Estonians hit by property restitution laws » Kuwait Times Website Thousands of people in Estonia are facing the prospect of eviction from the homes they thought they owned, as a period of grace for turning property over to pre-World War II owners draws to a close. Over the past decade, some 100,000 of Estonia's 1.3 million residents have been hit by property restitution laws, among the most controversial reforms enacted since this Baltic state regained independence in 1991 as the Soviet Union fell apart. Most have already moved out, but 3,600 holdouts could soon be shown the door-in what critics say is replacing one injustice with another. Read more on the site above... PS. that was the only site on the subject in English I managed to find right now...
Thanks Kaï if there is one in german I'd appreciate if you could post a link for me. Does this mean that the former German Aristocraty will also be allowed to return to Estonia?
It seems anyone who owned the house/rooms could come back, so the answer is yes. The other problem is that the property could have been sold after 1944 and they have to go away as well....
Interesting article Kai , i own some property in Estonia but it was only recently built, although i have some land as well so that could possibly be a problem in the future , i'll have to check it out, Paul
The German minority in Estonia was very small ( less than 5%) but they were virtually the landlords so if any Germans returned this would be a precedent that could probably scare the Poles too.
Nazi Germany succeeded in getting the Baltic Germans to abandon their homes and homeland in haste, disposing of their belongings at cut-rate prices. Some 13,700 Baltic Germans were resettled from Estonia by early 1940. Around 51,000 Baltic Germans were resettled from Latvia by early 1940. Baltic Germans - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nice link Kai, I didn't know about these 1940 departures. However I believe several stayed up to 1945 and even 1946 until they were uprooted by force by the Soviets. Some managed to stay an addtional few months by inverting roles. Their Staff became landlords and they worked for them. I wonder whether Lithunia would adopt similar laws. If this is the whole Memel territory could raise claims.
