Enn Tarto facts for kids
Enn Tarto (born September 25, 1938 – died July 18, 2021) was an important Estonian politician. He was a leading voice against the Soviet government when they controlled Estonia. He was put in prison several times between 1956 and 1988 for speaking out against the Soviet system.
Speaking Out Against Soviet Rule
Enn Tarto was born in Tartu, Estonia. From a young age, he was involved in activities that supported Estonian independence. On November 4, 1956, Tarto and others from the Estonian Youth Brigade handed out flyers. These flyers supported the Hungarian Revolution. This message even reached students at Moscow State University through Western radio broadcasts. Some of these students were later expelled for supporting the Hungarians. Tarto even met some of them in a Soviet prison. For his brave actions, Enn Tarto received an award from Hungary.
After being in prison twice, Enn Tarto studied Estonian language at Tartu University from 1969 to 1971. The KGB, the Soviet secret police, tried to influence him. But Tarto was later removed from the university in 1971 because of his strong patriotic beliefs and actions.
In the late 1970s, when the Soviet government was trying hard to stop people from speaking out, brave individuals from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania decided to act. They sent a special letter, called the Baltic Appeal, to the United Nations and other powerful countries. This letter asked for the end of the Soviet control over the Baltic nations. It also asked for these nations to be able to decide their own future and become independent. Thirty-seven Lithuanians, four Estonians, and four Latvians signed the letter. It was given to Western representatives in Moscow in August 1979. Famous Moscow activists like Andrei Sakharov also supported the Baltic Appeal. Because of these signatures, the document reached the West. The European Parliament later passed a resolution in 1983 supporting the Baltic nations.
Enn Tarto was also one of the people who publicly asked the Soviet Union to remove its soldiers from Afghanistan. He also helped teach other activists how to survive under the strict Soviet government. In the 1980s, the authorities called Enn Tarto a leader of "anti-Soviet elements." In 1984, a court in the Estonian SSR sentenced Tarto to ten years in prison. He was finally released on October 17, 1988, after many public protests in Estonia and a request from 45 US congressmen.
After Being Released
After being released from prison, Enn Tarto actively helped Estonia regain its independence. He joined the movement that strongly supported independence. He was elected as a representative to the Congress of Estonia. Tarto helped organize a protest march around a Soviet military base near Tartu in March 1989. He even coordinated this with Dzhokhar Dudayev, who was in charge of the base at the time.
Enn Tarto, along with Linnart Mäll, helped create the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation. He was also the chairman of the Estonian Society of Pan-Europe and the Estonian Human Rights Institute from 1992 to 1995. He took part in the re-established Estonian Defence League and groups that remembered the victims of the Soviet regime.
Tarto was elected three times to the Riigikogu, which is the Estonian parliament (in 1992, 1995, and 1999). He represented the city of Tartu or the Tartu and Jõgeva region. He was a member of parliament from 1992 to 1995 with the Fatherland Union party. Then from 1995 to 1999 with the Right-wingers party. And from 1999 to 2003 with the People's Party Moderates.
In 2005, Enn Tarto decided to leave the SDE party. This was because the party chose to work with the People's Union, which included many former communist officials.
He ran for the Tartu town council in 2005 with the Fatherland Union party. He was elected to the Tartu town council three times (in 1999, 2002, and 2005).
Enn Tarto also publicly spoke out against people who had worked closely with the Communist government and those who carried out its harsh actions in Estonia.
Enn Tarto received many awards from the Republic of Estonia. These included the Order of the National Coat of Arms (2nd class) and the highest award from the Estonian Defence League, the White Cross medal (1st rate). Valdas Adamkus, the former president of Lithuania, also gave him an award.
Enn Tarto passed away on July 18, 2021, at the age of 82.
Documentary
- Andres Sööt, Alone and Together (Üksinda ja koos), 2002
See also
In Spanish: Enn Tarto para niños
