A Treasure Hoard in Surry Hills
For almost thirty
years I have had no reason to go to Estonian house in Campbell Street in Sydney. But that was to change with the arrival of
the Estonian Consul in Sydney. Like hundreds of other applicants for an Estonian passport, I
went through the experience of trying to prove my Estonian ancestry.
My family left Estonia in the days before Estonia’s final subjugation by the Soviet Union in October 1944. We managed to escape to Sweden in a leaky lifeboat with scant interest in
the documents, which are needed later on to prove identity. Like most refugees
you are issued with documents, which are based on hearsay and personal
testimonies.
So if you think it
is hard to prove who you are, it is probably a “Mission Impossible” to prove
who your children are, especially if they are born in a non-English speaking
country, where even the script is difficult to read by Australians.
But there is a
treasure trove of knowledge about Estonians in Australia and even of Estonia too. It is called the Estonian Archive in
Eesti Maja at 141
Campbell Street in Sydney. You do not have to be an Estonian to access
it, you even do not have to speak Estonian to ask where something is; all you
need is a willingness to go there on a Wednesday between the hours of 10:00 am
and 3:00 pm and speak to the archivists, who are really nice, friendly, helpful
people and speak perfect Australian.
So what’s there you
may ask? The archives are the best
organised ethnic archives in Australia because one of the archivists is a
professional from the University of New
South Wales.
The archives consist of 4 main sections and the “collection”.
The sections are: the Reference Books [where
else can you check out if one of your parents or grandparents went to a school
in Estonia in the 1920s, 1930s or 1940s?],
Personal Archives in
alphabetic order [if you have documents or pictures from your grandparents and
you are cleaning house, just call the archive to make arrangements to deposit
the documents which your children may want to access in the future], the
Books section, which
contains books, periodicals from the 1920s, popular magazines at the time,
newspapers of organisations of Estonians in exile [which include publications
from England, Sweden and Germany] and archives of personal effects listed by
subject file.
The archivist told
me the Archives loosely follow the Dewey system. The sections are shown at the
end of each stack just like in a normal library.
The “collection” also includes records of most
Eesti Paevad in Australia, the largest collection of academic papers
authored by Estonians in the world, the documents relating to Estonian
organisations, Scouts and Guides, the
records of the pre-war Estonian Consulate in Australia, and their card index system.
I can imagine how by
now, after reading about all this, you are saying “What can I do with this
stuff? “. The short answer is, “you can prove that you are Estonian by
descent!” And yes, wait for it “You can get an EU passport”. Although the value
to you changes, a Work Permit Visa to the UK at last report was in the order of AUD 2800
for a 12 month working visa, and for the extension which allows you to stay for
an additional 12 months but only work for 6, it was AUD 900. But check my figures
with the UK consulate to be sure.
Having children
myself, I know that each child wants to know who their biological parents are!
Here is a way you can confirm your identity and even start a search for your
relatives. My brother, who was in Estonia for 6 weeks with our relatives, had a great
time and thinks of going back frequently. You can confirm you are Estonian by
descent either through your father or through your mother!
The archivist asked
me to ask, on behalf of the Juhan Laidoner Museum [The Estonian Military Museum] if you have
any photos or artefacts from the 1920s -1940s, which you are willing to donate
to the Museum. Even photographs of classes of people in military uniform which
you can’t identify but which the Museum can use to construct our history.
I went there because
I had heard a rumour that my father had written some pieces for the Estonian
newspaper – Meie Kodu – which proved to be only a rumour. Writing a book on my
father’s life story [the first 40 years] has meant that I have had to look at
the ghosts in my family’s past. Finding information about Estonia in the past is difficult. But the best
review of my father’s story was by a Year 11 school student in Estonia “If
all history books were as good as this one I would want to go to school every
day”
Eyewitness: Estonia 1909-1949 PHOTOS
