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The War of the Monuments in Estonia: the Challenges of History and the Minority Population

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The War of the Monuments in Estonia: the Challenges of History and the Minority Population REPORT FROM THE ÅLAND ISLANDS PEACE INSTITUTE Rapport från Ålands fredsinstitut The War of the Monuments in Estonia: the Challenges of History and the Minority Population Vadim Poleshchuk E T Å U L T A I T N S D N S I F E R C E A D E S P I N S S D T N IT U LA T T IS HE ÅLAND No. 1-2009 Vadim Poleshchuk, Mag. iur., Legal Advisor-Analyst, Legal Information Centre for Human Rights (LICHR), Tallinn, Estonia. He is dealing predominantly with legal and political aspects of minority protection in Estonia and Latvia. Among his recent publi- cations are: “Estonia – In Quest of Minority Protection”, in S. Spiliopoulou Åkermark et al. (eds.) International Obligations and National Debates: Minorities around the Bal- tic Sea, The Åland Islands Peace Institute, 2006 (co-authored with J. Helemäe); “Esto- nia”, in C. Mudde (ed.) Racist Extremism in Central and Eastern Europe, Routledge, 2005; “The Baltic States before European Union Accession: Recent Developments in Minority Protection”, in A. Bloed et al. (eds.) European Yearbook of Minority Issues, vol. 2, 2002/2003, Martinius Nijhoff Publishers, 2004 (co-authored with B. Tsilevich). The War of the Monuments in Estonia: the Challenges of History and the Minority Population Vadim Poleshchuk Proof reading: Sarah Stephan Report from the Åland Islands Peace Institute Rapport från Ålands fredsinstitut No. 1-2009 ISSN 1797-1845 (Printed) ISSN 1797-1853 (Online) ISBN 978-952-5265-34-7 (Printed) ISBN 978-952-5265-35-4 (Online) Published by the Åland Islands Peace Institute PB 85, AX-22101 Mariehamn, Åland, Finland Phone +358 18 15570, fax +358 18 21026 [email protected] www.peace.ax This report can be downloaded from www.peace.ax © The author, 2009. Printed in Finland by the Åland Islands Peace Institute 2009. VADIM POLESHCHUK The War of the Monuments in Estonia Preface Förord he Åland Islands Peace Institute has in re- nder senare år har Ålands fredsinstituts cent years focused research and publica- forskning och publikationer fokuserat på tionsT in three core areas: security in the Baltic frågorU om säkerhet i Östersjöregionen, om mi- Sea region; minorities; and comparative stud- noriteter och om självstyrelseformer, ofta med ies of self-government models with the Ålan- Åland som ett väsentligt jämförelse- och ana- dic autonomy as a prime object of analysis and lysobjekt. comparison. The present report covers the over- Denna rapport rör både frågor om minoritets- lap between on the one hand minority issues skydd och etniska relationer i Estland och säk- and ethnic relations and on the other hand se- erhetsaspekter i Östersjöområdet till följd av in- curity concerns in the aftermath of the so called cidenterna kring bronssoldaten i Tallinn. Vikten ‘war of monuments’ in Estonia. For most outsid- av dessa frågor blev tydlig efter de våldsamma ers the importance of the issue became evident kravallerna våren 2007 som överraskade delar av in the spring of 2007 when the controversy and det estniska samhället och övriga Europa. Vadim the clashes around the Bronze Soldier in Tallinn Poleshchuk bjöds in att skildra och försöka tolka shocked parts of Estonian society and wider Eu- dessa händelser vid symposiet Minority Policies rope. Vadim Poleshchuk was therefore invited to in Transition – Experiences and trends around the give a presentation on this issue at the sympo- Baltic Sea som Ålands fredsinstitut anordnade i sium Minority Policies in Transition – Experiences Uppsala i november 2007, i samarbete med flera and trends around the Baltic Sea, organized by the svenska vetenskapliga institutioner och med Åland Islands Peace Institute in Uppsala (Swe- stöd från Nordiska kulturfonden. den) in November 2007, in cooperation with Vadim Poleshchuk ger här en rik, balanserad several other institutions and with the support och klar analys av de motstridiga tolkningar som of the Nordic Culture Fund. träder fram i Estland beträffande landets his- Vadim Poleshchuk gives a lucid analysis of the toria, i synnerhet gällande andra världskriget. diametrically different interpretations given in Han visar hur motsättningarna har utnyttjats Estonia with regard to the history of the country, för politiska, opportunistiska syften som förvär- in particular as regards the Second World War. rat dessa motsättningar. Utöver de folkrättsliga He shows also how the controversy was used for och juridiska frågor som uppstår kring diskus- political purposes by several actors. While there sionen om ockupation eller annektering av Es- are many legal questions involved, some of them tland 1940-1944, diskuterar Vadim Poleshchuk touched upon by the author, for instance as re- de svårigheter som härrör från den