Monuments

The Battle of Sinimäed (July 25-August 12, 1944) is the bloodiest known battle that has taken place in the territory of Estonia. The exact number of the deceased is unknown but tens of thousands of soldiers were killed or lost in battle on both sides.

The memorial at the battleground commemorates the Estonian soldiers killed on both sides (the iron cross carries an inscription: the sons of the homeland who fell in the 1944 battle for the defence of Estonia are being remembered by the people of Estonia).

Next to the memorial there is a museum that gives a wider explanation of the 1944 battle situation in Narva and talks about those killed, both in the ranks of the German forces as well as in the ranks of the Red Army.

The Sinimäed memorial is not a war grave: the deceased have been reburied in the nearby graveyards. No memorial stone or monument in Sinimäed carries a swastika.

Estonia and Germany have concluded an agreement regarding the protection of war graves, on the basis of which the soldiers who were killed while serving in the German army are buried in graves that have a neutral design and where no Nazi Germany symbols are displayed, which is why it is not necessary to remove anything from there anymore.

The graveyards are not currently dealt with. The monuments of the occupation regime that are located at graveyards require a more thorough analysis.

The grave markers or monuments carrying the symbols of the occupation regime and have artistic or historical value will be maintained on the territory of the War Museum or its partners, along with descriptions opening up their background. The mapping of the monuments, assessing their historical and cultural value, and legal analysis is conducted by the Government Office in cooperation with the experts of security, heritage protection, history, and several other fields.

There is estimated to be 200-400 of those but the exact number will become clear after the analysis of the Government Office is completed. The specific time and order of removing the monuments depends on the readiness and logistical plan of the local municipalities.

Eight monuments that are located on state lands and carry the symbols of the occupation regime will be removed by the end of September. The memorials or historical monuments are on the territories of AS Eesti Raudtee, the Transport Board, State Forest Management Centre and the Land Board, located in the municipality of Jõhvi, in the town of Narva-Jõesuu and in the town of Kohtla-Järve and the authorities themselves are handling their removal.

The working group for evaluating monuments, operating at the Government Office, has a list of ten memorials or monuments that are in the ownership of the state and still awaiting evaluation.

Ida-Virumaa is not an exceptional case but a part of Estonia. On August 4, the government reaffirmed the principled position that monuments of the occupation regime that have a great symbolic significance have to be removed from the public space.

Going forwards, the situation is handled in co-operation with the local municipalities. The specific time and order of removal will depend on the readiness and logistical plan of the local municipalities.

The reburial of war graves is already going on:

• Thus far, about 30 local municipalities have contacted the War Graves Commission regarding more than 40 war graves.
• Four war graves have been reburied up until now: in Rakvere, in Võsu, in Nõo, and in Pärnu.
• The joint graves will get neutral information plaques regarding those buried there.

The mapping of the monuments, the evaluation of their historical and cultural significance, and the legal analysis is done by the Government Office in cooperation with the experts of security, heritage protection, history and several other fields. All those who have a monument of the occupation regiment on their territory and wish to inform of it or ask for advice from the Government Office, can write at [email protected]

History, whether shared or personal, is not going to disappear anywhere. All of us hold our traditions and memories dear. Commemorating those killed in wars is always permitted and can be done in a way that is not connected to the occupation for Estonia or supportive of the war in Ukraine.

Commemoration cannot be used for justifying or inciting hostility or violence against other nations or people.

In the Estonian cultural space, graves belong in the graveyard and those reburied from the war graves will also find their dignified last resting place at graveyards where it will be possible to continue to go and commemorate one's close ones in a peaceful environment. Joint graves will get neutral information plaques regarding those buried there.

• The mapping of the monuments, the evaluation of their historical and cultural value, and the legal analysis is done by the government office in co-operation with the experts in security, heritage protection, history and several other fields.
• War graves, including the identification of those buried in war graves and their dignified reburial, as well as finding the way to contact the close ones of the deceased are in the purview of the Ministry of Defence and are handled by the Estonian Military Museum along with the local municipalities.
• Disorderly conduct is dealt with by the police, whose task it is to continuously monitor the situation and to react proportionally, if necessary.

The monuments of the Soviet occupation regime that might quite recently have been the memories of a distant past to many are now the symbols of active terror again.

• The tank in Narva and other monuments created by the states that occupied Estonia do not commemorate those who perished peacefully but rather carry a wider anti-human ideology.

• The monuments of the occupation regime have created quickly growing tensions in the socety. We live in the Republic of Estonia. It is not allowed to oppose the independence of Estonia, or to carry symbols that incite hatred and endanger the public order.

• We know that Russia and its special services wish to stoke the tensions further. Hostile forces have always used these monuments to spread lies. The stressing of the Soviet propaganda lies is openly and officially a part of the security and foreign policy of the Russian Federation, with the goal of supporting its aggressive objectives and dividing societies. Monuments are also being used to that end.

• According to the constitution, the central value of the state of Estonia is internal peace, and one of the main tasks of the state is to ensure internal and external peace. We cannot give Russia the chance to use Estonia's past to disturb the peace at home.

