Exhibition recounts Estonian sailors’ wartime service aboard Norwegian ships

ERR reports that an exhibition titled “Won war, lost homeland” has opened at Fat Margaret, the Estonian Maritime Museum’s museum complex in Tallinn. It tells the stories of Estonian sailors who helped the Allies win the Second World War.

Years of cooperation between Estonian and Norwegian historians, along with research and documentation by the War-Time Sailors’ History Centre in Kristiansand, Norway, have identified 357 Estonian sailors who served on free Norwegian merchant ships during the war.

Their stories describe courage, fear, loss and survival.

“The stories of Estonian sailors who served on free Norwegian merchant ships remind us that the Allied victory depended not only on the military, but also on the courage and sacrifices of merchant sailors from several countries,” said Bjørn Tore Rosendahl, head and historian at the ARKIVET War-Time Sailors’ History Centre.

“By sharing their experiences, the exhibition keeps an important part of Norway and Estonia’s shared history alive and reminds us why freedom and international cooperation are values just as important today as they were then,” he said.

The exhibition features rare photographs, biographies, archive materials and personal belongings. Personal items belonging to Arsen Kepnik, a sailor from Estonia, as well as medals he received from the King of Norway for his wartime service, have been added to the Estonian Maritime Museum’s collection by Jofrid and Per Golten.

“The Maritime Museum’s task is to preserve and highlight stories connected with Estonia’s maritime history and sailors,” said Urmas Dresen, head of the Estonian Maritime Museum.

“The new exhibition highlights a little-discussed chapter in Estonia’s maritime history: the service of Estonian sailors on free Norwegian merchant ships during the Second World War. The special objects added to the museum’s collection during preparations for the exhibition help convey these people’s stories more directly,” he added.

The exhibition will remain open at the Estonian Maritime Museum’s Fat Margaret until April 30, 2027.