At leastI carriedonmylegacy
Myself in 1955
Beingbornstateless
Ason of an Estonian immigrantsearchesfor hisroots
ThomasVirro
©2025 Thomas Virro
Publish: BoD· BooksonDemand, Östermalmstorg 1, 114 42 Stockholm, Sverige, bod@bod.se
Print: LibriPlureos GmbH,Friedensallee 273, 22763 Hamburg,Tyskland
ISBN:978-91-8097-137-9
In memory of afather, Inever knew
BACKGROUND
Beingbornand grownupasa statelessorinvoluntary Soviet Russian citizen, completely withoutknowing it,was abit of an eye-opener for me.Who wasI really,whatwas I? My sister andI andour father did become Swedishcitizensin1958 when Iwas 7years old, butI became awareofitmuchlater.Noone told us,I learnedabout it when Istarted with my genealogyresearch. Thefactthatgrowing up felt alittle differentfor me,I thought, wasdue to my upbringing. Estoniahad ceased to existasanindependent republic statein1944whenthe Soviet Union annexedthe country. Do Ihavea Russiancitizenship todaythatI am notaware of?WhenwebecameSwedish citizens in 1958, howwas a possibleSovietRussian citizenshiphandled?Was it then automatically cancelled?
My research will be an entrypoint to look at thehistory from asubjectiveperspective pointofview, howI trytofill thevoidthathas existedinsidemeall theseyears.
Thebookshouldnot be seen solely as agenealogy work,but also what kind of thoughts aroseinconnectionwithmyresearch. Howwas the welcomingofrefugeesinthe past compared with today?
My father came to Sweden in 1947 as an unaccompaniedrefugee at theage of 19. He hadalready been outinthe warsince 1941 or 1942, a little unclearwhen, butthere is no doubtthathewas very young.
My mother andher family's arrivalwereregisteredinSwedenonJuly 19, 1944. Mother was15years oldatthe time.
Thefactthatmythoughtsabout my originsbegan to sprout wasalso duetothe fact that we nevergot anyanswers from ourparents when we were children.Especiallymysister, whooften askedquestions like
curious children do abouttheir parents, butthe answersmysistergot from father wasoften;"you'll know when thechickenspee"and when is it, sheasked. "Never!" wasthe shortanswer, an answer that wasoften repeated.The mysterythickenswithsuchanswers.Would we perhapsbe spared?Whatwas hidden from us?Fathermusthavehad very strong motivesfor hiding hispastlife, both abouthis childhoodand hisparticipationinWWII, somethinghetookwithhim to thegrave.
My memories of when Iasked somethingweremoreofa troubled look on my father's face (a slightly tormentedexpression),averyeffective method formenot asking anymorequestions.Whathad Idone wrongwhenI gotthatkindofanswer, what waswrong with me?
Maybeitwas in thosesituations Igot an invitation to follow my father into theclosettoget alittle spanking on thebuttocks with hisbelt? Or maybeI hadjustdonesomething mischievous, in general.
From beinga very happy, slightly gigglingboy,I nowbegan to stiffen from theinsideout.Itusedtobeenoughfor my sister to tickle me from adistancetomakemestart squirmingand giggling. Soon thelaughter startedtoget stuckinmythroatinstead.
If youlookatthisinall, it maynot be so strangethatyou starttothink aboutyourbackgroundand want to trytostitchtogetheryourorigins. When wordslike Never!are also spoken,you realizethatthere is alot to expose if yougiveyourselfthe time it cantakeand hastaken.
Ialsowanttopoint outthatI have neverbeen interested in politicsor beingout to provokeanyoneoranything. Ijustcompile what has emergedinmyway andexperienced.
INTRODUCTION
When Isat in my geographyclasses in elementary school as alittle boy, Iwas amazed that awhole worldcould be shownonmaps. How couldyou know wherethe boundaries were.I grew up with my parents andsisterand my worldwas very limited.
Ithought it wasveryexcitingtosit thereand thinkabout what other people in thosecountries were doingatthe moment Isat in school and thoughtabout this.Was thereanyonelivingthere?I hadheard about somethingcalledanIronCurtain that hadbeenerected east of theBaltic Seaand hidthe Baltic States.I thoughtitwas ahugephysicalirongate. Sincemyparents'origins were part of what wasbehindthe curtain andI thoughtI wouldnever be able to findout what this mysterious area was, Ihad to putmythoughtsaside andtry to blendintodaily life. Butthe mysterygrewand Icould nevercompletelylet go of the thoughts andmaybe that's whyI startedwithmygenealogyinthe 1980s.Whenthe Baltic States became independentagain in 1991, I thoughtitwas best to trytoget informationassoon as possible,you don'tknowwhenthe curtainwill fall again.
Trying to forceinformation is noteasy, especially when Idonot masterthe Estonian language.
ButI waspreparedtogiveita try. My first historical excursionwas when Iwas 10 yearsold anda friend andI went on foot to theother side of thetownand triedtoget into an abandonedold castle ruin1.Wetried to digunder thegatewhenweheard aharsh voicebehindusaskingif we were lookingfor thepolice, we gotout of thereveryquickly and
1 More info andpicturesare availableat: https://www.slottsguiden.info/slottdetalj.asp?id=151
nevergot to know what wasonthe otherside. Thefearand respectfor thepolicewas greatwhenwewerelittle andtopossiblybeput into jail fortryingtolookintothe oldcastle, we were notpreparedtorisk, especially notasmyfriend'sfatherwas apoliceman.
