Estonian partisans

Estonian partisans, also called the Forest Brothers (Estonian: Metsavennad) were partisans who engaged in guerrilla warfare against Soviet forces in Estonia from 1940 to 1941 and 1944 to 1978.

When the USSR occupied and annexed Estonia in 1940, former civilians, soldiers, and real and perceived opponents to the Kremlin were threatened with arrest and repression. People sought refuge in the forest after the mass deportation on June 14, 1941.

The largest organization of the Forest Brothers was the Armed Combat Union (RVL), which operated from 1946 to 1949. The most important RVL leaders were killed in the summer of 1949. Large battles between the Forest Brothers and KGB units ended in Estonia in 1953, although minor conflicts continued until 1957.

The last Forest Brothers to be arrested were Hugo and Aksel Mõttus, who were captured in Võru County in the summer of 1967. August Sabbe remained at large until 1978, when he was either killed in Võru County by the KGB or drowned attempting to escape them.

The Soviet Union occupied and annexed Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in 1940. From then on, former statesmen and soldiers hid in the forests, as they would otherwise have been executed or deported by the new regime. Many went into hiding after the mass deportation in June 1941.

When war broke out between Germany and the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941, many Estonians escaped into forests to aid the liberation of Estonia from Soviet occupation. During the Summer War, the Forest Brothers liberated various cities and towns in Estonia. The largest battles took place around Timmkanal, as well as Tartu, where the Forest Brothers repelled the Soviet forces on July 10, 1941.

By November 25, 1944, the territory of Estonia was completely occupied by the Red Army. By the autumn of that year, thousands of Estonian soldiers, former Wehrmacht officers, and members of the Omakaitse had taken refuge in the forest. Former employees of the Soviet administration and people evading conscription into the Red Army hid alongside them.

Their uniforms combined elements of the uniforms of the former Estonian army, the Wehrmacht, and civilian clothing. They were armed mainly with infantry weapons that the Germans left behind when they were pushed back. Groups of Forest Brothers consisted of five to ten people, with whom several dozen accomplices in the local population were associated.