History is always with us

History has a way of surprising you. And that’s exactly what happened to me when I visited the site of the Klooga concentration camp last week. I was told that many of the bodies of those who died at the Klooga concentration camp were, in fact, now buried there, directly below where we stood. That’s when it hit me – here I was standing over the bodies of Holocaust victims and up to this point the Holocaust has only been something I had learned about in history class! I never thought the first time I’d stand at the site of a former Nazi concentration camp would be in Estonia. I’d always thought of Germany and Poland when I thought about the Holocaust. But Estonia, while occupied by Nazi Germany, was not spared from the Holocaust, and Klooga (now a memorial commemorating those who died there) is evidence of its devastation.

Ambassador Levine speaking with exhibit curator Olev Liivik

I was travelling with Ambassador Levine and embassy staff to see the Klooga Memorial and we were joined there by experts from the Estonian History Museum who showed us the new permanent, outdoor exhibition “Klooga Camp and the Holocaust,” which was opened on September 16, 2013. The focus of the exhibition is the heinous liquidation of the camp in September 1944, when the Germans executed all the prisoners there before retreating from the advancing Soviet Army. The exhibition is made up of large, angled concrete blocks spread out across the camp area. A zig-zag trail leads the visitor from one block to the next and each concrete block has photos and descriptions of different aspects of the Klooga camp and its history, in Estonian, English and Russian.

I remember hearing from the exhibition’s curator Olev Liivik that the Klooga camp was actually considered one of the “good” camps, if there was such a thing. When I heard that, the only thing I could think of was how cold I was with four layers of clothes on, and how cold the prisoners must have been in January and February. It gave such a stark reminder of the brutality of the Nazis, no matter where in Nazi-held areas you happened to be.

For me, I needed a moment to take in the surroundings, knowing that the now forested areas were once execution sites. Although nothing remains of the camp, the exhibition serves to remind people that one of the largest mass murders in Estonian history occurred here. Though the topic is tragic, I was very impressed with the care and thoughtfulness that was put into this memorial. The designers and curators took great pains to preserve Klooga’s history as a reminder to us all of the importance of respecting religious and all kinds of diversity, and to standing up against prejudice, tyranny, and intolerance.

Blog post by PAS Intern Ayesha Hamza
Photos by PAS Cultural Assistant Tiiu Vitsut

I got to get inside an APC!

Last week I had the chance to visit the Headquarters of the Estonian Scouts Battalion and try out what it’s like to be inside one of their Armored Personnel Carrier– that’s APC in military! It was my first time ever on an army base – and there were a lot of military terms and ideas that were thrown around that were new to me, but all I could do was listen because no matter how much I didn’t understand, it was all so interesting!

I was part of a team visiting from the U.S. Embassy which included Ambassador Jeff Levine and APAO Alison Davis. The Scouts Battalion is the only all professional infantry battalion in the Estonian Defense Forces. It has a history dating back to 1918 and the Estonian War of Independence. The majority of its troops have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, and it was re-established, after re-independence, in 2001.

Ambassador Levine with Major Andrus Merilo, Commander of the Scouts Battalion, and Captain Mart Sirel, Chief of Staff of the Scouts Battalion

After a briefing with the Commander of the Scouts Battalion, we got to see the soldier’s barracks. I don’t know what I was expecting when I saw them, but I thought that they would perhaps be bigger or that there would be less people in a room! But I suppose soldiers don’t have a lot of personal effects with them, and few items to carry help a unit to be all the more mobile.

And finally, the best part of the whole trip was the APCs! I doubt if I wasn’t interning with the U.S. Embassy I’d be able to jump in the back of one. But I am an intern with the Embassy, and I did get to jump in the back of the APC with APAO Alison Davis and Ambassador Levine. Amazing! Not as roomy as you might think (by the way). I also don’t know how soldiers, loaded down with tons of gear, can literally hop in like it’s no big deal. Lots and lots of practice I guess!

Ambassador Levine and APAO Alison Davis in an APC cabin 

Visiting the Scouts Battalion was a truly incredible experience! I hope to have many more of these moments during my time with the U.S. Embassy. Over and out.

