During the Soviet occupation more than 30,000 people, including thousands of children, were forcibly removed from Estonia and deported to Siberia. Many never saw their homeland again. But some children survived thanks to luck, help from other deportees and local people, and packages sent by family and friends at home.

On June 14, the anniversary of the 1941 mass deportation, Vabamu opened an exhibition dedicated to these survivors: the children who returned home from Siberia. Their stories are especially important today as Russia continues to deport children illegally, repeating the crimes of Stalin. This time, the children are not from Estonia, but from the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.

This exhibition is dedicated to those who spent their childhood in Kirov, Novosibirsk, Omsk and Tomsk oblasts, Altai and Krasnojarsk Krai, and elsewhere across the vast Soviet Union. It is also dedicated to all victims of crimes against humanity—past, present, and future. Tragically, these crimes continue today.

Exhibition curators: Aive Peil, Liisi Rannast-Kask, Martin Vaino
Design: Kerstin Hallik
Editing: Krista Jõesaar
Translation: Luisa Tõlkebüroo

With thanks to Andres Tarand, Eesti Kultuurkapital, Jaanika Merilo ja MTÜ Herojam Slava, Luule Pavelson, Peep Varju, Ukrainian Parliament Ombudsman for Human Rights.