Book by Eerik Purje, Tartu Estonian Studies Centre, 2019
Amidst the destruction of World War II, millions of men, women and children were forced to leave their homes and homelands. These are the stories of Estonians who could not go back home until generations later, seeking refuge in Displaced Persons’ camps and eventually in countries such as Canada, the US and Australia.
Estonian-Canadian writer Eerik Purje interviews 16 refugees, recounting their fateful and harrowing journeys to safety for themselves and their families. We learn how each refugee had to make a life-changing decision – to stay or to go – and follow them as they struggle to repair the torn fabric of their lives. When some manage to return, decades later, what remains of the world they left behind?
A refugee himself, Eerik Purje brings a personal perspective to these life stories from the Estonian diaspora. These stories show us what it means to be a refugee, an experience and issue as important in our contemporary world as it was in post World War II Europe.