The Jewish population of pre-war Kuressaare, the island's capital, and Saaremaa as a whole, was small, but left an indelible impression: Some of the victims whose remains have been reburied were active in the defense league, in motorsport and in medicine, while prominent architect Louis Kahn (1901-1974) and noted portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz can also trace ancestry back to the island.

Over 200 civilians executed during World War Two were reburied as part of a project overseen by the National War Museum, which mainly deals with the removal of Soviet-era monuments, war memorials and other features, in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Where such sites contain human remains, these are carefully reinterred at cemeteries nearby. However, the Kuressaare case is an unusual one in that the victims were those of the Nazi occupation of Estonia, and not the Soviet one.

The reburial of the remains took place at the Saikla-Nõmme cemetery in Orissaare, at the other end of Saaremaa from Kuressaare, the Estonian Jewish Community (EJK) noted in a post on Wednesday, November 5.

The re-interment was due to a decision by the Saaremaa municipal government; a traumatic undertaking in any case, but in Judaism in particular this is significant as disinterment for reburial is generally forbidden under Jewish law, given the dead should not be disturbed. Being moved to a Jewish cemetery from a non-Jewish one, for instance, is one exception to this rule.

The reburial in Orissaare is in fact the second time these people's remains have been moved; a first reburial took place in 1964, when the remains were relocated to a site behind the Kuressaare episcopal castle in the town center.

Five names are known of those Jews who were among the civilians executed at the Loode grove, names which EJK President Eduard Klas noted in his speech at the ceremony.

The ceremony was also attended by the Chief Rabbi of Estonia Shmuel Kot, who recited from the Tehillim (Psalms) and offered a memorial prayer, and a representative of the Estonian Jewish Museum.

At the end of the ceremony, a bouquet of flowers and stones bearing the victims' names were placed.

The speech by EJK President Klas follows.

"The reason we came here from the mainland is a very sad one.

The remains of citizens of the Republic of Estonia, executed in Saaremaa during the Nazi occupation, are being reburied for the second time. Among them are Saaremaa Jews.

According to local historians, most of them were shot by home defense fighters in the Loode grove, near Kuressaare. The site was marked by a memorial stone, which was barbarically destroyed two years ago.

In the 1960s, the Soviet authorities decided to reinter them in a mass grave behind the Kuressaare episcopal castle. The monument erected in 1965 bears the names of four Kuressaare Jews.

Let me remind you that the monument and the mass grave of terror victims are listed in the Register of Cultural Monuments of the Republic of Estonia.

A working group under the State Chancellery that reviewed Soviet-era monuments and grave markers found that this monument is rather a neutral grave marker with artistic value. But it turned out quite differently.

It is known that before World War II, Jewish cultural autonomy existed in Estonia, ensuring freedom, a peaceful life, and opportunities for the Jewish minority to engage in various cultural activities.

According to the 1935 statistics of the Jewish cultural self-government, 11 Jews lived in Kuressaare. That all ended with the Soviet occupation.

10 percent of Estonia's Jewish population was deported, sent to Gulag camps, or exiled to Siberia. The Grünhut family (of three people) was deported from Kuressaare.

Then Estonia was occupied by Nazi Germany. Nazi ideology regarded Jews as a subhuman race. They were dehumanized; they were no longer considered human. The new masters' obedient local servants carried out the "dehumanization" of their Jewish neighbors and fellow citizens — meaning they were searched out, and shot.

But who were these terror victims?

Doctor Mooses Buras (36 years old), who graduated from the University of Tartu and treated Estonians' dental and other ailments in Lihula, Orissaare, and at Lossi Street 9 in Kuressaare.

Leopold – Leib Ogus (51 years old), owner of a store in Kuressaare, whose tinsmith father came there in 1882. Leopold's shop was located at Lossi Street 3. The house was bought by his father, but the Soviet authorities nationalized it and the family had to move elsewhere. Nevertheless, on October 30, 1941, he was shot dead along with his wife Roosa and mother Bella.

A document found in the Estonian National Archives proves that in November 1941, Savel Kletski from Tallinn was shot in Kuressaare. He was one of the founders and promoters of Estonian motorsport, and held 11 Estonian motorsport records.

He was also an active member of the Defense League, part of the Tallinn district staff. But that did not help. The Kuressaare Estonian political police reported to Tallinn that the Jew Kletski had been executed. There are no more Jews left in Saaremaa today.

This small community once gave the world the famous American architect Louis Kahn, whose work was greatly influenced by the architecture of Kuressaare castle. A memorial plaque to Louis Kahn has been erected next to the castle.

The mother and grandmother of world-famous photographer Annie Leibovitz are from Kuressaare. Today, here, at this new mass grave, where the remains of mostly innocent people, including our brothers and sisters, are being buried, I want to say to them: 'Forgive us. That your rest was disturbed at least twice, that your lives were worth nothing.'

I hope that your remains will finally find eternal peace. Blessed be your memory."

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and X and never miss an update!