Talking Tolerance & Foreign Policy in Narva

On July 3, a team from U.S. Embassy Tallinn visited Narva to meet with a group of American students taking Russian language classes at Narva College, and to attend the opening of the Letters from Sala Holocaust exhibition.

When we arrived in Narva, Ambassador Levine gave a presentation about U.S-Estonian relations to the students and held a Q&A session on current political issues. The group of 38 students from different college and universities in the U.S. arrived at Narva College a few weeks ago for an 8-week intensive Russian language class. When we asked what they like about Narva, they said that the city of Narva provides them with a unique opportunity of learning Russian, as well as insight on the Estonian language and culture, too.

(Photo: Amb. Levine giving a presentation to American students on U.S.-Estonian relations. Social Media Assistant/U.S. Embassy Tallinn)

After Narva College, the students and the Embassy team made their way to Narva Castle for the opening of the “Letters to Sala” exhibition, which looks at one girl’s experience of the Holocaust.

There was a large turnout at Narva Castle Museum, which is hosting the exhibit.  Besides the Polish and American Ambassadors, members of the Narva Society of Concentration Camp Survivors were the honored guests of the event and it was a pleasure to hear some personal insights from the chairman of the Society during his opening remarks.

(Photo: Amb Levine with the chairman and a member of the Narva Society of Concentration Camp Survivors. Social Media Assistant/U.S. Embassy Tallinn)

"Letters to Sala: A Young Woman's Life in Nazi Labor Camps" reflects on the power of resilience through the written word during a dark time in the history. The exhibit features diary excerpts, approximately 100 handwritten postcards, letters, photographs and official documents, which were saved at great personal risk by Sala Garncarz from the time she entered a Nazi labor camp in 1940 until her liberation in 1945.  The 350 items that Sala Garncarz collected was donated to the New York Public Library in 2005 by her and her family. The exhibition is currently on loan from the Galicia Museum in Krakow, Poland. Narva Castle Museum is the fourth site in Estonia to host the exhibition. The collection has also been shown in Tallinn, Pärnu and Tartu.

(Photo: Amb. Levine with Polish Ambassador Poznański and Narva Mayor Eduard East. Social Media Assistant/U.S. Embassy Tallinn)

We left Narva with more insight on tolerance and resilience and how important it is to learn lessons from history. Besides this meaningful historic journey, it was great to meet with our fellow American students. The U.S. Embassy Tallinn sincerely hopes that we were able to make a small contribution to their learning experience.

-Post by Aylin Erdogan