Conference: The Great Escape of 1944 – The Baltic Experience
VEMU in partnership with the Chair of Estonian Studies at the University of Toronto will be hosting a conference dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Great Escape from Estonia in 1944. The conference will be held in English, on Sept. 19 & 20 at Tartu College (310 Bloor St. W.) from 11:00am-5:00pm on both days.
Presentations and discussions will be centred around the Great Escape and its aftermath, the reasons and process of the escape, the resettlement and adaptation of refugees in Canada, the lives of different generations with multiple identities, as well as working with historical heritage. Guest speakers will include academic researchers, filmmakers, authors, and historical heritage preservationists; all coming from Canada, Estonia, the US, and the Netherlands.
Participation in the conference is free, but please notify us of your participation by writing to: info[at]vemu.ca
The conference will also be livestreamed on Zoom:
Conference Day 1:
Zoom Meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85191391626?pwd=mr3ifsbda92dY3FOtvlGawQ3gRJ8G9.1
Meeting ID: 851 9139 1626
Passcode: 970304
Conference Day 2:
Zoom Meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85623518828?pwd=19OYP7glzWbbjiCEtIzDgaLFhS82vX.1
Meeting ID: 856 2351 8828
Passcode: 028545
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Program:
Thursday, September 19
Tartu College, 310 Bloor St W
10:30 Registration, coffee
Session 1
11:00-1:30
Opening remarks: Piret Noorhani, Andres Kasekamp
Patrick Rang (Estonian War Museum), An Exploration of the War Events in Estonia Paving the Way to the Great Escape in 1944
Hiljar Tammela (Estonian Institute of Historical Memory), Composition and Fate of “Estonian Refugee Armada” in Sweden (1943-1945)
Meelis Saueauk (Estonian Institute of Historical Memory), What Happened to Those Who Couldn’t Escape?
Documentary film: “Fleeing: Departure Into the Unknown” (EMI, 2024, 51 min)
Lunch 1:30-2:15
Session 2
2:15-3:45
Julie F. Gilmour, Canada and the Displaced Persons, 1944-1954. Policy, Family, and Displacement
Kadri Tüür (University of Toronto), Newcomers Adapting in Canada: Plays by Raissa Kõvamees
Tiina Kirss (University of Tartu/Estonian Literary Museum), From Traumatic Memory to Postmemory: the Great Escape of 1944 in Estonian Life Stories
Helga Merits (Merits Productions), What We Want to Remember?
Coffee break 3:45-4:00
Session 3
4:00-5:00
Keila Kopvillem (VEMU Estonian Museum Canada), Investigating the Refugee Experience Through Newspaper Classifieds
Ellen Valter (KESKUS/Estonian Arts Centre), FILMIST Stuudio: Oral History Through Generations & Geography
5:00-5:30 KESKUS site visit: dubbed “Estonians’ Project of the Century” with a design already winning Canadian Architect Award of Merit, come take a tour of the KESKUS International Estonian Centre construction site, Centre slated to open in 2025
7:00 Documentary film: The Paradox of Seabrook Farms. Shattered dreams. Restored hopes (Merits Productions, 2024). Canadian premier!Innis Town Hall (2 Sussex Ave)
Doors open 6:30
Tickets $20/$10 (students): https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/film-screening-the-paradox-of-seabrook-farms-tickets-996544109257?aff=oddtdtcreator.
Friday, September 20
Tartu College, 310 Bloor St W10:30 Registration, coffee
Session 4
11:00-1:00
Piret Noorhani (VEMU Estonian Museum Canada), Our Relics: Bringing Homeland Along in a Suitcase Andris Ķesteris (Baltic Canadian Council), Memory: Magical or Mystical. Reflections on a Baltic Family History
Maira Bundza, The Fate of the Jānis Krēsliņš CollectionPetra Grantham (Canadian Baltic Immigrant Aid Society), Collecting and Preserving the Stories of Baltic Germans in CanadaLunch 1:00-1:45
Session 5
1:45-3:30
Maria Spann, Children of the 1944 Estonian Mass Flight
Tiina Otema, On kuu kui kuldne laev / The Moon Is Like a Golden Ship: A Baltic Collaboration – Juhani Püttsepp, Gundega Muzikante, Tiina Otema
Antanas Sileika (novelist and memoirist), Antanas Kills Tony. Ambivalence in a Bi-national Life
Anne Remmel (VEMU Estonian Museum Canada), Resilience, Scars, and Heritage in My Book “Two Worlds Within: A Memoir of Dual Identity”
Coffee break 3:30-3:45
Session 6
3:45-4:45
Camille Intson (University of Toronto), Performing Remains: Photography and the Intergenerational Imagination
Reet and Tom Mae (Mae Productions), Great Baltic Escape 1944: Short Film Triptych5:00
Tour of VEMU archives: come and see the biggest Estonian collections outside of Estonia
Organizers: VEMU Estonian Museum Canada
Elmar Tampõld Chair of Estonian Studies, University of Toronto
Major funder: Estonian Foundation Canada
Sponsors: Estonian Central Council in Canada, Integration Foundation (Estonia) Tartu College
