SOVIET GHOSTS in TALLINN | Communism Tour in Estonia's Capital 🇪🇪

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

THANKS FOR WATCHING!! 👍 If you enjoyed the video please consider LIKING & SUBSCRIBING - they really help me out! 👍 🇱🇹 🇱🇻 🇪🇪 More videos from this trip here → bit.ly/InTheBaltics | 📍 My videos on a TRAVEL MAP → bit.ly/mwt_map | Connect on INSTAGRAM → bit.ly/mwt_instagram

[@Hongaars1969]

As with many other places in central and Eastern Europe, much of the 20th century history was cruel and dark….”eerily cold inside”…Don’t know about you but I believe those prisons are literally haunted by ghosts. Seems like you were the only visitor at that time, even more eerie….Beautiful editing…very informative…I forever feel sad when seeing before and after pics/ videos of places that have been destroyed as a consequence of war. Thanks again Matt. ZZ

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Thanks for watching, glad you found the video interesting. I know what you mean about the feeling of past atrocities haunting those buildings - such a dark history, you can't help but to feel bad for all the people affected. Fascinating day, I learnt so much myself.

[@robertwilkinson8421]

Very interesting and also very timely with all that is going on there in Eastern Europe right now! Thanks for sharing.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Glad you enjoyed it! Yes a very difficult time but they are doing us proud. Thanks for watching.

[@Merike7173]

In Linnahall (City Hall near the sea) 17:22 was not the ordinary theatre, it was more concert hall - musical hall and the ice rink too. The main entrance was upstairs from the city side.😊

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Ah thanks for the information, very useful.

[@mariamm9460]

Very good information and video as usual from you Matt, I haven't been to Tallinn , great to see the first time places there thank you , have a lovely day ❤☕🍰😊

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

I'd recommend it! You can get the ferry over from Tallinn, saw plenty of them come and go when I was in both Tallinn and Helsinki.

[@mariamm9460]

@@MattWhitingsEurope thank you Matt for your lovely reply,so nice to read from you 🥰yes there are ferries, but I don't travel much , sad I don't have friends who would be interested in traveling much ..alone not so great..have a happy day 🤗🥰☕

[@taiwan1895]

A very interesting video. I spent a couple of days in Tallinn in early 2017. The only time I ventured out of Old Town was an evening walk in the snow to the Lenin Palace of Culture and Sport.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Thank you, it’s a fascinating subject and there’s plenty to learn. That evening stroll sounds good, bet Tallinn looked amazing in the snow!

[@Sprilly11]

Some things about Linnahall or the V. I. Lenin Palace of Culture and Sports as it was originally called. When the building was built, it was special as it allowed the people to access the sea, all the rest of the coast was fenced up as "port area". The port has shrunk considerably as all the cargo has been moved to a different port, hence why there is so much empty space in the coastal areas still, that are now slowly being developed. Linnahall crossed a railway line that went to the port, that is why there is a "hole" under the building. It primarily acted as a concert hall / auditorium sorts, where also some Estonian Communist Party events were held for example. The main entrance to the concert hall is from the rooftop on the city side. Also from the roof, you have some stairs that lead down to an ice rink, that was located in the frontal bit. The seaside entrance, the glass one, was a some kind of sleezy restaurant/pub in the 1990s, that had some arson attacks and whatnot. There was also a bowling alley inside the building.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Hello Sprilly, thanks very much for the information - very interesting to read. I hadn't realised that the coast was fenced off and used as a 'port area'. I really enjoyed visiting and found this particular building quite fascinating. Thanks again!

[@rikutaskinen5432]

hi matt, i was first time in tallinn april 1979, 4 days in hotel Viru. It was communism time, control was at he harbour 2 hours (only) normally entering lasted 5 hours....I won that trip in a competition, it was nice sunny spring days.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Hello Riku, incredible to think you visited all that time ago! I bet things were different back then?

[@rikutaskinen5432]

@MattWhitingsEurope sure, soviet tallin was grey and dirty we chainged money with Black market dealers and sold jeans and so on .

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Thank you for the description - sounds like a very difficult time!

[@rikutaskinen5432]

@@MattWhitingsEurope yee, you missed hotel Viru spyroom and inside television tower in nömme. in youtube is videos from these places.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Yes unfortunately I did however I mentioned them in the video and commented that although they were both on my itinerary the day had got away from me and I had run out of time to visit either. Hopefully someday I’ll return and visit them both.

[@peterrisbergs7156]

Latvian Edvards Berzins was the director of the Gulag in Magadan where thousands were marched to their deaths to the Koyma gold mines. He was recalled to Moscow in 1935 and summarily shot for no other reason that terror.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Thanks for the information, I hadn't heard of him before.

