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Estonia in 1940 and 1941 |
| What happened to Rotary and
Rotarians in 1940 and 1941 In Estonia and the Baltic States. |
| Rotary had entered Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
from 1930 onwards and was gaining foothold when the Second World War
broke out in 1939. This short article is going to try to cast some light on the faith of Rotary in Estonia and also a flick of light on Latvia and Lithuania. In 1939 the Soviet Union wanted to secure naval garrisons in Estonia and opened talks with the Estonian Government under the leadership of President Konstantin Paets (member of the Rotary Club of Tallinn and General John Laidoner (charter president of Rotary Club of Tallinn 1930). The result was that Estonia was occupied in the autumn of 1939 and early 1940 and made a member of the Family of Soviet States in August 1940. ( Soviet propaganda text). Naturally the Soviet regime was organized so that the local government was in the hands of local people but with strong ties to Moscow. President Paets was taken to Russia never to return to his native country, but to die in a mental institution in southern Estonia 1956. The soviets did not look favourably at Rotary or Rotarians but they had their hands full so, that they actually did not start active persecution of Rotarians until shortly before they had to retreat in 1941 when Germany opened the Operation Barbarossa on June 22 1941 and stormed as far as the gates of Leningrad (St. Petersburg or Petrograd as it was called then) and Moscow. The city of Peter the Great was laid under siege for 890 days and suffered terribly. It was not until January 1944 that the city was retaken by Soviet troops and the siege was lifted. Germany occupied all the Baltic States and started a systematic campaign to remove from office any person who had been or was a member of Rotary Clubs or a Free Mason Lodge. The operation was a result of the directive of the Ministry of the Interior (Ministerium des Inneren) of 1937 to order all Rotarians in Germany to either relinquish membership in Rotary, or their office in German state or local government or the courts. This regulation actually resulted in the sad situation that all Rotary Clubs in Germany returned their Charters to RI on October 1937. Rotary could start again in West - Germany in 1948. The Reichskommisar for das Ostland ( Governor of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) received a letter from the Ministry of the Interior in September 1942 with a directive to start an inquiry into how many (not German nationals or of German decent) , officials had a history of membership in Rotary or a Mason Lodge and to subsequently make sure that they left office. Dos. II 1a 451 (439) The follow-up was quick and is dated Oct. 5 1942. The ministry orders the immediate departure from the clubs or lodges and also requires that no contact should be kept to former club members. On October 29 1942 the Commander of the Security Police in Riga (Befelhaber der Sicherheitzpolizei und SD, Riga) reminds all Chiefs of the security police in Reval(Tallinn), Riga, Kauen (Kaunas), Minsk) that the matter needs immediate attention and requests a report as soon as possible. Dos. II 1a 414 Geheim On November 17, 1942 the Reichsicherheitshauptamt, Berlin (Bureau for State Security) requests that all Rotary Clubs and other organization should be allowed to terminate their activities voluntarily and that all material such as minutes from meetings, membership rosters etc should be secured. That letter contains a full list of Rotary Club presidents and secretaries and their addresses. |
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