My friend Bengt-Arne liveda couple of stairs away from me andwe oftenplayedtogether. Often, we were outinthe woodsplaying where he taught me howtosneak silently by puttingmyheel down first and then lowering therestofmyfootwiththe outsidefirst. Ithought it was really cool,I felt likeanIndianout hunting. We hadnoweapons to hunt with,onlyour curiosity.
In thewinterwetookour skis andskied farintothe forest wherewe made afire andfixeda spruce bedtosit on andgrilled ourapples.Those were wonderfultimes.Whenwewerehunting as children,itwas to see some shyanimals,but it laterled me to huntingfor information. Idon't know if I'msneakinginthe same waytoday forinformation butthe excitement is stillthere.Perhaps it wasthe curiositytofind outwhatsecretsmay be hiddenbehindthe gate that we didnot manage to digourselves underaschildrenthatdrove me to research.But in my case,I have crossedthe riverfor waterand insteadoftoday with my carjust by goingtothiscastleruinonthe othersideofthe town andtry to find outwhatmight be behind thegate, Ihavesearchedall over Europe.Talk abouta detour.I still don´tknowwhatisbehindthatgate.
My father arrivedinSwedenin1947, so it took himelevenyears to become aSwedish citizenand only then couldmysisterand Ibecome Swedishcitizensaswell. Therewerecareful investigations carriedout at that time.Hehad been involved in fightinginGermanuniform againstthe Bolsheviks.
Perhapsitwas this uncertaintyabout thesituation that made my father alittle tenseand pondered whetherhewould be extradited to the Soviet Union, becausethere wasa violentinvoluntary extraditionin 1946 in what wouldcometobeknown as theBaltextradition,a very traumaticevent in Swedishpolitics.
Youcan read aboutthisevent in thebook, TheLegionnairesbyP.O. Enquist, publishedin1968.
Perhapsthisevent remainsinthe Swedishsoulafter allthe yearswith abad conscience andthusthe laxstancethatlater came to be held on theissue of immigration.
As Ihavenow researched my family's history, many thoughts have arisen abouthow it wasthenand howitisnow.The changesthe societies have undergoneisastonishing,not only in Sweden.
From having been societieswhere orderand orderhad been theobviousthing,evenifitwas toughfor many people,I askmyselfifitwasn'tbetter in thepastinsomerespects, notthe material ones foreveryone of course.
Thereisnoobvious answer to this as theconditionshavebeen so different in thedifferentcountries that have affectedmyfamily andalso forothers.
Wasthere better cohesion within thefamiliesunliketoday when individualismand theindividual'ssuccess overshadow everything.
ThepeopleI mainly have sought answersabout in my family's history andusedinmygenealogy research have been on my father's side.From there, virtuallyall my research hasbeen based.
My search hastaken me from Sweden to Europe viaEstonia andLivonia(thenorthernpartofpresent-day Latvia andthe southern part of
Estonia).Whenthe opportunitiesfor DNAresearchappeared,itgave me some answers, butthe more answersI got, themorequestions arose at thesametime.
Is it thegoalorthe journeythatbecomes theimportant thingisanotherquestionthatpopsupinmyheadaswell. It is neverpossibleto reachthe goal fullyasthe situationisconstantlychanging, newpeople areaddedwithmoreand more connectionstonew people.
It is easy to forget allthe migrations that have occurred historically.I have felt abit likea stubborn,perhaps alittle foolhardyseeker,but curiosityhas ledmetosomeinteresting readingwhere my historical knowledgegapshavebeenfilledinwithatleast some material.
Since1721 up until1918, Russia hashad unbroken controloverEstonia, Latvia andLithuania.Inthe 19thcentury,distrustbegan to grow in theRussian Empire andthe peasants begantorevolt. It escalatedin1905 in an attempt at revolution,a revolution that wasput down abruptly andby1906 theorder wasrestored. However, it resulted in anumber of arsonattacks,somekillingsand burntdownestates forthe nobles, sparingthe animalsand thepeasants' homes. Things hadseriously beguntosmoulderinsociety.
Whowas behind andorganized theuprisings is notpubliclyknown, it waspointed outthatthe simple population hadstarted it allontheir owninitiative.
If some historical sourcesare to be believed,the organizationofthe uprisingspointed againstthe Jewish people.Thiswas strengthened laterduringthe OctoberRevolutioninRussiain1917. Whetherthiscorresponds to reality, Icannotassessorhaveany viewson.
This book wasabout my search foranswers about my origins and whereI also looked more at various events that have affected my family,including the genetic possibility that exists todaytoseek
What started as apuregenealogy trip becamemoreand more a historical reflection witha lotofthoughts that Iwas not preparedfor information. wrong, but look to thefuture. to appear.There were also descriptions of lifeand death.
It wasa journeyinhistory that taughtmea lot of new things. Questions that were askedinthe past arealso asked today and much is repeated. We saythat we will learn from history, but do we really do that? At thesame time,weshould notdwell on anything that is
