“Are they developing useful policy for us?”: testing trust between exile Estonians and the Estonian SSR in the 1960s

• In Event: Baltic Soviet History

Abstract

The post-Stalinist era marked significant changes on both social and personal levels, encompassing evolving relationships with the West. Civic and cultural participation, initiated in the 1950s, involved efforts to establish connections between Estonian exile communities and their native land. However, such initiatives had to navigate the scrutiny of Soviet authorities (Gorlizki, David-Fox, Fitzpatrick&Gellately, Mikkonen, Zake, Kozlov&Gilburd, Gorsuch, Jürjo).
In summer 1960 the KGB presented a series of proposals to the party regarding emigrant-related activities: what kinds of contacts should be favoured, how to help restore broken ties, how to reduce the anti-Soviet efforts of emigree leaders and their influence on the mood of local population, what kinds of achievements could be used to introduce life in the Estonian SSR, etc. The exile community was divided into diverse target groups like the older, middle, and younger generation, the elite and ordinary refugees, useful old people, naïve emigrants, patriotic groups, etc.
On the basis of need, the Soviet Estonian authorities selected those who were allowed to travel abroad from the ESSR and who were refused to leave the country. Since control was based on information and surveillance (Holquist; Weiner&Rahi-Tamm), both those wishing to leave or enter Estonia had to undergo checks of both the person him-/herself and the people he/she intended to visit. Interestingly, in the 1960s more information has been searched from the archives not about the individual who wished to travel abroad but about the family and connections. This coincides with the activities aimed at a more precise mapping of the refugees. The paper will analyze archival requests reflected in the foreign trip files and the conclusions made concerning the definition and “using” of individuals.

Short Bio

Aigi Rahi-Tamm is Professor, Head of Department of Archival Studies at the Institute of History and Archaeology of the University of Tartu. Her research work combines different fields of study ‒ political violence in the 20th century, study and inter¬pretation of sources, including memory studies, history of institutions, individual and social practices. Her studies have mainly focused on Soviet forced migration, with the emphasis on investigating individual destinies and comparing personal and official action strategies.

See: https://www.etis.ee/CV/Aigi_Rahi-Tamm/eng/

Ott Koor, PhD student of the Institute of History and Archaeology of the University of Tartu. The topic of his doctoral thesis is “Archives in the Service of Soviet Social Control “.

See: https://www.etis.ee/CV/Ott_Koor/eng/

Authors

• Aigi Rahi-Tamm, University of Tartu

• Ott Koor, University of Tartu