![]() Despite the pressure to adopt “Soviet culture,” they continued the tradition, begun in 1869, of a national song festival every five years. ![]() Through the difficult years of Soviet rule, headmaster Siimann recalled, song festivals gave the people a way to express their love for their captive nation. But we are also capable of coming out of the forest and standing together and being enthusiasts.” “We never believed in anyone’s propaganda. “A favorite Estonian proverb is, ‘My personal beliefs are my king,’ ” Kross said. Jan Kross, the patriarch of modern Estonian writers, said the Estonians’ ability to hold tight to their national identity and resist Soviet pressure is a result of their individualistic character: “Estonian peasants only feel comfortable if they cannot see each other’s houses-they feel better still when they are in the forest.”īecause of this individuality, Estonians who were peasants until this century resisted German, Swedish, Polish, Russian and finally Soviet influences. “He said, ‘Go forward to democracy!’ We said, ‘OK, let’s go!’ He said, ‘Go forward with glasnost !’ We said, ‘OK, let’s go!’ ” “We used all of Gorbachev’s slogans,” Arjakas recalled.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |