(Translated from Estonian by Jüri Estam and
Jaan Pennar )
Translators’ Introduction
On September 22 of 1980, more than 1,000
young people demonstrated in a soccer stadium in Tallinn, the capital
city of Estonia. The protest was instigated by the authorities' last
minute banning of a performance by a pop group called Propeller, because
“nationalistic elements” were detected in the groups' lyrics. A clash
between the young demonstrators and the police followed, after which
several senior pupils were expelled from school.
This event in September lead to
unprecedented demonstrations on October 1 and 3 in several parts of
Tallinn, during which an estimated 5,000 youngsters, mostly high school
students, waved the banned national Estonian flag -- blue, black and
white -- and shouted slogans calling for, among other things,
independence for Estonia and the removal of Soviet troops. (Estonia lost
its independence during World War II and with a population of nearly 1.5
million, it is the smallest republic in the USSR. About a quarter of
that population is Russian.)
The students also demanded better heating
and food in their schools. When they moved toward party and government
buildings, large numbers of police moved in, beat up some of the
protesters, and arrested 150. After making identity checks, all but ten
were released.
New demonstrations were reported in
Tallinn on October 7 and 8, and on October 10 they spread to a naval
school in Pärnu and the university city of Tartu. On the following day,
parents all over Estonia were summoned by the authorities to attend
meetings at schools during which they were warned about any further
disturbances and were lectured on how to discipline their children. The
parents were also shown films of the demonstrations made by the KGB and
were asked to identify their children.
On October 14, the announcement was made
that the government prosecutor would institute criminal proceedings
against the initiators of the demonstrations and "criminal hooligans."
As of now, all of the young people who were arrested are still awaiting
trial.
These are the events which prompted
members of the Soviet Estonian elite to write the open letter which is
cited here. Addressed to Pravda and the Estonian party newspaper
Sovetskaya Estonia and Rahva Hääl, the letter has not been
published in the Soviet Union. The signers include prominent writers,
poets, scientists, artists, and actors, most of whom are in their
thirties and forties. None of them are dissidents, and two of the
signatories, Jaan Kaplinski and Paul-Eerik Rummo, had their work
published in the leading official Soviet Estonian literary monthly,
Looming [Creativity] shortly before they had signed the letter.
Twenty-eight of the forty signers were
identified for Freedom Appeals by the Estonian Correspondent of
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in New York, Andres Jüriado, to whom we
express our gratitude. The background information on the student
demonstrations was provided primarily by Dr. Jaan Pennar and Mr. Jüri
Estam of Radio Liberty Research, to whom We likewise convey our thanks.
Dr. Lubarsky`s USSR News Brief No. 20 was also most helpful in
preparing this material.
Original Letter
On October 14, 1980, an ETA (Eesti
Telegraafiagentuur) announcement headed "In the Public Prosecutor's
Office" appeared in the Soviet Estonian press: "The Public Prosecutor's
Office has instituted criminal proceedings against the authors and
instigators of the serious disturbances of the peace that have taken
place in Tallinn in recent days. These disturbances, which involved
groups of youngsters, have invoked the justifiable indignation and
dissatisfaction of the workers. Legal action will also be brought
against criminal hooligans involved. The circumstances will be subjected
to close scrutiny in their entirety, after which the culprits will be
brought to justice as the law prescribes."
This forty-eight-word (in Estonian) text is
the only item that has appeared in the Soviet press to date concerning
the political actions taken by young people in Tallinn and elsewhere in
Estonia. In addition to the ETA dispatch, the occurrences have been
discussed in schools and other institutions. As the events were
witnessed by a fair number of visitors from our fellow republics,
various rumors spread throughout the entire Soviet Union. All that has
taken place of late compels us to write this letter.
The violence associated with the events in
Tallinn is cause for concern. There have been subsequent calls for more
of the same. The use of force is an indication that perilous splits have
formed in our society, splits indicative of antagonism between the
teachers and those they teach, of conflict between the leaders and the
led. The stresses are aggravated by an unwillingness to tolerate life as
it actually is.
We find that such a situation is dangerous
and cannot prevail without bringing dire consequences to Estonia and all
who live here. Aggravation of the circumstances cannot be pardoned, but
by the same token it would also be unforgivable to ignore the deeply
rooted causes that have given rise to the present state of affairs.
Consequently, we feel compelled to direct your attention to the
following matters.
It is not likely that demonstrations
involving thousands of young people took place as a result of prompting
by individuals. It seems to us that these manifestations were in fact an
unexaggerated reflection of the dissatisfaction of numerous older
Estonians. We are dealing with a social problem of significant size, the
resolution of which will prove. impossible without the participation of
everyone in our society. The first step in that direction calls for
informing g society of the problems involved.
