Merike Weiler

Merike Weiler tells a story about her grandfather Aleksander Weiler who owned one of the largest newspapers in circulation in Estonia before WWII. Aleksander was arrested during the first Soviet occupation (1940-1941) and detained in Patarei prison in Tallinn. When the German army conquered Tallinn in summer 1941, he was one of the few who managed to escape the prison. In February 1944, the war again reached Estonia’s borders. Aleksander sent his family to Finland as it seemed to be a safer place for them. He himself did not leave Estonia until September 1944 when the German army started its retreat from Estonia.