'Boat of Tears' commemorates thousands of Estonians who fled by sea in 1944
The "Boat of Tears," an installation commemorating the tens of thousands of Estonians who fled by sea in 1944 to escape the Red Army, is on display in Tallinn's Tammsaare Park this weekend.
This fall marks 81 years since the "Great Escape" ("Suur Põgenemine"), when approximately 80,000 people left Estonia, in boats, fleeing the approaching Soviet occupation. Around 32,000 refugees reached Sweden, 7,000 reached Finland, and nearly 40,000 made it to Germany.
Thoe who departed did so on large ships and small fishing boats, often risk in their lives. Many did not reach their destination, and some were forcibly repatriated. The diaspora of war refugees had a significant impact on the formation of Estonian diaspora communities abroad.
This year, to commemorate the anniversary, a single wooden boat has been symbolically put on display in Tallinn's Tammsaare Park.
"The 'Boat of Tears' is an installation that deals with the Great Escape of 1944 as a collective experience. It was not just the story of the elite but of the entire population – farmers, fishermen, manual laborers and intellectuals, all trying to escape. The project places these stories in the broader context of historical memory and human rights discourse," said Aet Kukk, executive director of the Estonian Institute of Human Rights.
The design uses symbols that are characteristic of the study of the refugee experience: loss of home, the need to preserve identity and collective memory.
The installation is accompanied by a website that provides access to historical materials, memories, and references to a database created by the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory. The database contains information on approximately 65,000 war refugees. The digital resource can be used to analyze the routes taken by refugees, their destination countries and their subsequent life stories.
The installation is part of a broader network of memorials to the "Great Escape," which also includes those dedicated to boat refugees in Puise, Pärnu, and Tallinn Old Town. The memorials emphasize that the "Great Escape" is a nationally and internationally significant event, which needs to be continuously addressed in the context of education, culture and human rights.
The memorial installation in Tammsaare Park will stay on display until Sunday, September 21.
