<\/p>\n
Historian Mart Laar\u2019s book, \u201cForest Brothers: Armed Resistance Behind the Iron Curtain After World War II\u201d, explores the resistance of the Baltic States’ freedom fighters\u2014the Forest Brothers\u2014during the Soviet occupation. The book examines the reasons behind the resistance, its impact, and the Soviet Union\u2019s efforts to suppress it. For readers, the book also provides new insights into the resistance movements in Bulgaria, Poland, and Romania. Today, the Forest Brothers are honoured as freedom fighters, and have been commemorated in many ways.<\/p>\n
The book, originally titled in Estonian \u201cS\u00f5da metsades. Relvastatud vastupanu raudse eesriide taga p\u00e4rast II maailmas\u00f5da\u201d, published in 2022, seeks to answer questions such as why and what kind of resistance occurred, where it was most active, and whether the Soviet Union achieved its goal in trying to crush the resistance movement. The book was translated and edited by Petteri Aarnos, and published by Ilmapress O\u00dc.<\/p>\n
The Forest Brothers\u2014in Estonian: metsavennad\u2014were freedom fighters in the Baltic countries who resisted the Soviet occupation during and after World War II. Their activity peaked between 1944 and 1949. The Forest Brothers’ efforts were weakened by the mass deportations of 1949 and the forced collectivisation of agriculture. The general amnesty issued in 1955, after Joseph Stalin\u2019s death, marked the end of their organised activities, though some individuals remained in hiding in the forests. Estonia\u2019s last known Forest Brother is considered to be August Sabbe, who was discovered by KGB agents on September 28, 1978. Sabbe drowned\u2014or was drowned\u2014in the V\u00f5handu River.<\/p>\n
The longest-lasting resistance to Soviet rule occurred in Lithuania and Western Ukraine. For Finnish readers, the book also brings new information about the resistance in Bulgaria, Poland, and Romania.<\/p>\n
After the restoration of independence in the Baltic States, the Forest Brothers have been recognised as freedom fighters. In their honour, memorials have been erected, books and documentaries have been produced, and streets and schools have been named after them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is important for Europe to remember that one must always fight against an invader, as is currently being done in Ukraine,\u201d Mart Laar states.<\/p>\n
Earlier translations of Mart Laar\u2019s books include \u201cThe Forgotten War\u201d from 1993, and \u201cEstonia Year Zero\u201d from 2019. He has served, among other roles, as Estonia\u2019s Prime Minister from 1992\u20131994 and 1999\u20132002, and Minister of Defence from 2011\u20132012.<\/p>\n
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Historian Mart Laar\u2019s book, \u201cForest Brothers: Armed Resistance Behind the Iron Curtain After World War II\u201d, explores the resistance … Read more<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":149286,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[46,50],"tags":[13067,13072,16550,25747,25748,25749,25750],"class_list":["post-149386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-estonia","tag-estonian-history","tag-estonia-2","tag-estonian-politics","tag-soviet-occupation","tag-mart-laar-2","tag-estonia-behind-the-iron-curtain","tag-forest-brothers"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149386"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149388,"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149386\/revisions\/149388"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/balticguide.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}