[@sleepybubbi9638]

Great video Matt 😊 i agree that all the communist history in Estonia is really interesting. Did you go into the KGB Prison cells to have a look around? I did when I went in January and found it it fascinating, but very disturbing. It seems maybe a little bit odd to build flats on top of it, I couldn't imagine wanting to live over a building with such a grisly past, but thats just me 🤔 what do you think? Hope you're well and having a good May so far, too! 😊

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Thank you! I didn’t get inside the KGB prison cells unfortunately, the day flew by and I only managed to get to about half the places in my list. Next time I need to spend 2 days on communist Tallinn. Sounds interesting from your comment, I agree about building flats there - I wonder if they mentioned it during the sale?! All good with me thanks, hope all is well with you.

[@HelenGolovina-y9h]

My grandmother went through the bombing of Tallinn underground in the exact same place where I watched a video of the bombing. It is a museum now. It was surreal to see all the iconic buildings just collapsing under my eyes and I remember thinking "Who do they think they are that they think they can do this". Yet, the buildings are back. Not all of them, the normal living quarters were not all built back. But the point is we are back. My grandmother was 11 when Tallinn was bombed and she went through that in the bunker. Their house, a magnificent house with a garden, did not get a hit. Tallinn has actually burnt down at least once a century since 1200, because of the fires. But always built back, always in the same way. Not like Riga that changes all the time and it unclear even where the old town is. I love Tallinn. Actually, the next time you come, go to Lindamägi. You probably where there anyway. It is a high hill next to Tall Hermann tower, seemingly empty. Tourists come and look like "what is supposed to be here?" There is a statue there of Linda, our lady of folklore, morning everyone who were deported to Siberia. There is a poem there, saying that their souls are still looking for peace.

[@HelenGolovina-y9h]

mourning

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Hello Helen, thank you very much for your comment - I enjoyed reading about your family's experience, it sounds like you've lived through some tough times. It's fascinating that your grandmother actually lived though the bombing and made it out alive - they don't make them like that any more. Thank you for the suggestion of Lindamägi, I'm not sure that I went all the way around it but did visit Kuberneri (Governor's) Garden and Tall Hermann in the upper town. It's a lovely area and as you mentioned very quiet and peaceful. I'm sure I'll return to Tallinn someday, it was a wonderful city and I really enjoyed my stay.

[@HelenGolovina-y9h]

@@MattWhitingsEurope Well, every family has at least one story like this. We were lucky, nobody was deported or killed. And the family did not lose her property which was weird as my great grandparents were quite well off and people like that usually lost everything.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Remarkable, it's terrifying how many being were effected by this. I'm very glad your great grandparents made it through. These museums are so important in ensuring that future generations do not forget the past.

[@HelenGolovina-y9h]

@@MattWhitingsEurope I never payed attention to it when my grandparents tried to talk about it. Only long after their deaths, when I saw this movie documentation of it did I even begin to realize what it must have felt like. I still do not know. I have never seen war and hopefully never will. Living here, one can never be sure

[@Walterpoltsamaa]

The concrete bunker is called "Linnahall" or "city hall" and the "water feature" was a swimming pool.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Thanks for the information! 👍

[@realhawaii5o]

How many years ago was this filmed? The whlle of the Tallinn waterfront from Linnahall to Patarei is developed 😅😅

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

A couple of years ago! Maybe I need to go back and see what’s changed!

[@Brix96]

You did`nt mention the British German Pact of 1938 in which Nevill Chamberlain the British Prime Minister as well as the French President met Hitler at Munich and told him to take the Sudetenland from Chezchoslovakia including the Huge arms Factorys.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

I'm not sure that story would be all that relevant to a video about communism in Tallinn/Estonia. I have however told that story before in another video, if memory serves me right is was one of my videos in Prague. PS I'm not sure that 'told him' is entirely accurate.

[@eskotullus2089]

Whole old town (and the city center) buildings along with the prison and cultural palace is built of limestone not concrete. Estonia is located on an ancient seabed, so the, at least northern part, has many limestone quarries. the white tiles on cultural center are from a quarry that today is Lasnamäe part of town (eastern Tallinn). concrete that was and is used beside the tiles also have limestone in it. So you partly right about the concrete. Just wanted to mention that blocks and tiles are pure limestone. btw, that´s why they erode in this specific layered way (as you saw on the steps)

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Thanks for the information, very interesting to read. 👍

[@mariamm9460]

Omg that prison there looks so scrary place ...believe i would not go there visit😃 ..did you pay that 5euros, or you just walked inside that prison? You doing great information....take care Matt 😊❤

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Hi Mariam, when I arrived in Tallinn is was closed but opened up as a museum a few days later. It was a surreal experience to walk around part of it and learn about its history - I'm glad I had the opportunity. From memory I had to pay to get in so 5 Euros sounds about right.

