Üle rahutu vee
Üle rahutu vee (in German About restless water ) is the title of a novel by the Estonian writer August Gailit (1891–1960). The book deals with the flight of many Estonians from the advancing Red Army at the end of the Second World War . It first appeared in Gailit's Swedish exile in 1951 . Üle rahutu vee has 375 pages in the first edition.
action
Estonia in September 1944: the front of World War II is getting closer. The German Wehrmacht , which has occupied the Baltic States since 1941, is withdrawing further and further from the approaching Soviet army.
Traumatized by the first Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1940/41 with mass deportations and Stalinist terror, more and more Estonians are leaving the country. In panic and desperation, they want to escape to freedom at the last moment. With the last cutters they try to flee across the Baltic Sea to neutral Sweden.
In his novel, Gailit describes the escape across the stormy Baltic Sea in one of the last motor boats of an Estonian fisherman. It reflects the conversations and inner monologues of the coincidental fate of the small ship, the fears and hopes, the reflections on their own actions during the interwar period as well as the Soviet and German occupation of the country. The main topic of discussion is how the loss of Estonian independence and freedom could come about. And: is escape the right way?
A gloomy mood prevails in the boat: instead of solidarity, mistrust and selfishness prevail among the Estonians. The occupants desperately draw water from the bottom of the boat. Not all of them survive the journey across the troubled seas.
background
Gailit wrote the novel shortly after his own escape from the Soviet occupation of Estonia in Swedish exile. It was completed in 1947, but was not printed in Gothenburg until 1951 . In the same year a translation into Latvian was published in Germany .
Based on his personal experience, the author describes the mass exodus of the Estonian population from their own country as the “moral decline of a people.” For him, the flight is also a “punishment” for previous sins. Gailit draws quite biblical parallels to the expulsion: By leaving their own country, the Estonians in exile are scattered all over the world like the Jews once did.
Above all, Gailit criticizes the fact that Estonia surrendered to the Soviet occupation without a fight in 1939/40. The forced contract to establish military bases of the Red Army in 1939 and the accepted Soviet occupation in 1940 are for him the moral downfall of a once free Estonian people.
His image of man is predominantly negative: in the boat, egoism and the naked struggle for one's own existence prevail. In the place of solidarity, brotherhood and mutual support there are enmity and rudeness. Üle rahutu vee is in contrast to Gailit's earlier published literary work, which is often cheerful and mischievous: "At the end of his life, pessimistic melancholy had finally taken possession of the happy Picaro ."
reception
Of course, Gailit's novel could only appear in exile, not in the Estonian SSR . The literary and social reception of Üle rahutu vee remained restrained. The Estonian refugees who were able to save their lives and freedom were busy building a new existence abroad. They didn't want to hear self-accusations.
In Estonia, Üle rahutu vee only appeared after Estonian independence was regained in 1998.
A translation into German is not yet available.
Famous quotes
- Inimese suurimaks õnnetuseks on see, et ta seedib kõik imekiirelt läbi, kas olgu see usk, lootus, armastus või jumal ise. - "The greatest misfortune of man is that he digests everything at lightning speed, be it faith, hope, love or God himself."
- Inimene peab teadma, et midagi ei andestada ja midagi ei tõmmata süütegude nimistust maha. - "Man must know that nothing is forgiven and nothing is deleted from the register of sins."
- Kauneid põhimõtteid rakendatakse vaid enese huvides ja oma riigis. - "One applies the most beautiful principles only in one's own interest and in one's own state."
- Unistus taisväärtuslikuks elust istub inimese veres nii võimsalt, et seda pole võimalik kustutada. - "The dream of a full life sits so powerfully in the human blood that it is not possible to erase it."
Web links
- Jaan Undusk : Eesti lugu: August Gailit "Üle rahutu vee" ( Eesti Päevaleht , April 24, 2009)
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://ester-rr.nlib.ee/search~S1*est?/t Zonenu00DC Genealogiele+rahutu+vee/tw~dle+rahutu+vee/1%2C3%2C4%2CB/frameset&FF=tw ~ dle + rahutu + vee + lw ~ bti + keeles & 1% 2C1% 2C ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.estlit.ee/elis/?cmd=writer&id=86132
- ↑ http://www.epl.ee/news/kultuur/eesti-lugu-august-gailit-ule-rahutu-vee.d?id=51166569
- ↑ Cornelius Hasselblatt : History of Estonian Literature. Berlin, New York 2006 ( ISBN 3-11-018025-1 ), p. 477
- ↑ http://www.estlit.ee/elis/?cmd=book&id=15814
