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Home , Aleksander Warma, Ernst Jaakson, Government in exile

75 YEARS SINCE THE END Today - 2020 OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR 1.

75 YEARS SINCE THE END OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR

HOW THE FOREIGN MINISTRY AND EMBASSIES WERE ELIMINATED BUT IN THE FREE WORLD PRESERVED THE CONTINUITY OF THE ESTONIAN STATE BETWEEN 1940 AND 1991

After the outbreak of the Second World War and the Soviet occupation of 1940, many Estonian diplomats working in embas- sies remained abroad, and several of the sta of the ministry headquarters managed to ee Estonia during the Second World War. Fifty-six of the diplomats working at the Ministry of Foreign A airs between 1918 and 1940 chose a new homeland. Among those who were working for the Foreign Ministry or who returned to Estonia after the elimination of the embassies in 1940, 21 were subject to repressions from the Soviet occupying power. A total of 52 diplomats who had worked at the Foreign Ministry over two decades were arrested; 12 of them were executed and 31 died in prison camps or in . Most of the arrests were made in 1940 and 1941, and four after the war. Only six diplomats who were in Estonia escaped repressions.

THE ELIMINATION OF THE FOREIGN MINISTRY AND EMBASSIES IN 1940

At the beginning of the Second World War, following the June coup of 1940, Estonia’s merging with and incorporation into the began. Nigol Andresen became the Foreign Minister of the new puppet . On 30 June, the Foreign Ministry recalled all Estonian diplomats. Most of them refused to comply and instead protested the occupation and annexation of Estonia by the Soviet Union. The 23 July 1940 statement by the United Embassy building in at Queen’s States government refused to recognise the annexation of the Baltic States, and the Gate 167, which housed the Estonian representations of these countries were allowed to continue operating. Several other states also Embassy between 1920 and 1989, and which is currently home to the Embassy continued to recognise Estonian diplomats as representatives of the Republic of Estonia. of the Sultanate of Oman

On 5 August 1940, a law on punishing the traitors and their family members living abroad was published in the o icial journal of Estonia, Riigi Teataja, classifying all people refusing to return home as traitors, ordering their property to be conscated and condemning them to be shot within 24 hours of identication. A prison sentence of up to 10 years and conscation of property also awaited the family members of those refusing to return home.

On 6 August 1940, the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic By 25 August 1940, all foreign ambassadors posted to 'was admitted' to the Soviet Union. As early as 8 August, Estonia were ordered to leave. By the decision of the Council the government of the Estonian SSR decided to of People’s Commissars of the Estonian SSR on 11 eliminate all Estonian embassies, consulates and September 1940, the Ministry of Foreign A airs was honorary consulates, and hand over their assets to local abolished. The Estonian SSR’s People’s Commissariat for representations of the Soviet Union. This was duly carried Foreign A airs, essentially a front institution, began out in several countries. operating, lacking any right to conduct foreign policy and only carrying out orders from . 75 YEARS SINCE THE END Estonia Today - 2020 OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR 2.

THE ESTONIAN EMBASSY IN LONDON AND CONSULATE GENERAL IN NEW YORK AS THE CARRIERS OF THE LEGAL CONTINUITY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ESTONIA BETWEEN 1940 AND 1991

Following the outbreak of the Second World War and the June coup in Estonia, the diplomatic representations of the Republic of Estonia continued to operate in the and the . Thanks to the activities of these foreign missions, the Foreign Ministry was the only public institution that continued to exist between 1940 and 1991, therefore preserving the continuity of Estonian statehood. The policy of non-recognition of the occupation and annexation of Estonia was practised most consistently by the United States.

In 1940, the Foreign Ministry planned to reopen its embassy in Washington but Estonia was again. The consulate general in New York, on the other hand, continued to work until the restoration of Estonia’s in 1991. It was home to Johannes Kaiv (1897-1965), the general carrying out the duties of an ambassador until 1965. Ernst Jaakson (1905-1998) continued his work. In 1991, Jaakson was named ambassador of the restored Republic of Estonia to the United States and permanent representative to the UN, and he was in the Estonian diplomatic service for a total of 79 years.

