The largest wave of Estonian migrations to the USA however, has been in the years immediately following World War Two. Approximately 15,000 Estonian refugees came at that time. By contrast, in the decade after Estonian re-independence (1991), only about 2,500 Estonians immigrated to the USA. Since these immigrants were from different political and historical backgrounds, how they demonstrate their Estonianness is likely to be different for each group.
In the case of WW2 refugees, while they tried to take their valuable personal belongings with them, they could not take everything. They could only take objects that fit into suitcases or trunks. Some would be from their Estonian homes, others from their years in displaced persons (DP) camps.
Example 1: Ilme (22 years old in 1944), a first generation Estonian immigrant, post-WW2
Leaving a DP camp in Germany without her husband, who died in Estonia during the war, she travelled to the US with a female cousin. Travelling in pairs was done for safety reasons. What shows her Estonianness when she remarried and settled in the US? Basically objects at home that were unique to Estonia. These included:
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