Yet over 27,000, crammed on their small boats for two or more days and nights, survived the journey and landed on Swedish shores. They disembarked into an uncertain future, but feeling heaven-blessed for their deliverance. The escapees hoped that the war would soon come to an end and envisaged a return to their homeland and to their loved ones left behind. But this was not to be. The lives of those escapees were irreversibly diverted and a return to the homeland would not be possible for decades … The drama of their Great Escape would be indelibly remembered by the escapees as a life-altering event.
The Great Baltic Escape (or as it is referred to in Estonian “Suurpõgenemine”) was commemorated this past September in several countries. An all day “Suurpõgenemine 1944 ja Meie” conference was held on September 19 in Tallinn at the parliament convention center. A summary of that conference’s presentations and forums was presented in Eesti Elu’s September 23 edition.
