Resistance Fighting Day () also known as Otto Tief Government Day () is a

public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Sovereign nations and territories observe holidays based on events of significance to their history, ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...

which takes on 22 September. It honors the Estonian commander Otto Tief's attempt to restore Estonian independence in 1944. The holiday is a date of remembrance, commemorating the victims of the subsequent re-establishment of Soviet rule in Estonia following the Nazi rule, and the resulting sovietisation of the republic from 1944–1950. It falls under the cultural symbols designed to recognize the

Occupation of the Baltic states The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were invaded and occupied in June 1940 by the Soviet Union, under the leadership of Stalin and auspices of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact that had been signed between Nazi Germany and the Sovie ...

until 1991. It was known in the former

Estonian SSR The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an National delimitation in ...

, as well as today by the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia North Asia or Northern Asia, also referred to as Siberia, is the northern region of Asia, which is defined in geographic ...

and pro-Russian forces in Estonia as the Day of the Liberation of Tallinn from Nazi Invaders (), celebrating the Soviet Tallinn Offensive by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

's 2nd Shock and

8th 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number ...

Armies and the

Baltic Fleet , image = Great emblem of the Baltic fleet.svg , image_size = 150 , caption = Baltic Fleet Great ensign , dates = 18 May 1703 – present , country = , allegiance = (1703–1721) (1721–1917) (1917–1922) (1922–1991)(1991–present) ...

against the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previou ...

Observances

The proposal to mark 22 September as a national holiday was launched in 2005 by the Pro Patria Union and the

Res Publica Party Res Publica Party ( et, Erakond Res Publica) was a political party in Estonia that self-identified as conservative. Established as a party on 8 December 2001, the political organisation Res Publica was founded already as early as 1989 and exist ...

The holiday was renamed from Day of the Resistance to Resistance Fighting Day by order of the

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (; from Estonian language, Estonian ''riigi-'', of the state, and ''kogu'', assembly) is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the Prime Minis ...

on 15 February 2007. The day was first officially celebrated that year. The main ceremony is held at the Freedom Square in the capital city of

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

. Official solemnities begin at sunrise when students from a local school raise the

flag of Estonia The flag of Estonia ( et, Eesti lipp) is a tricolour featuring three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), black (middle), and white (bottom). In Estonian it is colloquially called the (). The tricolour was already in wide use as the symbol o ...

at the

Pikk Hermann Pikk Hermann or Tall Hermann (german: Langer Hermann) is a tower of the Toompea Castle, on Toompea hill in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The first part was built 1360–70. It was rebuilt (height brought to ) in the 16th century. A staircase ...

. On Resistance Day, the

Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom The Vabamu or Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom ( et, Okupatsioonide ja vabaduse muuseum Vabamu) in Tallinn, Estonia, is located at the corner of Toompea St. and Kaarli Blvd. It was opened on July 1, 2003, and is dedicated to the 1940-199 ...

opened an exhibit about the meeting of exiled Estonians and Soviet Estonians. during the

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most su ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

. The museum is open for free on the holiday.

Soviet "Liberation Day"

Veterans of the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps often lead solemn ceremonies in the capital. On the third anniversary in 1947, the

Bronze Soldier of Tallinn The Bronze Soldier ( et, Pronkssõdur, russian: Бронзовый солдат, ''Bronzovyj soldat'') is the informal name of a controversial Soviet World War II war memorial in Tallinn, Estonia, built at the site of several war graves, which w ...

was created. In 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs rebutted claims by Russian foreign ministry spokesperson

Maria Zakharova Maria Vladimirovna Zakharova (russian: Мария Владимировна Захарова; born 24 December 1975) is the Director of the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (Spokes ...

that the Tallinn Offensive was a liberation, saying that it was a false presentation of the "liberation of European peoples from fascist enslavement". That year, a fireworks celebration marking the 75th anniversary of the offensive took place in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

.https://function.mil.ru/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12253145@egNews

References

{{Reflist Public holidays in Estonia September observances Summer events in Estonia

Observances

Soviet "Liberation Day"

See also

References