Valga's Military History Festival focuses on deportations and the 1941 Summer War

The 18th Valga Military History Festival, the largest event of its kind in the Baltic states, took place over the weekend. This year's programme was dedicated to people who remained in Estonia during the deportations, as well as to the 1941 Summer War.

A play about deportation

Merili Viks, an actress and director born in Valga and trained in London, presented her production for the third time at the festival. The piece invites audiences to consider the feelings of friends and families whose loved ones were exiled to Siberia. Viks said the subject of deportation is personally close to her, and that she has always aimed to remind viewers that behind every participant in war — whether an ordinary person or a soldier — lies an individual story and a family.

A staged battle in the town park

Following the performance, a mock battle recalling the events of the 1941 Summer War was staged in Valga's town park. It was organised by the NGO Front-Line Eesti together with Estonian, Latvian and Polish military history clubs. The re-enacted episodes depicted Estonian and Latvian forest brothers fighting side by side. While such cooperation is not known to have occurred specifically near Valga, it did take place near Pärnu, where Latvian partisans crossed from Ainaži to help fight the Red Army near Häädemeeste. Front Line Eesti head Reimo Leol noted that in 1941, unlike the later retreats of 1944, Estonians fighting alongside German forces achieved victorious battles against the Red Army.

Major Meelis Kivi, head of the Valga Military History Museum, has organised the festival for the 18th time. He said this year's festival was dedicated to Estonia's military history with a focus on young people, aiming to encourage people not to fear sharing these stories with friends and acquaintances around the world.