The next unpleasantness was the influx of many Russian families into Estonia. This fact created a very intense situation. Before entry into Estonia they were brainwashed to make them believe that from now on they will be living amongst Fascists. The actual fact that Estonian people had suffered under German invaders too, did not mean anything. Russians were told by Moscow leaders that they were more cultured, more educated and, in every meaning, the higher nation. This was made clear to local people quite unambiguously. However, soon the arrivals discovered that Estonians, in general, could read and even write and that Estonia’s education system surpassed that of the Russians’ – the ‘bringers of culture’ as they noticeably called themselves. It is one thing to see, but another to believe. The Russians who were more open-eyed, (and there were such kind amongst Russians too), soon detected that everything they had been told was not the real truth. But, most of them did not bother to analyze things quite so thoroughly and stayed (and have stayed until nowadays) with their same beliefs in the inferiority of the Estonian nation.
Rodger Y. Hopkins
The next unpleasantness was the influx of many Russian families into Estonia. This fact created a very intense situation. Before entry into Estonia they were brainwashed to make them believe that from now on they will be living amongst Fascists. The actual fact that Estonian people had suffered under German invaders too, did not mean anything. Russians were told by Moscow leaders that they were more cultured, more educated and, in every meaning, the higher nation. This was made clear to local people quite unambiguously. However, soon the arrivals discovered that Estonians, in general, could read and even write and that Estonia’s education system surpassed that of the Russians’ – the ‘bringers of culture’ as they noticeably called themselves. It is one thing to see, but another to believe. The Russians who were more open-eyed, (and there were such kind amongst Russians too), soon detected that everything they had been told was not the real truth. But, most of them did not bother to analyze things quite so thoroughly and stayed (and have stayed until nowadays) with their same beliefs in the inferiority of the Estonian nation.