modell av gards the question of occupation vs. annexation ’etnisk demokrati’ som enligt författaren domin- and the consequences of the one or the other po- erar i Estland. Han argumenterar på ett över- sition, Vadim Poleshchuk makes a forceful argu- tygande sätt för att nationalistiska projekt står i ment on the effects of choosing a model of an konflikt med moderna uppfattningar om män- ‘ethnic democracy’ and the incompatibility of na- skliga rättigheter och minoritetsskydd. Hans an- tionalist projects with modern notions of human alys ger oss ny information och värdefulla insik- rights and protection of minorities. His analysis ter i aktuella debatter i de baltiska länderna. gives new information and insight about current debates in Estonia and the Baltic States. Sia Spiliopoulou Åkermark Sia Spiliopoulou Åkemark Director, The Åland Islands Peace Institute Direktör, Ålands fredsinstitut Report from the Åland Islands Peace Institute 1-2009 3 VADIM POLESHCHUK The War of the Monuments in Estonia Contents 1. Introduction .............................................. 5 2. The war of the monuments 2004-2007 ...... 5 3. Interpretation of the April crisis: Defining the task ......................................................... 10 4. The year of 1940 and its importance in the Estonian political discourse.......................... 12 5. Estonian “cultural nation” and “ethnic democracy” ................................................... 15 6. Political participation of minorities and equal opportunities ...................................... 20 7. Conclusion .............................................. 23 Notes ............................................................ 25 Bibliography ................................................. 26 4 Report from the Åland Islands Peace Institute 1-2009 VADIM POLESHCHUK The War of the Monuments in Estonia 1. Introduction to the Soviet past, in the life of modern Estonia. It is necessary to look at the specificities of the he year of 2004 heralded the onset in Es- majority – minorities relations, in particular in tonia of events promptly dubbed “the war the political sphere. This will give us the key for ofT the monuments” – the spurious or well-staged understanding the algorithm of “the war of the harsh public criticism of the monuments estab- monuments” in its ethnic aspect. lished on graves from WWII to commemorate the Soviet soldiers. The events were triggered by the erection of a monument “to Estonian sol- 2. “The war of the monuments”: diers in the German uniform” in the locality of Lihula in September 2004, reaching their apogee 2004-2007 in April 2007 with the removal and transfer of y way of introduction, the main events of the so-called Bronze Soldier on Tõnismägi hill “the war of the monuments” need to be pre- in Tallinn, which brought about an avalanche of sented.B mass disturbances in the capital city and some In 2002 a monument honouring the Estonians, towns in northeast Estonia. fighting on the side of Germany during WWII, Estonia faces the collision of two community stood in Pärnu, a resort town, for 9 days. The myths, both vying for supremacy, one concerned plate on the monument said that it was erected with “the great victory of the Soviet people in in memory of “all the Estonian soldiers fallen in WWII”, the other – with “suppression and re- the Second War for Liberation for their mother- sistance in the years of WWII against the totali- land and free Europe in 1940-1945“. The mon- tarian Stalinist regime, by Estonians who aspired ument was removed in response to pressure by to lofty aims even when clad in German uni- the central authorities, worried about the image forms” (popular journalistic clichés). “The war of of Estonia abroad. In 2004 the same monument the monuments”, formally starting with the con- was going to be erected in Lihula, a locality in flict of the central government with the authori- West Estonia. After some alterations it took the ties of the rural municipality of Lihula, signifi- form of a bas-relief of a machine gunner, wearing cantly affected the mood in Estonia, making the an SS uniform, a helmet and carrying a “Cross of schism between the two most prevalent ethno- Freedom” Order and a German “Iron Cross” dec- linguistic communities even more evident. oration on his regimental uniform. The Lihula This paper is not meant to make a pronounce- authorities initially planned to place the monu- ment on the right or the wrong approaches to ment beside the secondary school, but later de- the events of WWII in Estonia. Just a cursory cided to put it up at the local cemetery - oppo- statement shall be made to this effect, not delv- site the monument to Soviet soldiers, which was ing into the mutual accusations of Estonia and erected on their common grave. Prime Minister Russia in the matters of the conflict, spurred on J. Parts, primarily for reasons of foreign
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