Statement
by the Honorable Warren L. Miller, Chairman,
U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad
on Signing the Agreement
Between the United States of America and the Republic of Estonia
On the Protection and Preservation of Certain Cultural Properties
January 16, 2003 * Tallinn, Estonia
Minister Allikmaa, Ambassador DeThomas, honored guests:
I am pleased to be in Tallinn and with you to sign this important agreement between our countries.
The agreement recognizes the importance of protecting and preserving historic sites, places of worship, monuments, cemeteries, and documentary materials that relate to the cultural heritage of our peoples. Unlike the 1972 UNESCO Convention which required a property to be of “outstanding universal value,” today’s agreement addresses sites of national or local importance.
The agreement –
- Commits our countries to protecting the cultural heritage sites of all national, religious, and ethnic groups including those who were the victims of genocide during World War II and ensuring that there is no discrimination against their cultural heritage.
- It commits our countries to identify and protect vulnerable cultural sites, especially properties that are in danger of destruction or deterioration because a victimized group cannot on its own ensure its protection or preservation.
- And it establishes a Joint Cultural Heritage Commission to oversee the effort and to resolve issues that may arise.
During the 20th century, most countries in Europe suffered from the tyranny of Nazism. Some were also subjected to the oppression of Communism. Estonia suffered from both of these evils. Hundreds of thousands of its citizens were forced to flee, were executed, or deported.
One of the victimized groups covered by the terms of the Agreement are the Jews. When Germany invaded occupied Estonia in late June of 1941, 10% of Estonian Jews had already been deported to Siberia by the Soviets and many others fled to Russia. Of those who stayed in Estonia after the German invasion few, if any, survived. Most Jews were systematically hunted down and executed by the German Sonderkommando and so-called Estonian “self-defense’ units including the Omakaitse. At the infamous Wannsee conference in Berlin on January 20, 1942, it was proudly announced that Estonia was judenrein – free of Jews.
However, starting in the fall of 1942, tens of thousands of non-Estonian Jews were transferred to twenty Nazi labor camps in Estonia. They came from Lithuanian, Czech, Latvian and Romanian concentration camps and ghettos. Many died due to starvation and inhumane conditions; others were executed when they could no longer work. Torture and extreme cruelty was common. Those Jews who remained at the time of the Soviet advance in 1944, were transported to a concentration camp in Germany, but nearly all of the Jews at the Estonian camps of Klooga and Lagedi were executed in a two day period in September 1944.
Today, some of these sites of shame, such as Klooga are remembered with memorial markers. A number of mass graves, execution sites, and the labor camps where unimaginable barbarities took place, remain forgotten and unmarked. Others were marked during the Soviet era, but do not truthfully acknowledge what happened. We must identify these sites, commemorate those who suffered, and collectively remember, accurately and truthfully, what happened and why it happened. There must be dignity given to the dead – even if it is given now, 60 years after these atrocities were perpetrated. Today, some of the Jewish cemeteries in Estonia, which were damaged during the war and neglected during the Soviet-era, remain untended. These sacred sites need protection and care.
While many physical sites were neglected, others were destroyed, as were synagogues in Tallinn and Tartu. During Soviet times, the historical memory of the Jewish community in Estonia, as throughout much of the Soviet Union, was suppressed. Jewish institutions and other national institutions were forbidden. However, since Estonia gained independence a new network of Jewish associations and public recognition of the role of Jews in Estonian history and culture has been established. A new synagogue has been opened in Tallinn and I am pleased to recognize the fact that there are no restitution of property issues in dispute. The Estonian government has returned communal property to all its religious communities.
It is also important that the historic and cultural sites of other Estonians who suffered oppression must be recognized as part of the nation’s rich cultural heritage.
The Commission is keenly aware of the suffering of Estonians during the decades of Soviet rule and of the scores of Estonian national monuments and sites that were abused or neglected during this period as part of an on-going effort to stifle Estonian culture and national aspirations.
Since gaining independence, the government of Estonia has made significant efforts in preserving the language, culture, history and monuments of its people.
Estonia is a small country that has struggled through the centuries to maintain its cultural identity in the face of overwhelming and often brutal external pressures. Estonians, who have experienced being minorities within larger empires, know and appreciate the value of freedom, respect and equality for all minorities.
Today’s agreement will help define and embrace Estonia’s past so that the achievements and the suffering of all those who have made Estonia their home are remembered.
We look forward to being partners with Estonia in this challenging and important endeavor.
On behalf of the people and the Government of the United States – including President George W. Bush, who appointed me – I thank and congratulate the Government of Estonia for taking the positive steps that are represented by this agreement.
Thank you.
