At the Rahumäe Jewish Cemetery, the Jewish Community of Estonia gathered to honour the memory of the victims of one of the most tragic chapters in Estonian history – the mass deportation of 1941.
The memorial ceremony was attended by the Jewish Community board members, and community representatives: Vitali Pishchanok, Eduard Klass, Alla Jakobson, and Aavi Dobrysh.
Rabbi Shmuel Kot recited a memorial prayer.
In the early morning of June 14, 1941, doors were knocked on all across Estonia. Without trial or explanation, more than 10,000 people were torn from their homes, herded into cattle cars, and deported to Siberia. Families were separated – women and children were sent to remote settlements, men to labor camps.
Among the deported were over 400 Jews. For many, it was a one-way journey. 101 of them never returned. Their names are engraved on the memorial stone at the Rahumäe Jewish Cemetery.
On June 14, Estonia’s national Day of Mourning, a state memorial ceremony was held at the Memorial to the Victims of Communism in Maarjamäe.
The Jewish Community of Estonia was represented by Chairman of the Board Aleksandr Zdankevich and Executive Director Vitali Pishchanok.
