Mall Timusk Blumfeld
8 years old. Mall remembers being up on the deck of the ship seeing the lights of Tallinn receding. She was told they’d be back, but Mall had a strange feeling that they weren’t coming back.
Object
A little handbag Mall used when going to the opera in Tallinn. It was a gift from her mother’s sister Alma.
8 years old. Mall remembers being up on the deck of the ship seeing the lights of Tallinn receding. She was told they’d be back, but Mall had a strange feeling that they weren’t coming back.
Object
A little handbag Mall used when going to the opera in Tallinn. It was a gift from her mother’s sister Alma.
Ines Horton
14 years old. Ines remembers seeing the Panorama of Tallinn receding as the ship sailed away from Estonia. She was hoping to see Tallinn again, but wasn’t sure if it would happen any time soon – the journey felt like an adventure to her.
Object
A portrait of Ines’s parents in Tallinn before the war.
14 years old. Ines remembers seeing the Panorama of Tallinn receding as the ship sailed away from Estonia. She was hoping to see Tallinn again, but wasn’t sure if it would happen any time soon – the journey felt like an adventure to her.
Object
A portrait of Ines’s parents in Tallinn before the war.
Imbi Truumees (born Peebo)
12 years old. Imbi slept on the concrete floor of the ship next to a huge pipe that kept her warm. In the night she rolled over in her sleep and burnt her arm on the pipe. She still to this day has a scar from the burn.
Object
The last photograph taken of Imbi and her little half-brother before she escaped with her mother and left him back in Estonia.
12 years old. Imbi slept on the concrete floor of the ship next to a huge pipe that kept her warm. In the night she rolled over in her sleep and burnt her arm on the pipe. She still to this day has a scar from the burn.
Object
The last photograph taken of Imbi and her little half-brother before she escaped with her mother and left him back in Estonia.
Andres Männik
10 years old. Andres remembers standing at the back of the big boat that took them away from Estonia and seeing the Estonian coastline grow smaller and smaller. He wondered if he’d be able to jump in and swim back.
Object
A Swedish-made enamel dish that Andres’ mother packed for
the journey.
10 years old. Andres remembers standing at the back of the big boat that took them away from Estonia and seeing the Estonian coastline grow smaller and smaller. He wondered if he’d be able to jump in and swim back.
Object
A Swedish-made enamel dish that Andres’ mother packed for
the journey.
Karin Pessa
12 years old. Karin remembers feeling like she was the only person on the boat not crying. Everyone around her was sad, but she was excited to finally be traveling! There had been no vacations since the occupations, and she thought this was a great opportunity to see the world – they would be back in three months anyway.
Object
A cooking pot the family brought with them. It was very useful once they were in Germany, when all they had to eat was potatoes.
12 years old. Karin remembers feeling like she was the only person on the boat not crying. Everyone around her was sad, but she was excited to finally be traveling! There had been no vacations since the occupations, and she thought this was a great opportunity to see the world – they would be back in three months anyway.
Object
A cooking pot the family brought with them. It was very useful once they were in Germany, when all they had to eat was potatoes.
Arvid Truumees
14 years old. Arvid remembers how German soldiers came to the family farm one day and told them they had to leave straight away. The whole family started walking and were guided by the soldiers the seven miles to Kuressaare, where they had to wait for a boat for a few days.
Object
A family photograph at the farm where Arvid grew up.
14 years old. Arvid remembers how German soldiers came to the family farm one day and told them they had to leave straight away. The whole family started walking and were guided by the soldiers the seven miles to Kuressaare, where they had to wait for a boat for a few days.
Object
A family photograph at the farm where Arvid grew up.
Virve Vaher
12 years old. Virve remembers making up beds with blankets and sheets on the floor of the ship, surrounded by suitcases.
Object
Virve’s parents managed to bring the family cutlery, made in their hometown of Tartu.
12 years old. Virve remembers making up beds with blankets and sheets on the floor of the ship, surrounded by suitcases.
Object
Virve’s parents managed to bring the family cutlery, made in their hometown of Tartu.
Sirje Helder Gold
7 years old. Sirje remembers waking up after a night at sea and when she looked out they were surrounded by huge boulder-like islands (the Finnish archipelago).
Object
The saucepan was essential to the few things Sirje’s mother packed, the photo album was not – it went overboard.
7 years old. Sirje remembers waking up after a night at sea and when she looked out they were surrounded by huge boulder-like islands (the Finnish archipelago).
Object
The saucepan was essential to the few things Sirje’s mother packed, the photo album was not – it went overboard.
Mare Valgemäe
8 years old. Mare remembers being completely fascinated by the frenzy when the imprisoned Russian soldiers on the ship were given food through a hatch. “They were fighting over the food. It was a whole new experience of human nature to me. They were so mean to each other! I never told my mother that I was watching”
Object
Mare’s mother’s teaching certificate from the Estonian city of Elva.
8 years old. Mare remembers being completely fascinated by the frenzy when the imprisoned Russian soldiers on the ship were given food through a hatch. “They were fighting over the food. It was a whole new experience of human nature to me. They were so mean to each other! I never told my mother that I was watching”
Object
Mare’s mother’s teaching certificate from the Estonian city of Elva.
Liivia Westervelt
3 years old. Liivia can’t be absolutely sure, as she was so young, but thinks she remembers hearing the noise from a bomb hitting the ship’s smokestack.
Object
The bottom of Liivia’s mother’s dress was torn by shrapnel which went through the closet door when their house in Tallinn was bombed. She altered it into a blouse and later, her mother gave the blouse to her granddaughter, who wore it in college.
3 years old. Liivia can’t be absolutely sure, as she was so young, but thinks she remembers hearing the noise from a bomb hitting the ship’s smokestack.
Object
The bottom of Liivia’s mother’s dress was torn by shrapnel which went through the closet door when their house in Tallinn was bombed. She altered it into a blouse and later, her mother gave the blouse to her granddaughter, who wore it in college.