• The government, in co-operation with the experts, has considered the different option and come to the conclusion that the safest course is to remove the monuments of the occupation regime that have been used in the information warfare. This has to be done as quickly as possible, before the tensions mount any further.

At the moment, the amount of monuments and grave markers to be removed or replaced is still unconfirmed, so it is not possible to calculate the exact cost.

This can be done if the owner of the memorial or grave marker, i.e. the person whose land the marker is on, requests this. Several rural municipalities have already done this on their own initiative. A working group set up within the Government Office can help with the technical side of the removal or replacement with a neutral grave marker.

We believe that the people and local municipality of Narva will be able to find a dignified solution to this question. One such place will definitely continue to be the joint grave of those killed in World War II.

The objective of removing the war monuments from the public space in Narva and Narva-Jõesuu was to ensure internal security: in the context of the war in Ukraine, the monuments had become a source of societal tensions, which is why they needed to be relocated as quickly as possible. Narva would not have been a suitable place for holding the tank in the future as the threat of provocations connected to it would have remained too great.

In addition to the tank, five other monuments have been removed from their previous location:

• the commemorative plaques on the Narva Peetri square

• the monument of the soldiers of the Red Army in Narva

• the Igor Grafov monument in Narva

• the "Three Bayonets" World War II monument in Narva-Jõesuu

• The monument commemorating the World War II Meriküla landing in Narva-Jõesuu

The monument at the joint grave of those killed in World War II, located on Sadama Road in Narva, received a neutral grave marker and continues to be a dignified place for commemorating those who have passed on.

The tank is a sample of equipment that was in the reserves and was brought to Estonia from the Leningrad military district in the 1960s. The tank has not participated in the battles of World War II.

The Narva tank is not a war grave, no deceased persons have been buried under or near it. The tank has never participated in actual battle activities, crossed the Narva River or sank in the river.

The prime minister visited Narva on August 8, in order to explain to the representatives of the city government and council, as well as the public, the government's decision, why the monuments of the previous century's occupation regime must be removed from the public space, and to discuss who to maintain the trust of the people in order to move forward together. At the meeting with the representatives of the Narva city government and council, the prime minister was informed of the city council's wish to organise the removal of the tank themselves.

On August 15, the city council of Narva did not take the decision on removal. Due to this, the state will handle the matters going forward.

The joint grave of those killed in World War II, located on Sadama Road in Narva, received a neutral grave marker and will remain a dignified place where those who have passed can be commemorated.

The Government gave the Police and Border Guard Board their agreement to take into state ownership the parts of the war monuments removed in Narva on August 16, 2022. The Police and Border Guard Board, in their turn, will hand the assets over to the Ministry of Defence who will maintain it in the Estonian War Museum that deals with the research and introduction of Estonian war history and cultural heritage. In the museum, the monuments will be surrounded by context that adequately explains their historical meaning.

In addition to the T34 tank that is already at the Estonian War Museum, as possessions of the state, the museum assets will also include the red star and two memorial plaques removed from the Red Army monument in the Narva castle park; the metal panel removed from the memorial "Three Bayonets" on the Narva-Jõesuu road; the red star and memorial plaque removed from the joint grave of those killed in World War II, located in the area between the Narva River and the Viktoria Bastion; and the anchor and memorial stone removed from the Meriküla landing memorial, located at Hiiemesta road in Narva-Jõesuu.

Monuments are a part of Estonia's history and memory. For that reason, we have to find them a place in a context where their historical meaning has been adequately explained. The Estonian War Museum is conducting the research and introduction of Estonia's war history and cultural heritage, which is why the next logical step is to give the monuments and artefacts that have thus far been kept at the police to state ownership, and to turn them over to the museum from there.

Based on the decision of the Parliament, all monuments praising totalitarian regimes have to be removed by November 15 in Latvia. An exception has been made for the city of Riga that has been given until June 30, 2023.

The law does not apply to monuments, memorials, commemorative plaques and places, and architectural or art objects that are located at the burial sites of soldiers killed in war, or to the memorials to the victims of Soviet or Nazi terror.

On August 8, a Soviet Union monument "World Peace" was removed in the city of Helsinki. The monument will be taken to the repository of the art museum. The city of Helsinki and the art museum HAM will decide about its future fate at a later point. There are no plans to return the monument to its current location. The city of Moscow gifted the monument to Helsinki in 1989. It was opened in 1990 and caused a lot of discussion even then. The Russian attack on Ukraine brought all these issues to the forefront again: how can a capital of a state have a monument that is depicting world peace but has been gifted by an aggressor.

The city of Turku removed a statue of Lenin that had also been a gift from the Soviet Union. Initially, a box was placed around the statue but by now it has also been relocated from the city streets to a museum repository.

The last large Lenin statue of Finland was standing in the city of Kotka but by now that has also been taken to a museum by a decision of the city government. They found that the exposition of a statue of Lenin in the city is an insult to the memory of those who suffered under the Soviet terror.