The analogy is inapposite, however, on at least two counts. Germany, a country defeated in war, has accepted this particular symbol of one of the victorious powers in the country’s capital. Estonia, however, did not take part in any war, being simply occupied by two powers successively, the second occupation lasting almost half-century. Second, the notion that Germany’s defeat actually liberated the country from totalitarianism is a notion accepted and internalized by German society, whereas the Soviet occupation -- of which the Soviet Soldier’s Tallinn monument is the conspicuous symbol -- cemented totalitarian rule over Estonia and her Baltic neighbors.
(BNS, Interfax, January 17 through 25; see EDM, January 11)
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