[@mratp123]

You visited Estonia a while back?, the construction of Port Tramline that passes under Linnahall hasn't started on the video lol

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Well I will have to go back and see what's changed! Thanks for the info.

[@eddyengelman5125]

@@MattWhitingsEurope You do. Starting from Linnahall going west along the coast: 1) New Tram under Linnahall, 2) hole dug for new Nordic hotel 3) new Apartment complex / city park (12 buildings), 4) Patarei re-construction begun, 5) construction ongoing for new Natural History museum, 6) Doubling of existing Noblessner apartment complex (5 new buildings). You caught the area right before it blew up.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

@@eddyengelman5125 Wow, it certainly sounds like there's been a lot of redevelopment since my visit! I'm not surprised, I would have thought it was expensive real estate down there by the water. Thanks for the info, I would love to return at some point - thought it was a wonderful city!

[@iirishele5787]

This video gives me anxiety, I don't want to remember this time of occupation, I don't want anyone to remind me of it. Although I was a child then, I remember very well what life was like behind the Iron Curtain....😢😢 These occupiers robbed my childhood .😢

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

I'm sorry you suffered so much in those dark days, it was a terrible time no doubt about it. I wanted to make the video to remind others who had not lived through it what Soviet occupation was like.

[@elgatodenoche]

very good. greetings from brazil

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Thank you 😀

[@billsychonidis7594]

Tell us about the Estonian auxiliary forces who assisted the German Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units) in the mass killing of Jews and others during World War II

[@Suursaadik]

You taught the history of Estonia very well, Englishman! 👍

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Thanks! 😃

[@wanderingwelshman2858]

Cool video 🙏🙏🙏🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Thank you!

[@WITYTRAVELS]

Always love the Communist tours. Good luck on the prison being open. That's quite a place. Too bad you couldn't get in and see the ice skating rink. Good idea landing your helicopter at a different spot. Hopefully that hotel is no longer bugged!

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

I would love to go inside and take a look around - that would have been spectacular. Maybe one day they'll open it up for tours!

[@helengolovina]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/e2ekZaGCprSKbNU Tallinn after bombing, by The Estonian National Archive. It is weird to watch, knowing these streets and buildings (some of them iconic buildings as the oldest stone buildings from 1210, or our biggest theatres) and knowing how good they look today. Looking at mediaeval churches with their towers missing .... They all have towers in tact today. I cannot even understand how it is possible kzbin.info/www/bejne/d5vKqWCZq5aHrKs Some live footage and an interview with one of the guys who shot it, showing the camera he did it with. This was made in 1989, the year everything started, the independence movement. And the year I started high school. So my high school years match the rebirth of the Estonian Republic. I remember doing my homework every day at home with endless legislative debates on TV about how exactly to do things. Today I could never study with the TV on but back then it was no problem

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Thank you for the links and information. What remarkable footage that man caught with his camera, a real piece of dark history and capturing clips that otherwise would never have been seen. It's easy to forget that cameras were not the same back then as they are now - it took a lot more effort, money, planning and skill to go out capturing video like this - especially in what was essentially a war zone. Respect to that man. I can understand how significant these events were as you were growing up and going through high school - it's so important we remain strong and never go back especially with the recent events in America. Thank you for posting!

[@johnhelms8226]

Olge tugevad, eestlased! Palju armastust ja austust teile siit USA-st! Me ei vea sind kunagi alt!

[@HelenGolovina-y9h]

Yu are very welcome. take care

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

All the best to you!

[@anttitmh]

Patarei wasn't closed after collapse of soviet union. Everything you see is from Estonian era when it was finally closed in 2002. It's pretty strange that it is used to display horrors of communism, when in fact it's a prison operational in democratic market economy in 2000s.

[@jurgenkoks9142]

its true what you say however it was open only because during this time the new prisons were not finished yet. It was closed as soon as it was possible. On top it was operated as a normal prison not like in the soviet era where the russians put there innocent people just because they excersized free speech.

[@anttitmh]

@@jurgenkoks9142 Did you read what I actually wrote?

[@bubba1984]

I'm astonished that the red army had 200 aircraft, from where? who built it? how did the pilots know what to do?

[@mrakozoid]

Хорошее видео, это стоит показать всем русским в Балтии.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Спасибо, было приятно узнать немного об истории этого района.

[@mrakozoid]

@@MattWhitingsEurope 🥰

[@user-br3ou2cs9o]

Cool video of the various Soviet Structures. The 1980 Olympic Regatta in Tallinn has construction pictures along with the various stages of completion and views of the structure and people using it's amenities after completion during the Olympics. Some are Black/White and some color. There's a photo album with over 800 photos. Every time I try to share the web address it disappears because of the KZbin algorithm restriction I guess. But if you do an image search for the 1980 Olympic Regatta in Tallinn you may be able to find what I found😎.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Very interesting, thanks for the info. I love looking at old photographs and comparing the location to how things look now. I will see if I can find them, thanks again!

