Why was the statue of the Red Army soldier moved?

Added on 27 June 2009 2 Comments

KSC wanted to know:

Why did Estonia move the statue of the Red Army soldier?

I though the Red Army drove the Nazis out of Estonia during The World War II.

So why would Estonia take away this monument?

I might be missing some of the story or history.

If so please let me know i will appreciate it.

Thanks

2 answers

Michael said:

You are correct in a fact that the Red Army drove the Nazis out of Estonia, but this didn’t bring independence to Estonia, because it was then occupied by Red Army, which wasn’t any way better than the Nazis.

The memorial is seen by Estonians as a symbol of 50 years of Soviet occupation.

Also, there were people buried under this statue in the centre of the city. Not the best place for graves to be.

Now the statu is in the place, where it belongs – at the graveyard.

Posted on 27 June 2009 at 12:36 pm

John said:

After the retreat of the German army from Tallinn, Estonia restored it’s legitimate government led by Otto Tief on September 18th 1944 and raised the Estonian flag on Toompea.

On September 22nd 1944 the Red Army invaded Tallinn, tore down the Estonian flag and arrested Otto Tief and other ministers of the Estonian government.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Tief

Why would the Red Army invade a town that was already liberated from the Germans?

The Red Army invaded Tallinn, overthrew the legitimate Estonian government and tore down the Estonian flag.

They are not liberators.

Posted on 24 October 2009 at 11:07 pm