Stories from the army

My grandfather does not remember much of the times when he was in the army, because when he left the army and was on a train to go home, somebody took his small suitcase and threw it out of the train window. In the suitcase, there where lots of photographs and Diplomas and also a diary which he kept during the army days and letters too. So all he remembers is that because he was a sportsman and belonged to different teams, life was easier than for other soldiers, the food was better and there were more vacations from the army etc. And they could go to foreign countries and stuff. The place where the sportsmen where was called Severamorsk and as I understood it was on quite high altitudes, so it was hard to breathe and it lowered the voices of the men there and thats why they had more healthier food and got to go on vacations, also it was quite in the north. They could also cross the boarder to Norway because nobody guarded them and there where no crossing points too. So it was quite fun, I imagine. He also told me a sad story which was common there: There was a test airport near and he told me that the Russian tested the warplanes that how fast can they go and it was like this: One day you have a sigaret with a testpilot and laugh with him and tomorrow he is dead. Because nobody cared of the people, the planes needed testing. In my opinion it is horrible. But he said that it was common there and it was not hard to get use to it.

The whole family.

My grandfather is the little one in the back

In the Army...

Recovering from a back injury.

When my grandfather was younger he was a dedicated sportsman and he took part in different competitions as well. In this picture he is with his volleyball team.

When he was young...

Missing mother...

When my grandfather was quite little the Bombing of Tallinn took place and my grandfather has a memory that he and his father sat up on the barns window looking up in the sky and it was on fire, orange and yellow everywhere and then they knew what was wrong. The worst part is that at the same time my grandfathers mother was at hospital in Tallinn, so they sat there knowing nothing about Aliide(the mother). They couldn´t do anything but sit and hope for Aliide to come home and my grandfather told me that the worst part was that they did not know anything they only saw the sky on fire. But fortunately Aliide escaped from the hospidal and hitchhiked and walked about 10 km and finally, early in the morning arrived home. A strong heart I would say.

Food = Gasoline

My grandfather also told me that at that time it was useful to get along with the German soldiers, because only from them it was possible to get some gasoline for the lamps and threshing machines and so the family always welcomed the soldiers warmly and provided them with food and some clothes, also my grandfathers father was a delivery boy for them, and bought eggs to the soldiers and they gave some gasoline and some money in return. And my grandfather also has a memory that German soldiers were much more polite than Russian ones. The Russian soldiers were agressive and took(without asking)everything they wanted, and sometimes even with violence and they did not give anything in return, also they were very rude and my grandfather was afraid of them.

Escape!

Soon after the bomb had fallen almost in front of their house, the German soldiers built a barricade for shooting enemies very near to my grandfathers house in Vigala, so his whole family was forced to escape in to the woods along with some cows and lambs etc. They also had a shelter built in the ground, but they thought that it was not enough protection and they only but some clothes and personal stuff in it, to prevent steeling. Then the Russian soldiers escaped to Märjamaa and soon after that the German soldiers abandoned the barricade and followed them. So my grandfathers family returned to their home, but still, just in case, keeped their stuff in the shelter, to escape there when needed.

A little something about my grandfather and happenings in his life.

One Sunday I went to visit Eberhard in Rapla with my mother and my father. He lives with my grandmother Elle on Viljandi road, where he moved after marrying my grandmother in Kabala, where he went after being released from the Russian army in 1957 or 1956, because her mother Aliide and her husband invited him there. At first he became the manager of the local community center and started to live in an apartment there. Then he met grandmother Elle and they married in 1962. A short time after they moved to their current home.As a child he lived with his mother, sister Erna, brother Egon and father Aadu in Vigala, they had their own farm and a store(Mann's store), mother took care of the store and father looked after the farm. They had 24 hectares of land and also cows, horses, chickens and sheep, but when the time of collective farming came, their land was reduced to only 0,6 hectares.Grandfather had terrible headaches every two weeks and her mother's heart was ill. The first story I can recall is from the time when my grandfather was about 6 or 7 and the WW2 began. A German spy-plane flew over Vigala and when the Russians discovered this, they started to bombard the plane. My grandfather remembers that one of the bombs landed near Mann's tavern and the next one landed right in their backyard, but someone in the barn saw it and ran inside to tell the others and then it exploded. The house remained intact, despite shrapnel and dirt flying in every direction, because the bomb was too far away. Lucky ducks.

