"When Estonian soldier Varjo Jurisoo fired a string of bullets across the Narva River during World War Two, he had no idea his brother was on the other side. At the age of 16, he had managed to dodge being called into the Russian army after the conflict broke out, but his brother had not been able to avoid the fate. Three years later, in 1943, Jurisoo was dragged into the war when he was drafted into the German army, alongside hundreds of Estonians. Unknown to him as he fought the 1944 Narva river battle in Estonia, his older brother, Uno Jurisoo, was firing back from the Russian side - a fact he did not learn until 1991 when he finally returned to his homeland. Jurisoo was injured by gunfire, but was able to return to the battlefield as the German war machine ground toward defeat. He and other Estonian soldiers surrendered to the US Army, and was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp in Belgium, where he spent the last year of the war. After Jurisoo - who was known as 'Joe' - was released, he was hired at the Palace of Justice, where he was one of the guards responsible for guarding notorious Nazi war criminal Rudolf Hess and other prisoners during the Nuremberg trials. He immigrated to the United States in the late 1940s, fearful of his safety if he returned to Estonia, which was rife with political tensions. In order to pay for his journey, he took a job picking oranges in California, on land which is now part of Disneyland. His experience of war was not yet over though, and Jurisoo was drafted to fight in the Korean War, and served in Europe. It was only after his return that he was able to enjoy a quiet life, and his family said he did not open up about his incredible experiences. Nephew Daniel Hunt, 35, told the Star Tribune: 'He would just sit quietly in the corner and not talk. In my first 35 years, I heard him say two words.' Despite the hardship he endured, Jurisoo, who died on October 8 after a long battle with cancer, did not linger on it." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3852242/He-definitely-didn-t-talk-past-Incredible-secret-life-Estonian-man-drafted-THREE-armies-guarded-Nazi-war-criminal-fleeing-US.html#ixzz4NaMiQZGI
