapes, three stories. The various starting points of community origin stories.” He showed how a founding narrative presents the collective memory of a group. Kadri Asmer from the University of Tartu introduced the University Art Museum’s exhibit “We wander along the paths of the world. Art created in the shadow of the war: Geislingen 1944-Tartu 2024,” which included Endel Kõks, Hans Tsirk, and Agathe Veeber, Estonian artists that lived in Geislingen DP camp.
On the last day of the summer school, we visited the Sagadi manor complex, where director of the manor museum, Ain Kütt, gave a tour. An exploration of two museums in Rakvere followed. At the Rehbinder House of Virumaa Museums, Viljar Vissel, creator and author of the winner of the year’s best permanent exhibit or “Museum Rat” introduced the exhibition “Leaning against a chair. Luxury and simplicity from the Middle Ages to Luther’s factory”. At the Rakvere Town Citizens’ Home Museum, head treasurer Pilvi Põldma shared fantastic period-specific knowledge.
We would like to thank the Republic of Estonia’s Ministry of Education and Research (Estonian Diaspora Action Plan) and all of our partners, presenters, and participants! Until next time!
Birgit Kibal
National Archives of Estonia