In case you missed it in person, you can now watch the recordings of both days of the conference (in English) on VEMU’s YouTube channel. Watch the insightful presentations and discussions centred around the Great Escape from Estonia in 1944, its aftermath, and the resettlement and adaptation of refugees in Canada. 

Watch Session One

The first session of the VEMU conference The Great Escape of 1944 – The Baltic Experience was on September 19th, 2024. This session features presentations by Patrick Rang from the Estonian War Museum (“An Exploration of the War Events in Estonia Paving the Way to the Great Escape in 1944”), Hiljar Tammela from the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory (“Composition and Fate of ‘Estonian Refugee Armada’ in Sweden 1943-1945”), and Meelis Saueauk from the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory (“What Happened to Those Who Couldn’t Escape?”).

Watch Session Two

The second session of the VEMU conference The Great Escape of 1944 – The Baltic Experience was on September 20th, 2024. This session features presentations by Julie F. Gilmour (“Canada and the Displaced Persons, 1944-1954. Policy, Family, and Displacement”), Kadri Tüür from the University of Toronto (“Newcomers Adapting in Canada: Plays by Raissa Kõvamees”), and Tiina Kirss from the University of Tartu/Estonian Literary Museum (“From Traumatic Memory to Postmemory: the Great Escape of 1944 in Estonian Life Stories”).

Watch Session Three

The third session of the VEMU conference The Great Escape of 1944 – The Baltic Experience on September 19, 2024. This session features a presentation by Keila Kopvillem from VEMU Estonian Museum Canada (“Investigating the Refugee Experience Through Newspaper Classifieds”).

Watch Session Four

The fourth session of the VEMU conference The Great Escape of 1944 – The Baltic Experience on September 20, 2024. This session features presentations by Piret Noorhani from VEMU Estonian Museum Canada (“Our Relics: Bringing Homeland Along in a Suitcase”), Maira Bundza (“The Fate of the Jānis Krēsliņš Collection”), and Petra Grantham from Canadian Baltic Immigrant Aid Society (“Collecting and Preserving the Stories of Baltic Germans in Canada”).

Watch Session Six

The sixth session of the VEMU conference The Great Escape of 1944 – The Baltic Experience on September 20, 2024. This session features a presentation by Camille Intson from University of Toronto (“Performing Remains: Photography and the Intergenerational Imagination”).

In partnership with the Chair of Estonian Studies at the University of Toronto