Estonians in the US recall the Great Flight on its 80th anniversary
President Alar Karis joined Estonians who had fled their home country as young children in an event in New York, to mark the 80th anniversary of the Great Flight of 1944.
The event took place on Sunday at the Estonian House (Eesti Maja) in Manhattan.
Many attendees had personal memories of having to flee their homeland to initial destinations in the free world, such as Sweden and Germany.
One, Eha Kiil Brownell, told ERR: "We escaped through the forests, and were in a boat through the night. I was a five-year-old, my brother was a four-year-old, and my little brother was born once we had reached Sweden."
Eve Kubja Martinson said: "I made a joke with the president, that I was only 15 months old in September 1944, yet I remember every moment. But no. He didn't fall for it either."
"I do remember Germany well: We lived in a big house in Gensingen, filled with other children. We thought that we were living on top of the world, and we didn't realize we were in the middle of a war as our parents did the job so well of keeping tales of war away from we children," Martinson added.
In September 1944, close to 80,000 people were forced to flee Estonia for the West, in the face of the Soviet advance.
Many who reached Sweden or Germany subsequently went on to settle in North America.