Blog post by PAS Intern Ayesha Hamza
Photos by PAS Cultural Assistant Tiiu Vitsut

Music Knows No Borders

Three concerts in two consecutive nights? That’s nothing special for the travelling musicians of Poetica Musica, a New York-based consortium of Soprano voice, flute and guitar! But what if I told you we had to cross an international border over a river that separates the European Union and Russia to make it happen with concerts in both Narva, Estonia, and Ivangorod, Russia? Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it?

Concert at Narva Nursing Home

Poetica Musica, played and sang in various locations in both Estonia and Russia on their most recent tour last week – and I had a front row seat to some of their best concerts! Prior to their performance in Narva, my colleague Tiiu Vitsut took the group – including Eleanor Valkenburg (soprano), Oren Fader (guitar), and Jessica Han (flute) – to play in Padise Manor, Tohisoo Manor, Paldiski High School, Tallinn Tondi Middle School, Tallinn Linnamäe Russian Lyceé, The International School of Estonia, and the Hopner House in Tallinn Old Town (in the Town Hall Square, no less!) where they performed songs and melodies by Aaron Copland, John Corigliano, Robert Beaser, and George Gershwin; as well as spirituals by J. Rosamund Johnson and Betty Jackson King; and Nuevo Tango pieces by the King of Tango Astor Piazzolla.

In Narva Castle 

Even though Narva greeted us with stormy weather and city-wide road construction, the positive emotions of the elderly tenants of Narva Nursing home made us forget about the elements and let the musicians’ inner sun shine bright. Once Oren announced Piazzolla’s Tango piece (and I translated it for the audience), a small grey-haired lady in a wheelchair asked at once, “Will they dance for us, too?”

Most people I bring to Narva only get to have their photo taken on the Estonian side of the river, with Ivangorod fortress in the background. Well, not Poetica Musica! Read on!

On the Estonian side of the river

Our next concert was held in the Refectory, which serves as a concert hall in Narva Castle, and it filled up quickly with Narva’s music lovers and connoisseurs. Altogether, about two hundred people attended and many shouted “bravo!” demanding an encore. What I really liked about these concerts is the instant feedback we got from the audience. A woman came up to us after the performance and said she loved Rober Beaser’s Mountain Songs, and told us about how they reminded her of Hutsul shepherds in the Carpathian Mountains, where she used spend a lot of time.

On the Russian side of the river (Narva Castle in the background) 

The next day, courtesy of Narva City Government’s Culture Department, we boarded a van and crossed the border into Russia. The first thing we saw upon entering town was a hand painted poster announcing the concert at the local Cultural Center! Later, as I walked around in town, I saw more of them.

My colleague Tatyana Kosmynina from the Public Affairs Section of the Consulate General in St. Petersburg took us to the Ivangorod fortress, a first for Poetica Musica and me as well. Similarly to the Narva Castle, it has a long and interesting history. This is where I took a snapshot of Eleanor, Oren, and Jessica with the Estonian caste in the background – a rare occasion for American (or any) performers.

Hand painted signs advertised the concerts

We were pleasantly surprised at least three times more that day. First, when a man at the hotel approached us and said he attended the concert in Narva the previous night. He lives in Narva but he liked the performance so much that he, too, crossed the border to hear Poetica Musica play once more on the Russian side of the River! In addition, after the concert, which was well attended, a local woman approached the musicians and said her daughter was on a high school exchange program in Minnesota and asked for a photo with them. She said she would send it to her daughter to show her how she, too, is getting familiar with American culture and that it would be the topic of their next Skype conversation.

Finally, the Cultural Center Director Zoya Pogodina graciously let the group keep one of the hand painted poster. As I helped them detach the poster, we saw that the artist had used old wallpaper. What a great way to recycle!

Poetica Musica in Ivangorod, Russia

I bid farewell to my new friends after I took this photo and crossed the border back into Estonia on foot, walking along the “Friendship Bridge.” Tatyana told me that the gang explored The Russian Museum and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg yesterday. They also gave their last concert in the Kochneva House concert hall.

The bridge connecting Narva with Ivangorod and Estonia with Russia is named “Friendship Bridge,” first and foremost because it connects people. Similarly, Poetica Musica is connecting and uniting people all over the world with their music. After all, music is a language that every single person in the world knows and, luckily, it knows no boundaries, nor borders.

Post and photos by Social Media Assistant, U.S. Embassy Tallinn.