1944: Tallinn “Liberated” by the Red Army – Were the ‘Liberators’ Given Flowers or Shot At?
26.09.2024
This year, Russian propaganda attempted to stir interest in the anniversary of the “liberation of Tallinn” by publishing previously classified archival documents. In Lieutenant General Holodov’s report, Tallinn residents are depicted welcoming the Red Army with flowers in the opening pages, but already by the second page, some residents of Tallinn and other cities are described as expressing “fear and uncertainty” toward the Red Army. By the third page, it is revealed that “in the first two days following the liberation of Tallinn by our troops, there were incidents where our commanders and soldiers were shot at from around corners and from windows. In Paide, a Red Army tankist was shot dead near one of the houses.”
Russian propaganda has specific dates in its agenda, used year after year to amplify its historical narratives. In the case of Estonia, one such date is September 22 — a day referred to in Soviet and contemporary Russian historiography as the “liberation of Tallinn from the German fascist occupiers.” On that day in 1944, the Soviet army took control of the Estonian capital. In Estonia, September 22 is officially marked as Resistance Fighting Day, in memory of Otto Tief and all others who participated in the resistance movement.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the hoisting of the red flag over Tallinn, and, predictably, Russian media outlets published a considerable number of articles on the occasion. According to our monitoring tool, Propamon, the “liberation of Tallinn” was commemorated by the news agency TASS, the TV channel Zvezda, the newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the portal Gazeta.ru, and many other media platforms.
Documents from September 1944 Released in Russia
To spark interest in what is typically a routine event, nearly all publications this year emphasized that the Russian Ministry of Defense had released unique documents about the liberation of Tallinn from the German fascist occupiers.
The most creative approach to the topic was taken by the TV channel Zvezda, which attracted readers with headlines such as “Ministry of Defense: Fascists from Omakaitse killed Estonians for three marks and a vodka ration,” “Archives reveal details about the Narva group’s escape from Estonia,” and “Marshal Govorov’s grandson told how the commander sheltered Estonian orphans.” All these articles were published on September 21 and referred to the website of the Russian Ministry of Defense, where a special section dedicated to the events in Tallinn in 1944 had been added.
The published documents come from the central archive of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Some media outlets claimed that these documents were only recently declassified, although the documents simply bear a “declassified” stamp with no date.
The documents are divided into three categories: “The Battle for Tallinn,” which discusses the military operation to capture the Estonian capital. The subsection “Estonian Fascism” describes the activities of the Omakaitse organization, referring to its members as collaborators. In the category “Heroes-Liberators,” the biographies of Soviet soldiers who fought in Estonia are presented.
Also noteworthy are three archival documents published on the Russian Ministry of Defense’s Telegram channel during the night of September 21: first, “Directive of the Supreme Command to the Commander of the Leningrad Front from July 28, 1944,” which outlines the orders for carrying out the Narva operation. Second, “Enemy Information,” which describes the situation of the Narva battalion operating on the German side. Third, “Report of the Political Directorate of the Leningrad Front from September 27, 1944,” which deals with the situation in the captured city of Tallinn and other Estonian towns.
According to the intentions of the Russian Ministry of Defense, this document is supposed to prove that the residents of Tallinn welcomed Soviet troops with flowers 80 years ago. The report’s author, Lieutenant General Holodov, head of the 2nd Political Directorate of the Leningrad Front, mentions the flower reception in both the first and second paragraphs of the report.
However, already on the second page of the report, Holodov notes that “a certain portion of the population of Tallinn and other cities of the Estonian SSR” expressed “fear and uncertainty” towards the Red Army.
The third page of the report contains even more interesting information: “…the residents of such cities as Türi, Paide, and others fled into the forests as the Red Army approached. […] In the first two days after the liberation of Tallinn by our troops, there were incidents where our commanders and soldiers were shot at from around corners and windows. In Paide, a Red Army tankist was shot dead near one of the houses.”
Thus, Russian propaganda selectively uses only those facts from archival documents that support their version of the events from 80 years ago.
“In 1944, flowers were given; in 2024, the dead are mocked”.
At the same time, Russian propagandists timed the publication of contemporary news for September 22, using it to accuse Estonia of “mocking the remains of Soviet soldiers.”
Although the tone of the article in Lõuna-Eesti Postimees was neutral, the Russian Embassy in Estonia expressed outrage based on it, accusing Estonia of “immoral desecration of the memory of Red Army soldiers.” The embassy’s statement was circulated by Russian media outlets on the same day.
While the propaganda campaign on September 22 was primarily targeted at Russians living in Estonia, the topic of the “liberation of Tallinn” barely resonated with them at all. Unlike in previous years, even the popular Facebook opinion leaders who typically amplify Russian propaganda regarding World War II events did not share or promote these texts.
P.S. The second and third pages of Lieutenant General Holodov’s report, submitted on September 27, 1944, also make for interesting reading. We will publish them in full on Propastop.
P.S. The second and third pages of Lieutenant General Holodov’s report, submitted on September 27, 1944, also make for interesting reading. We will publish them in full on Propastop.
Excerpt from the penultimate and final paragraphs of the page: “It should be noted that there is fear and uncertainty towards the Red Army among the residents of Tallinn and other cities of the Estonian SSR, as well as among the rural population, due to three years of fascist propaganda. For example, local resident A. Dilson said:
‘/…/ If something is drilled into a person’s head every day for three years, they will come to believe it. That’s what happened with us. The Germans convinced many that the Red Army would take revenge on the Estonians, that they would start executing people and deport the survivors to Siberia. Additionally, many fear reprisals because their relatives served in the German army or because they themselves worked for the Germans.'”
Excerpt from the opening paragraph: “On September 21 and 22, many residents of Tallinn were engaged in looting food and wine warehouses in the harbor area. Numerous drunk people could be seen on the streets of Tallinn, some of whom approached our soldiers, uncorked bottles, and offered them to drink together.”