Lily Forman

Major: History

Estonia is a fascinating case study of Holocaust memory, one that defies many Western norms and memory practices. I have spent much of this year studying Holocaust memory, beginning with a trip to Poland with Stanford Hillel in September and including coursework around historical memory, the Holocaust, and public history. Throughout these experiences, I have gained an understanding of Holocaust memory as it functions in the US, Germany, Israel, and Poland as major players in the memory landscape. However, as I looked towards an internship in Estonia’s capital this summer, I came to understand that Holocaust memory in the Baltics, and in Estonia in particular, differs greatly from what I had studied previously.

Estonia had a unique experience in WWII, beginning with Soviet occupation in 1940-1941, moving to German occupation until 1944, and returning to Soviet occupation through 1991. Given the German occupation’s positioning between two periods of Soviet occupation — which served as times of immense trauma and violence against Estonia’s indigenous population — the Holocaust and German occupation are often viewed as less severe or significant than the Soviet occupation among Estonians. Thus, the stories of Estonia’s small (but certainly present) Jewish population are overlooked, in addition to the stories of the thousands of European Jews deported to and murdered in Estonia. Through this project, I hope to spend time examining both the unique landscape of Holocaust memory in Estonia as well as the impact of Holocaust memory on Jews living in Estonia today. I hope to begin this project by furthering my understanding of Holocaust memory in Estonia. I plan to visit sites of memory across Tallinn, Estonia’s capital, as well as other significant areas of the country, including museums, monuments, memorials, and former sites of violence. By visiting these sites of memory, I seek to gain a better understanding of the landscape of Estonian Holocaust memory. With this framework of historical memory in mind, I hope to better understand the impact of Holocaust memory on Jews in Estonia today. How does Holocaust memory in Estonia, or a lack thereof, impact the country’s Jewish population, particularly in terms of their connections with their Jewish identities? Although trauma certainly is not the center of Jewish identity, Holocaust memory contributes to many Jews’ understandings of, and connections to, their religion and its history. Similarly, the atrocities of and struggle against Soviet occupation is a significant point of pride for many Estonians. However, Nazi occupation and Jewish experiences are often sidelined in Estonian historical memory in attempts to highlight the atrocities of Soviet rule — devoting attention to both, according to this line of reasoning, would serve to downplay experiences under Soviet rule. Thus, it appears that for Estonian Jews, historical narratives and memories among their two identity groups are in conflict. How do Estonian Jews navigate this tension, in which their non-Jewish Estonian counterparts may downplay the Holocaust while their non-Estonian Jewish counterparts may decry a lack of Holocaust remembrance within Estonia? I am excited to explore these tensions on the ground in Estonia this summer to further an understanding of international Holocaust memory.

I will begin by visiting sites of memory across Tallinn and Estonia. This will include VABAMU Museum of Occupations and Freedom (where I will work this summer), the Estonian Jewish Museum, Liiva Cemetery (where a new Holocaust memorial was unveiled in 2022), the Estonian History Museum, Klooga Concentration Camp (where a Holocaust memorial and outdoor exhibition sits), and other former sites of violence across the country. I am particularly interested in sites of violence that lack formal memorials, which will be more difficult to locate but will provide further insights into Holocaust memory in Estonia. I also plan to visit the sites in which Judaism is practiced in Estonia today. This includes the Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Tallinn, the Estonian Jewish Center (including Chabad House Tallinn, the Tallinn Jewish Cemetery, and the Beit Bela Synagogue), and various religious and cultural events around the country during my stay. Through these visits and through conversations with members of the community, I hope to gain a better understanding of how Estonia’s modern day Jewish population functions as well as how Holocaust memory and Estonian national narratives impact Jewish identity in the country. I am excited to pursue this independent research project and plan to seek guidance from Stanford professors, including Professors James Campbell, Norman Naimark, Katherine Jolluck, and Amir Weiner (all of whom I have learned from in classes relating to Holocaust history, historical memory, public history, and Baltic history). Additionally, I will be working closely with staff at Vabamu museum this summer, many of whom are scholars of history, public history, and historical memory.