Dissatisfaction has deepened in recent
years, but the factors responsible for fomenting this discontent have
been taking shape for a much longer span of time. This dissatisfaction
has come into existence as a result of numerous socioeconomic problems
hitherto unresolved. Hardships in our way of life (waiting lines in
stores, shortages of food and consumer goods, and inconsistent
distribution of these goods) form the backdrop for conflicts that foster
alcoholism, criminality, instability in family life, and a host of other
damaging phenomena. The disarray that characterizes the state of
people's rights in Estonia serves to compound the aforementioned
conflicts.
Other problems have been given public
exposure to a greater or lesser degree, but it seems to us that problems
occurring in the sphere of nationality questions have only been
pigeonholed under the label of hooliganism up to the present. Therefore,
we are focusing in this letter, above all else, on the national aspect
of social conflicts. Conflicts develop in g out of nationality questions
are particularly grave in nature, owing to the fact that their causes
have not been discussed publicly with adequate candor -- something
illustrated
by the ETA communiqué cited earlier in <
this letter. In our opinion, the insecurity and, in some cases, even the
fear about national identity that exists in the two largest nationality
groups in Estonia, the Estonians and the Russians, is the source of the
conflicts and stresses between nationalities in Estonia. Fear motivates
irrational, frequently overt and aggressive behavior.
Insecurity and fear exist because of a
number of factors, both objective and subjective in nature. These
factors cannot be divorced from one another when they are being
considered. They must be weighed together: events of an objective nature
in the realms of economics, demographics, and culture are inevitably
seen and interpreted through the prism of nationalism. The uncertainty
Estonians feel about their future is caused by the following conditions:
--the rapid proportional decline
of the Estonian segment of the population, particularly in Tallinn,
where Estonians are becoming a minority nationality group;
--the circumscription of the use
of the Estonian language in business, everyday matters, science, and
elsewhere, a trend that has been characterized by the compulsory
presentation of theses about Estonian language and literature in
Russian, and by the exclusive use of Russian at the festive gathering
marking the fortieth anniversary of the Estonian SSR;
--the growing scarcity of
Estonian -language journals and books, especially insofar as materials
pertaining to the indigenous culture are concerned, and the inhibition
of research in the field of native culture;
--the hyperbolic and inept
propaganda campaign pushing the teaching of Russian in schools and
kindergartens, partiality shown in history lessons, at the expense of
other peoples, to the contributions made by Russians;
--Immoderate and overtaxed
development of industry by the All- Union Council of Ministers, with a
blind eye towards the accompanying damage to the ecological balance;
--unilateral propagation of bilingualism
among Estonians, without a similar effort being made among aliens, a
circumstance that deepens a feeling in the Estonian community that its
mother tongue is regarded as a second-rate {( language, and the
nonexistence of a periodical analogous to Russky yazyk v estonskoi
shkole [The Russian Language in the Estonian school) for the
purpose of teaching Estonian in local schools;
--the appointment of persons with
inadequate knowledge of Estonian culture and a lack of interest in it to
responsible posts and to positions concerned with national and
socio-cultural problems.
Decisions that distress Estonian national
feelings are usually rationalize as being economically necessary.
Nevertheless, it seems to us that the bitterness evident in Estonians
cannot but exert a detrimental effect upon the efficiency of the economy
and the quality of work. It may be surmised that Russians, Ukrainians,
and Belorussians, along with other non - Estonian ethnic groups residing
in Estonia, experience difficulty in establishing an ethnic identity.
They are of diverse national, geographic, and social backgrounds. The
psychological differences between Estonians and other nationalities
have remained completely unexamined up to this point.
The extent of equality that has thus far
been achieved is frequently overrated. Conflicts between nationalities
often develop because people do not understand the behavior of others
and as a result fall prey to false interpretations. It is of utmost
importance to find out more about the social, ethnic, and cultural
problems of immigrants in Estonia and to establish how these problems
interrelate with similar difficulties faced by Estonians.
Likewise, we should without fail probe,
discuss, and write about the types of attitudes and behavior of
Estonians that disturb others. Distrust is evident between the two
primary nationality groups, serving as fertile ground for
preconceptions, stereotyped false images, and rumors, leading us back
once again to the need to establish and disseminate objective
information about the situation. When truth falls in short supply, we
find ourselves faced with the type of scarcity most fraught with danger.
Certain facets of Estonian national
consciousness are easily offended, and failure to recognize this can
have grave consequences. The hypersensitivity of Estonians, particularly
on the subject of their language, can be explained in light of the fact
that the Germans who were overlords here for centuries attempted to
convince the Estonians of the impotence, uselessness, and even the
detrimental nature of a culture relying on the Estonian language as a
keystone. The tsarist government that followed took the same tack.
Estonians formed a culture based on their own language in spite of the
pressure and gibes of the German landowners and the tsarist government,
thereby giving the Estonian language a symbolic meaning for Estonians
that serves to remind them of a hard-fought battle for human dignity.
