KATKESTATUD PAIGASEOSED: ARGENTINA EESTLASTE LAAGRIMÄLESTUSED
BROKEN CONNECTIONS TO THE LOCALITY: REFUGEE CAMP MEMOIRS OF ESTONIANS IN ARGENTINA

Summary/Abstract: In 1944, tens of thousands of Estonians fled to the West. The majority of them were housed in refugee camps in Sweden, Germany, Denmark and Austria. This article looks at how, based on the oral and written memoirs of Estonians who arrived in Argentina after WW II, life in refugee camps was remembered and how that situation was interpreted from a biographical perspective. The study sources are mainly the interviews conducted in Argentina in 2007, and also some written memoirs. The aim is to analyse how people remember the events they experienced and what influence could historical, social and psychological contexts have had in interpreting these memories. Attention is also paid to the emotions that such traumatic events unleashed. Although refugee camp memoirs are not as colourful and full of details as the escape stories, they still form a significant place in autobiographies of refugees, including Estonians in Argentina. The main emotion, as also in the escape stories, is fear: fear of the Russians, fear of the continuation of the terrible events of the war, fear of the outbreak of a new war and, again, fear of the Russians. Many memoirs are classed as so-called flash-memoirs; they preserve the exact details and emotional backgrounds for years. An important aspect in the daily life of refugee camps and in the retelling of that life is the lack of stability. The main key words in refugee camp life are separation from the near and dear, homeland but also separation from the receiving country’s society, lack of privacy, overcrowdedness, limited movement area. This can cause frustration, fear and emotional disturbances from which release is sought. On one hand, such a situation can find a release in hopelessness and alcohol abuse, on the other, a heightened interest in one’s identity. The latter crystallised as the notion of the lost homeland: the violent robbery of the geographical and cultural dimension of one’s homeland made the refugees cling to that social dimension. The lack of all that is familiar and was expressed in the organisational activity, activity that preserved and developed national culture.

• Details
• Contents