Merle took me for a walk around the old town, telling me legends, but also her personal history with the Singing Revolution. She’d held hands in the line across the Baltic states looking for independence. More frighteningly, her father and brother had stood on the hill in upper town on the night the Russian army responded to a call for help from the Parliament House. Thousands of Estonians had stood in the square between the Russian Orthodox church and the Parliament House, singing national songs and songs of freedom.
When the tanks arrived, they found the one road up the hill blocked by large boulders so the soldiers had to leave their tanks and walk. They stood in line with their guns pointed at the locals, waiting for a cause to shoot. The Estonians gave them none, all focussed on their singing. Eventually an Estonian representative was allowed to talk with Gorbachev and negotiated their independence. The Russian army left without a shot being fired.
Sometimes we realise that we take our freedoms for granted.
Where are the pictures mate? What’s your best email address now – I have collected a few for you over the years. Please email me!
Scott
The photos will come when I get back, probably. I need to shrink them before I can upload and I need to find a computer that takes SD cards.