Tallinn Estonia

The cruise ships all stop here now when they do the Baltic. It has a very modern area with glass skyscrapers and an old walled city.

When the Germans and Russian signed a mutual non-aggression pact in 1940, the Russians marched in and took over. They sent a lot of Estonians to Siberia to ensure domestic tranquility.

Then the Germans headed east into Russia. Along the way they liquidated all the Estonians who were thought to be friendly to the Russian invaders.

Then in 1945, the Russians came back and sent more Estonians to Siberia who had cooperated in any way with the Germans. The Russians finally left again 50 years later...so the Estonians built new cruise ports and invented Skype.

We visited a museum where an exhibit asked me if I would have fought with the Russians against the Germans against my own countrymen....In hindsight I felt the proper answer was "yes".

The next question was if I would help identify my own countrymen who need to be deported to Siberia...again, I answered yes and received several medals and was made director of the Gorki Tractor Factory.

Incendiary hand grenade shown above.