When he was young, my grandfather went to school at Päärdu manor and after reaching the age of 16 and having finished 8 grades he went on to become a furniture-maker at Tallinn Industrial School, because at that time the only other option was to become a collective farmer, especially because his father was herd brigade leader at the local collective. Noone wanted to become a collective farmer, so he tried to avoid by all means. After finishing his studies they wanted to recruit him straight away in May, so they could hold him there for the whole summer without official record, so he never signed the document stating he had received his recruitment papers and went back to Vigala to his father to spend the summer there and eventually left on 9^th September. This was in 1952.

Wedding.

Eberhard and Elle wedding in 1962.

Minu esimene postitus vanaisa kohta.

Läksin siis ühel pühapäeval ema isa, minu vanaisa Eberhardi juurde Raplasse külla. Praegu elab ta koos vanaema Ellega viljandi maanteel, kuhu kolis peale seda kui abiellus vanaemaga Kabalas, kuhu ta peale Vene sõjaväest vabanemist 1956 või 1957 läks, sest ta ema Aliide tädi ja tolle mees kutsusid teda. Kõigepealt sai ta seal Rahvamaja juhatajaks ja jäi sinna ühte korterisse elama. Tutvus siis vanaema Ellega ja 1962 nad abiellusidki ning mõni aeg peale seda kolisid oma praegusesse koju.

Lapsepõlves elas ta ema, õe Erna, venna Egoni ja isa Aaduga Vigalas, neil oli oma talu ja oma pood(Manni pood), poe eest hoolitses ema ja isa hoole all oli talu. Neil oli 24 hektarit maad, neil olid lehmad, hobused, kanad ja LAMBAD, aga kui tuli kolhoosiaeg siis oli nende omand ainult 0,6 hektarit maad. Vanaisa isal olid iga kahe nädala tagant jubedad peavalud ja vanaisa ema oli südamehaige.

Esimene lugu, mis mul meelde tuleb on see kui mu vanaisa oli kuskil 6/7 aastane ja hakkas teine maailmasõda. Saksa luurelennuk lendas Vigala kohal ning kui Venelased teada said hakati siis seda lennukit pommitama ning vanaisa mäletab, et üks pomm lendas Manni kõrtsi juurde ja järgmine pomm lendas nende õuele, keegi küünis olev inimene nägi seda ja jooksis tuppa teistele ütlema ja siis pomm plahvatas, aga maja jäi terveks sest killud lendasid küll igale poole ja mulda pritsis aga pomm oli majast liiga kaugel et sellele liiga teha. Niisiis õnneseened.

Väiksena käis vanaisa Päärdu mõisas koolis ja peale seda kui ta oli 16 aasta vanune ja lõpetanud 8 klassi läks ta Tallinnasse Tööstuskooli tisleriks õppima, kuna tollel ajal oleks ta muidu pidanud kolhoosnikuks hakkama, eriti veel arvestades seda et ta isa oli kolhoosis karja brigadir. Kolhoosnikuks ei tahtnud keegi saada, seega üritas ta seda iga hinna eest vältida. Peale tööstuskooli lõpetamist taheti teda kohe mais sõjaväkke võtta, nii et ta oleks pidanud terve suve seal olema ja seda poleks arvestatud, seega ei kirjutanud ta kutse kättesaamise kinnitusele alla ja läks isa juurde vigalasse tagasi, et terve suvi seal veeta ja siis alles 9. septembril minna, see oli aastal 1952.

Eberhard Lens 8. dets. 1933

This blog has been created to collect stories, pictures, documents from my grandfather.