65th Reunion

The website has connected me with people from all over the world who have been touched by your story. The daughter of one of the ministers who blessed the ship in Ireland, just recently found her deceased father’s memoirs and sent me his written recollections of the event. One man wrote to me to tell me that he’d finally put together what exactly it was that he climbed on in Sligo as a child. For years, on walks with his father, he’d seen a rusting round drum on the pier at Sligo. After seeing images on our website he’d recognized it as a discarded Walnut lifeboat.  

If any of you have any more information to add, we would be happy to expand the collection.

We now get to the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier21.  This is the pier through which the Walnut and more than one million immigrants arrived in Canada between 1928 and 1971.  As the museum’s website states:  “A million souls passed through Pier 21, and even though we don’t know all of their names or stories, they all left an impression.  They were absorbed into the walls and floors that echo today with the footfalls of their descendants.”

Pier21 Museum has singled out the Walnut’s voyage and has a prominent display about the ship’s arrival since it is considered an excellent representation of the “little boats” that arrived in Halifax during 1948 and 1949.  The arrival of the boats during this time provoked a reaction in the public mind that is illustrative of the times, and contributed a permanent, humanitarian change in Canada’s immigration policy.  The Walnut has the largest paper trail and was the largest single crossing of Baltic refugees.

Introducing the Film

Our Walnut website is listed as a link and is a part of their research materials.  As of the beginning of this week, the website has had more than four thousand unique visitors and has been visited close to eight thousand times by people from around the world.

The film was made to assist students in their research and to address the question as to why the Walnut passengers undertook such a dangerous journey. There was no film crew aboard the ship and no digital cameras.  What we have are the images captured during a time of escape, aboard a boat filled with terrified passengers and hopeful hearts. The film is an amateur’s attempt to educate those wishing to know about the voyage. 

Ehatare Retirement home

An interesting viewpoint that came to light at the Ehatare reunion gathering, was one brought up by another resident who asked:  "Why did you make this dangerous voyage, when there were opportunities to travel with large, comfortable ships?"  She had come to Canada aboard a luxury liner.  My mother states that by the time she came to Toronto, other Estonians had already arrived and were walking down the street to greet her.

Passenger Güri Raag shared his viewpoint at Ehatare with us. He points out the following reasons for the Walnut voyage: 

1. Traveling on a passenger ship required that one have a VISA, immigration papers and the equivalent of $2000 US dollars or a one-year work contract. The Canadian government was not conducive to immigration at the time. 

2. Two years prior to the Walnut voyage, Sweden had returned to the Soviet Union 167 Baltic soldiers, amongst whom were many Estonians. In the Walnut passenger group, there were many previous soldiers and the fear was that their fate would be the same. 

3. The majority of Baltic refugees arriving in Sweden in 1944, including Estonians, were officially registered as citizens of the Soviet Union. The situation could have become dangerous if the Soviet Union started to demand their citizens back. 

Güri recalled being questioned by an immigration official in an unusual fashion.  The ship’s doctor, Güri and his wife were invited to the official’s home.  They were offered drinks and dinner.  The immigration official was interested as to exactly why they left Sweden, and questioned them about life under the Communist regime.  After coffee, the host called a taxi for the group.  Their taxi trip took them past a jail house and the nervous group expected that is where they were being taken.  This, of course, didn’t happen and they were soon back “home” in Rockhead hospital feeling secure. 

Steven Schwinghamer is the historian at the Pier21 museum.  He once met a visitor who asked why these people fled from the Soviet forces.  He insisted that they had nothing to fear from the peaceful Soviet republic. In response, Schwinghamer cited religious persecution, disenfranchisement, the stripping of property, deportation to Siberia, and outright execution.  These were reasons enough. 

Hari Õunpuu, now also living at Ehatare, recalled how he built the washrooms on the ship.  He didn’t have anything to measure the opening of the toilet with, so he used his head.  Literally. 

Excerpts read from Pastor Browne's recollections shared by Heather and Joan Browne from Ireland. 

Lynda Männik's Book Presentation

Thank you's

I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of this evening. Thank you Pastor Puusaag for being with us. Thank you to Lynda Männik for her enlightening presentation & book lottery.  I thank Tiiu Männamaa and her crew for our dinner this evening.  Thank you to St. Peter’s Ladies Guild and Lehta Greenbaum for allowing us the use of their tablecloths. I’m happy to thank Erik Purje for coming to cover our event and for Vivi Kivi and Ivi Saumets for helping at the registration table. Thank you to my son Kevin and husband Nick for all of their hard work. 

And finally, I thank our two anonymous donors who financially supported this event by providing for us the advertising, hall rental, decorations and dessert table.  Thank you all for coming. 

Our official program will end with the singing of the final unison song, but feel free to mingle, have more coffee and catch up with other passengers for as long as you wish. 

Below left:  A group photo was taken with all attending Walnut passengers.
Right:  All in attendance - Passengers with family members and guests.