TO BE A JEW IN ESTONIA - YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW

This time we travel to Estonia - a small country located on the southern shore of Baltic sea.
Estonia is known for its environmental beauty - woods, lakes, islands and medieval fortresses. It's capital Tallinn where we will spend most of our tour time is often called as "the best preserved medieval town in Northern Europe" . Town's wide walls, tall towers and narrow streets still keep the atmosphere of 16 - 17 centuries.
Although there are some evidences of Jewish presence in Estonia already back in the 14th century the community was only formed after 1865 due to the reforms of the Russian Tsar Alexander II.
Our tour will take you through the 150 years of Jewish life in Estonia.

• We begin with the Jewish community's commercial success of late 19th century.
• We also speak about a phenomenon of Jewish Cultural Autonomy in the Independent Estonia of 1920s - 1930s.
• We discuss the Holocaust during the WWII and Soviet repressions that took place in Estonia in 1940s.
• We learn the stories of Jewish refuseniks in Estonia in the late Soviet time.
• And finally we come to the modern times when the Jewish Community was reestablished in the Independent Estonia. We look at the today's community, visit the Synagogue and Jewish museum in Tallinn, speak about the modern Estonian attitude towards Jews, Israel, Holocaust and other sensitive subjects.