Johannes Kaiv worked as consul general in the consulate general Ernst Jaakson as a representative of the Republic of in New York until 1965 Estonia meeting President Ronald Reagan in 1982

Ambassador August Torma with his wife Alice at the embassy in London, at Queens Gate 167. The photograph was taken in the 1960s.

The British government did not recognise Estonia’s inclusion in the Soviet Union de jure and in 1940, August Torma (1895-1971) continued to work as an ambassador in London until his death in 1971. Subsequently, the British Foreign O ice accepted Ernst Sarepera, an embassy counsellor, as a chargé d'a aires, however, he died only a few months after Torma. After his death, the baton was passed on to an o icial named August Bergman, who had worked at the embassy since 1923. As it was not permitted to appoint new diplomats, the embassy was moved under the management of Ernst Jaakson at the consulate general in New York, and only the embassy secretary Anna Taru continued to work in London until 1989. 75 YEARS SINCE THE END Estonia Today - 2020 OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR 3.

DIPLOMATS WHO REMAINED IN THE FREE WORLD PROTECTED ESTONIA’S INTERESTS IN OTHER COUNTRIES

The diplomats who had remained in the West protected Estonia’s interests in other countries; however, their status was usually semi-o icial and more uncertain than that of their colleagues in London and New York. Here are but a few of them:

In 1940, August Koern worked as a Aleksander Warma continued to In 1940, Karl Robert Pusta was a counsellor at the Estonian Embassy in carry out his duties as an ambassador special counsellor at the Estonian Copenhagen, and after the June in Helsinki until , Embassy in . After was coup, he remained in , when he was forced to leave occupied, he went to the United keeping the consulate open until his at the request of the authorities. He States and lived in Washington and death in 1989; and from 1964 to then went on to become a leading New York, and organised the 1982, he was also the foreign minister gure in the organisations of expat cooperation of occupied nations. In of the government in exile. Estonians in and a member 1952, Pusta returned to Europe and of the government in exile. until his death in 1964, he was Estonia’s diplomatic representative in , France and .

GOVERNMENT Meeting of Estonian representatives in London on 24 April, 1966 IN EXILE From the left: Prime Minister of the Government in Exile in the duties of the President of the Republic Alexander Warma, Estonian representative in Elmar Reisenberg, Estonian Ambassador to Great Britain August In 1953, the Estonian government in Torma, Consul General in Charge of exile started operating and Estonian Legation in the United States of America Ernst Jaakson, Estonian representative in diplomats played a vital part in its Spaine Villibald Raud activities. Despite their di erences, both the diplomatic representatives as well as the government in exile played an important role in preserving the continuity of Estonian statehood and organising the life of Estonians living in exile. The government in exile was never o icially recognised by any government, which is why Estonia’s diplomatic representatives kept a certain distance, and at times, relations became tense.

24.08.1991. Having returned from Finland on the evening of 23 August into what was now the independent Republic of Estonia, Foreign Minister is participating in the press conference at the Ministry of Foreign A airs on Toompea Hill with Toivo Klaar and Tiit Pruuli. Photo: Peeter Langovits

In the Second World War, Estonia lost its independence, and the Foreign Ministry and embassies were eliminated. The Soviet occupation lasted for half a century, until Lennart Meri became the foreign minister in ’s government at the peak of the perestroika and the Singing in 1990. It is to him the Estonian foreign service dates the 'second coming' that led to the restoration of the Republic of Estonia and the subsequent re-establishment of the Foreign Ministry and embassies. Thanks to the work of Estonian diplomats who remained in the free world, the Foreign Ministry is the only Estonian institution that has continuously worked for 100 years and has therefore carried the continuity and spirit of the Republic of Estonia.