[@Estlib]

Haired and financially secure

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

😬

[@werre2]

Walked through most of those sober and drunk

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Not at the same time surely?

[@HelenGolovina-y9h]

We have no communist past. We have a Soviet occupation. Very different things. How did we have enough troops in 1918-1920, is beyond me. To actually win. Yes, there was help. From US, France, UK, Finland. And the Balts all cooperated. But still, we, tiny country, just won Russia, 140 million people, the largesr country on Earth with endless human and other resources. And some people doubt if we could do it again. Of course we could, especially today with the

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

Interesting, thank you. I'd suggest that the Soviet occupation created some kind of communist past - certainly from WWII through to 1991.

[@HelenGolovina-y9h]

@@MattWhitingsEurope Past we fought every step of the way. We were always very actice nonsopporters of all that thit

[@HelenGolovina-y9h]

@@MattWhitingsEurope We had REACTION to communism. We definitely were not communists ourselves

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

You had communism forced upon you I think it's fair to say.

[@HelenGolovina-y9h]

@@MattWhitingsEurope Yes. The best word would be "survivor". We were the Survivors of communism. Like the Jewish people were the survivors of Holocaust or the Ukrainian people who were the survivors of Holodomor. Not everyone survived. Soviet Russia managed to zombify lots on nations who today have basically turned into Semi-Russias. Even countries like Armenia that is one of the oldest states in the history on Mankind has managed to forget their identity and forget what Russia did to them. they have switched over to Russian in spheres of life outside the home and the kitchen, etc. The Baltics, basically were the only countries that never turned into little Russias. i am not actually sure about Latvia in this sense, quite disappointed in Latvia. Why we survived, I don't know. A very strong national identity is one thing. Very good education throughout history is another thing. We are not stupid or naïve and we know what goes on around us and we know to get our information from multiple sources and never stick to just one version. Also, communism is very not fitting to our national traits. Estonians are very individualistic people. Communism is a herd thing. We do not function in herds, so communism is quite alien to us. Also, we were a thriving democracy between 1918-1940, so we had got used to freedom and would not forget it. A very important thing was also access to Finnish TV throughout the occupation period- we continued to know what the normal world was like. Also, Estonians in essence are very sceptical people, especially about anything mainstream or in power. We have the same attitude towards our own politicians. No politician is ever liked or supported or taken seriously, no prime minister has ever had significant public support. Estonians never trust anyone. And we are never satisfied with anything. So the kind of blind support that Russians give Putin would never ever be possible in Estonia. We do not follow anything blindly or, frankly, we do not follow anything at all. And communism is just such a stupid system. Communism meant taking land and property and homes away from people. Those people were either deported to Russia or executed or arrested. And the working class masses (who had no manners and no sophistication) were given the homes of Estonians who had been deprived of their homes. So, communism meant losing everything and then watch it being given to intruders, with no manners or respect for anything. Lots of apartments were turned into common apartments that instead of one family had to house 2 or three families. So suddenly you were sharing your home with strangers from god knows where. Estonia was an economically thriving country before all that happened. Communism, or the attempts to build it, meant losing everything. How could we be communists? And today the Russians are wining that they are somehow treated badly here. Well, even if they are not always treated the best, this is nothing compared to what their grandparents did to us. Communism may not be all bad if all the participants of it wanted it and agreed among themselves to build it. I am quite a left wing supporter myself, I like sharing and equality, or rather treatment on equal principles. The entire Scandinavia is quite socialist and there is nothing wrong with it. But Soviet communism meant taking from some (us) and giving it to others (Russians), it meant deleting all other nations but Russians on all the occupied territories. This communism had nothing to do with sharing or equality. And we have not survived it yet. We still have a third of a million descendants of the bringers of communism in our country. We try to integrate them, and not push them into anything. We try to treat people well and with respect and respect everyone's freedom to think and value what they do. I have no idea where this will lead because most Russians do not want to integrate, they are just waiting for the return of the Soviet Union and they think that Stalin was a great guy who had to make tough decisions. We will see how many generations it will take for the two parallel worlds to stop existing so that we can say we finally survived communism. Got carried away again lol Take care

[@tiiuroots499]

We didn't live in communism we were bizzy building it, never finished though.😂😂

[@eksiarvamus]

That's like someone went to Warsaw with a Nazi obsession.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

I beg to differ. As the sign in the museum said 'Remembering helps to prevent atrocities from happening again'.

[@eksiarvamus]

@@MattWhitingsEurope talking about your video title and premise.

[@MattWhitingsEurope]

I see. Thanks for the feedback, I thought Soviet Ghosts would tell the story?