Only a person who speaks Estonian, or at least displays a discernible
respect for it stands a chance of establishing close relations with
Estonians. A person who lives for years in Estonia and shows no
deference to the Estonian language and culture, whether wittingly or
not, insults the Estonian sense of dignity. Attitude towards the
Estonian language is a key question in the development of relations
between Estonians and other nationality groups in Estonia.
The above does not pretend to be an
exhaustive analysis of the circumstances that have strained basic
relations between nationality groups in the Estonian SSR. We only wish
to point to some of the basic problems--above all, to the need to really
resolve nationality questions. They have to be honestly and thoroughly
examined, and discussed at all levels, beginning with strictly academic
discussions and extending to comprehensive discussions in the press,
radio, television and in schools and businesses.
To preclude the repetition of the
events that took place in Tallinn and to relieve existing tensions
between the nationalities, something should be done to alleviate the
doubts to Estonians about the security of their present and future and
to guarantee that the native inhabitants of Estonia will always have the
final word on the destiny of their land and people. The question of
Estonia's future should not be decided solely by All- Union Councils of
Ministers or by central boards or other offices. All significant
socio-economic undertakings, such as the establishment or expansion of
large industries, should be preceded by analysis of possible social,
psychological, and ecological consequences and also by public
discussion.
Since the revolution, the Estonian language
has been backed by constitutional guarantees, and it has been used
throughout Estonia as the official language in all aspects of civic
life. Every Estonian within the boundaries of the Estonian SSR possesses
the self-evident right to an Estonian-language secondary and higher
education and to use Estonian in spoken or written form in the conduct
of business. We think that a legislative confirmation of this principle
by the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR would go a long way towards
normalizing the present unhealthy situation.
Nationality conflicts can easily lead to
distrust and escalation of hate and make the peaceful evolution of'
society impossible. Such evolution is only viable as the result of
cooperation among every nationality group here. We wish for Estonia to
become and remain a "land where not a single person will suffer insults
and handicaps because of his or her mother tongue or ethnic origin,
where understanding prevails in the absence of hate among nationality
groups, where cultural unity reigns amidst diversity, and where no one
feels any injury to his national pride or endangerment to his national
culture.
Tallinn-Tartu, October 28. 1980.
The signatures of the following persons were
appended to the document:
Priit Aimla – humorist and journalist
Kaur Alttoa - art historian; son of a
prominent literary scholar
Madia Aruja - inspector in the wildlife
preservation service
Lehte Hainsalu - woman writer
Mati Hint – linguist, son of the well-known
and widely translated party-line novelist, Aadu Hint
Fred Jüssi – biologist, nature photographer
and writer
Andres Langemets –poet and critic
Marju Lauristin – woman sociologist;
daughter of a former prime minister of Soviet Estonia; her mother was
also a veteran Communist Party member
Peeter Lorents – scientist, mathematician
Vello Lõugas – a well-known archeologist
Aira Kaal – older poetess; Communist Party
member, favored by the authorities
Maie Kalda – prominent woman literary critic
Tõnu Kaljuste – musician, choirmaster,
conductor
Toomas Kall – artist, cartoonist and
humorist
Jaan Kaplinski – poet, playwright and
essayist; highly regarded in Estonia and among exiles
Peet Kask – scientist, physicist
Heino Kiik – novelist
Jaan Klõšeiko – photographer and artist;
half-Ukrainian by nationality
Kersti Kreismann-prize-winning stage
actress; wife of Mati Unt, who also signed this letter
Alar Laats – student of theology
Aare Laht – scientist
Endel Nirk – a prominent literary scholar
and a leading contributor to the Language and Literature Institute of
the Estonian SSR Academy of Science
Lembit Peterson – theater director
Arno Pukk – biologist
Rein Põllumaa – medical doctor
Paul-Eerik Rummo – most eminent poet of his
generation (born in 1942); his play, “The Cinderella Game”, was produced
in New York
in 1971 by the LaMama Theater
Rein Ruutsoo- scientist, historian and
sociologist
Tõnis Rätsep – actor
Ita Saks – translator of Latvian literature
into Estonian
Aavo Sirk – scientist
Mati Sirkel – translator of German
literature into Estonian
Jaan Tamm – historian and archeologist
Rein Tamsalu – scientist
Andres Tarand – biologist
Lehte Tavel – literary critic
Peeter Tulviste – psychologist
Mati Unt – one of the most prominent of the
younger generation prose writers (born in 1944); translated into several
languages
Arvo Valton – short story writer and
novelist; writes in an absurdist, avant-garde vein, widely translated
Juhan Viiding – very prominent young actor
(born in 1948) and famous poet who used pen name of Jüri Üdi
Aarne Üksküla – stage and film actor
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