Kalev Arro
Born(1915-07-15)15 July 1915
Valgjärve Parish, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire
Died2 June 1974(1974-06-02) (aged 58)
Valgjärve Parish, Estonia
Cause of deathGunshot wounds
NationalityEstonian
Other namesVärdi, Jakob, Lihunik
OccupationPartisan
Years active1944–1974

Kalev Gustav Arro (17 July 1915 – 2 June 1974)[1][2] was an Estonian partisan during the Soviet occupation of Estonia. He was part of the Forest Brothers (Metsavennad), a group of resistance fighters who hid in the forests of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in the struggle against Soviet authority.[3] He is noted for disguising himself as a vagrant for 30 years to evade capture.[4]

Biography

A memorial to the Estonian partisans who died in Võru County.

Arro and fellow partisans hid in bunkers in southern Estonian forests.[5] One of these was the Hallipalu bunker in Põlva County, which bunker partner Artur Kittus said was considered by his comrades as the Republic of Estonia.[5] Contemporaneous Soviet documents frequently mentioned Arro and his comrades and was part of the narrative that branded their struggle as Estonian bandit activity.[4] In an account, he was cited as part of the group who encountered a Soviet raiding on 24 September 1949.[6] In this report, his name was crossed out as one of the casualties. Witnesses, however, stated that he broke through the siege and the report crossed his name out in the attempt to cover failure.[6]

Arro was shot dead in the summer of 1974 by Soviet authorities during an exchange of gunfire. There is some confusion about precisely where Arro was killed. Some sources state it was in Võrumaa.[7] Other sources state that it was in Valgjärve Parish (present-day Kanepi Parish), Põlva County, near Saverna.[8] Politician and diplomat Eerik-Niiles Kross states that Arro's death took place in the village of Kooraste in Valgjärve Parish.[9]

There are varying reports as to the year of his death with some citing 1976[10] and 1978.[11] Although most Estonian accounts give the date as 2 July 1974.[1][2][12] An account stated that he exchanged fire with KGB agents sometime during the decline of their guerrilla resistance after Kim Philby infiltrated the Forest Brothers.[3][13] He was one of the last remaining Forest Brothers along with partisan August Sabbe, who drowned or, as some sources say, committed suicide rather than be captured in 1978.[14]

Arro was buried at Tartu Raadi Cemetery, where he was honored with a memorial.[5] Little is known about Arro and other partisans because Soviet authorities suppressed discussions of the resistance.[15] Those who sympathized with the Forest Brothers were repressed and deported.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b "Eesti Vabadusvõitlejatele püstitatud mälestussammaste avamiselt aastal 2003". Kultuur ja Elu (in Estonian). 2002. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  2. ^ a b Kaasik, Maris S. (7 July 2009). "Viimased metsavennad raiuti lõpuks graniiti". LounaLeht (in Estonian). Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  3. ^ a b Schüler, C. J. (2020). Along the Amber Route: From St. Petersburg to Venice. Inverness, Scotland: Sandstone Press Ltd. ISBN 978-1-912240-92-0.
  4. ^ a b Taylor, Neil (2010). Estonia. Bucks, England: Bradt Travel Guides. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-84162-320-7.
  5. ^ a b c "Raadil pühitseti mälestuskivi eelviimasele metsavennale". Eesti Rahvusringhääling (ERR) (in Estonian). 16 October 2007. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  6. ^ a b Laar, M. (1992). War in the Woods: Estonia's Struggle for Survival, 1944-1956. Washington, D.C.: The Compass Press. p. 188. ISBN 0-929590-08-2.
  7. ^ Lowe, Keith (2012). Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War II. St. Martin's Publishing Group. p. 357. ISBN 978-1-250-01504-4.
  8. ^ "Liiva-Karilatsi". Postitee (in Estonian). 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  9. ^ Kross, Eerik-Niiles (16 August 2017). "Eerik-Niiles Kross: metsavendade sõda kestab edasi". Postimees (in Estonian). Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  10. ^ Conquest, Robert (2017). The Last Empire: Nationality and the Soviet Future. Hoover Press. ISBN 978-0-8179-8253-9.
  11. ^ Laar, Mart (2010). The Power of Freedom - Central and Eastern Europe after 1945. Brussels: Centre for European Studies. p. 83. ISBN 978-9949-18-858-1.
  12. ^ Arro, Erik (19 May 2006). "Erik Arro: Kommunistid, astuge tagasi!". Delfi (web portal) (in Estonian). Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  13. ^ Smith, Graham (1996). The Baltic States: The National Self-Determination of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Hampshire: Macmillan Press Ltd. p. 111. ISBN 978-0-333-66580-0.
  14. ^ Rausing, Sigrid (2014). Everything Is Wonderful: Memories of a Collective Farm in Estonia. Open Road + Grove/Atlantic. ISBN 978-0-8021-9281-3.
  15. ^ a b Suy, Eric; Wellens, Karel (1998). International Law: Theory and Practice : Essays in Honour of Eric Suy. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 65. ISBN 90-411-0582-4.
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