National resistance to the German occupation in Estonia 1941-1944
There was never such a large-scale resistance movement in Estonia against the German occupation as there was in France or Yugoslavia. The main difference lay in the fact that the West-European resistance had just one enemy – the German occupying power. Similar movements in the Baltic countries were opposed to the Germans, but their chief enemy was Soviet power, and thus their main effort was directed at preventing the return of the Soviet regime.
Most of the population remained passive. The core of the anti-German campaign was made up of a relatively small group of national activists. The movement had two trends. The representatives of the legal trend gathered around Jüri Uluots, who fulfilled the role of legal successor to the president of the Republic of Estonia, aiming to maintain the legal continuity of the Estonian state. The other trend constituted groups who sought ‘a third way’ between the Soviet Union and the German occupation. Ideologically, they relied on the Atlantic Charter, presuming that Germany would lose the war and the democratic western countries must be the models in restoring national statehood. Some groups had already organised resistance during the Soviet occupation (1940-1941).
Among the active groups were the staff of the Postimees newspaper, one of the most influential publications of the Republic of Estonia; the so-called Health Museum group in Tartu and the Free Fighting Front in Tallinn. The groups were formed through personal contacts and included students, university lecturers, workers, and officials. As they had no fixed membership, it can only be presumed that the overall number of people in the resistance groups was several hundred.
The groups were united in their confrontation with the Estonian Self-Administration, especially its leader Hjalmar Mäe, who was seen as taking orders from the German occupying power. The groups unanimously agreed that the German armed forces should not be directly weakened, as that would hasten the restoration of the Soviet occupation. The groups thus focused on gathering and conveying information. The main working method was distributing underground newspapers and leaflets, and keeping in touch with Estonian diplomats abroad. To a lesser extent the groups collected weapons, mainly through reliable men in the Home Guard.
Due to the general mobilisation and the front reaching Estonia’s borders in 1944, it was decided to establish a political centre for all groups. In February-March 1944 the groups united under the aegis of the National Committee of the Republic of Estonia.
