Citation

Mertelsmann O, Rahi-Tamm A. J. Genocide Res. 2009; 11(2): 307-322.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/14623520903119001

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Soviet mass violence in the annexed Baltic republics was first researched by eacutemigreacute historians, who could not use archives. Due to the “archival revolution” we possess today a more variegated picture of the scale and nature of Soviet repression. Approximately 12-14 percent of the population became victims of Soviet persecution and 4 percent died. Single cases of mass killings and 3,000 death penalties are documented, but the majority of deaths stemmed from criminal neglect. While eacutemigreacute historians often used the term “genocide,” the authors believe that speaking of “different waves of cleansing” better grasps the nature of Soviet violence in Estonia and the diversity of its victims, means and targets. Mass violence did not only occur in the name of “cleansing.” In the struggle with armed resistance and in forced collectivization it also played an essential, if more instrumental role. While the Kremlin initiated the vast majority of repression in a top-down approach using bureaucratic methods, there is evidence too of “spontaneous” violence conducted by local authorities. There is also proof of a compromise policy, such as several amnesties aimed at people in the underground. The enormous population losses of one quarter of the population due to war and terror cannot be denied, but the term “genocide” as applied to the Estonian context is appropriate only for the Holocaust and the killing of the Gypsy population during the Nazi occupation. Nevertheless, Stalinism resulted in five times more casualties among the Estonian population than Nazi rule.