The President of the Republic at the Palamuse Song Festival Stage on June 2, 2001
02.06.2001
Estonia Remembers
Dear fellow countrymen,
The song that we just heard is ''What Is This Country''. It was composed by Siiri Sisask, and the words are by Peeter Volkonski, who until recently had a long beard. I know Peeter ever since he was born, and I have known his father since 1949. I was still a student at the time. And perhaps, also the story of his father's life belongs here, to these beautiful trees and restless crows. He was born in Switzerland, and lived in Paris; and after World War II, the Volkonski family was lured by the Soviet propaganda to return to the country of their ancestors. They reached the Soviet border and there, arriving form Paris, they were immediately taken to hot sauna to kill the lice, which was a standard procedure at the time, and from there, directly to Siberia. At the time, Andrei was at the age of these Young Eagles here in front of me. But he was talented, and he was given permission to live at Ivanovo, near Moscow, where he played music at restaurants at nights, and was allowed to study at the Moscow Conservatoire in daytime.
This is the answer to the question ''what is this country?''. This is the answer to the question why we all have gathered here today. Cornflowers were destroyed wherever the communists and the nazis came to power, and there is no family in Estonia that has not been subjected to the violence of these foreign powers – sometimes indirectly, but in most cases directly. These common feelings – the sorrow of bereavement, but even more so the joy of reunion – have brought us together today.
