Hundreds gather in Estonia for 82nd anniversary of Battle of Tannenberg Line
Nearly 400 people attended the commemoration of the 82nd anniversary of the Battle of the Tannenberg Line in Ida-Viru County, marking one of the bloodiest battles in Estonian history. Speakers called for official recognition of Estonian soldiers who fought there as freedom fighters.
Commemoration draws nearly 400 attendees
The 82nd anniversary of the Battle of the Tannenberg Line, also known as the Battle of the Blue Hills, was marked by nearly 400 people in Ida-Viru County. This year's attendance was about 100 higher than last year's. Organizers emphasized that the Estonian soldiers who fell in these battles deserve greater recognition.
Historical significance
The battles in July and August 1944 halted the advancing Red Army for several weeks, allowing tens of thousands of Estonians to flee the ensuing occupation. However, the state has not formally recognized the participants as freedom fighters or veterans, some commentators noted.
Calls for official recognition
Martin Sööt, a board member of the Friends of the Estonian Legion club, said those who fought stood for the possibility of restoring the Republic of Estonia and enabled nearly 100,000 people to leave, maintaining the government-in-exile. He criticized the current republic for not recognizing them.
Retired Major General Riho Ühtegi rejected any link to Nazism, stating the men fought to defend Estonia, not Nazi Germany. MP Arvo Aller (EKRE) pledged to bring the issue of recognition before the relevant Riigikogu committee.
Controversy and historical context
The Estonian Legion and its expanded units were organizationally part of the Waffen SS, a fact often used in Russian propaganda. However, a 1950 document signed by U.S. committee chairman John J. McCloy found that Baltic units in the Waffen SS were not war criminals and did not follow Nazi ideology.
The memorial stone was erected around the turn of the millennium to commemorate Estonians involved in the battles. The 1944 defensive battles in the Blue Hills are considered the bloodiest in Estonia's history, with nearly 2,500 Estonians killed.
