Richard Veermaa (born Richard Vreeman; 26 May 1901 Lasva Parish,

Võru County Võru County ( or ''Võrumaa''; ) is a county in southern Estonia. It is bordered by Valga and Põlva counties, Latvia's Alūksne and Ape municipalities, and Russia's Pskov Oblast (making it the only Estonian county to border two countries) ...

– 19 February 1942

Ussolye prison camp Usollag, full name: Usolye Corrective Labor Camp () was a Gulag forced labor camp established on February 5, 1938 and functioned after the dissolution of Gulag, until 1960. It was headquartered in Solikamsk, now in Perm Krai, Russia, and it had nu ...

Perm Oblast Until 1 December 2005, Perm Oblast () was a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) in Privolzhsky (Volga) Federal District. According to the results of the referendum held in October 2004, Perm Oblast was merged with Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug ...

, Russia) was an

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

n police chief and politician. He was a member of III, IV and

V Riigikogu V Riigikogu was the fifth legislature of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu). The legislature was elected after 1932 elections (held on 21–23 May 1932). It sat between 15 June 1932 and 2 October 1934, when its activities were suspended.< ...

. Veermaa was a veteran of the

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence, also known as the War of Freedom in Estonia, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Soviet Russian westward offensive of 1918–1919 and the ...

. He graduated from the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

. From 1935 until 1938, he was the 1938–1939 he was the director of the Police Administration. From 1938 until 1939, he was the

Minister of Internal Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

. Following the

Soviet occupation of Estonia The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, (abbreviated Estonian SSR, Soviet Estonia, or simply Estonia ) was an administrative subunit ( union republic) of the former Soviet Union (USSR), covering the occupied and annexed territory of Estonia ...

in 1940 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Veermaa was arrested by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

on 18 September 1940 and died at Usolye Corrective Labor Camp in the

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

References

1901 births 1942 deaths Estonian police officers Ministers of the interior of Estonia Members of the Estonian National Assembly Members of the Riigikogu, 1926–1929 Members of the Riigikogu, 1929–1932 Members of the Riigikogu, 1932–1934 Estonian military personnel of the Estonian War of Independence University of Tartu alumni Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 2nd Class People from Võru Parish Politicians from Võru County People who died in the Gulag Estonian Gulag detainees Estonian people who died in Soviet detention {{Estonia-1929-Riigikogu-politician-stub