Laar: Tartu Uprising was a beam of light between two occupations
11.07.2011 | Mart Laar | English news
Today, in Tartu, Minister of Defence Mart Laar unveiled a memorial plaque on the wall of the main building of the Estonian National Defence College, commemorating members of the National Defence League who, on 10 July 1941, occupied the building on Riia hill - at that time the building of the National Defence League - thus starting the liberation of Tartu from Soviet occupation forces.
At the unveiling of the memorial plaque, Minister of Defence Laar said that the Tartu Uprising was like a beam of light between two totalitarian occupations. "In the summer of 1941, the battle in Tartu was fought solely for the freedom of Estonia. We pay our respects to everybody - partisans, fire fighters as well as schoolboys - who made the ultimate sacrifice - their lives - in this battle."
The memorial plaque was dedicated by Lt. Col. Taavi Laanepere, Chief of Chaplains of the Estonian Defence Forces; in addition, former political prisoner and freedom fighter Enn Tarto gave a speech.
This summer marks 70 years from the Summer War of 1941, when members of the National Defence League and Forest Brothers brought down the Soviet occupation power and re established the pre-war Estonian power just before the arrival of the advancing German forces. However, the Estonians' hope of re-establishing their independent state was not fulfilled and by autumn, the Soviet occupation was replaced by a new occupation, the German one, all over Estonia.
Source: Ministry of Defence
