ESTONIAN SYMPHONIC MUSIC. THE FIRST CENTURY 1896-1996.
The sweeping deportation action in June 1941 wiped out any
illusions about the communist rule. During the first Soviet year, approximately 19,000
Estonian citizens were deported.
The reshaping of the national spirit and way of thinking into a Soviet mould was
declared the essential goal. Cultural life was subordinated to the Communist Party
leadership. All publishing houses were nationalised and censorship was established.
The Central Board for Printed Materials (Goskomizdat) drew up a list of prohibited
literature; with only a few exceptions the titles on the list had to be done away with:
about five million books were destroyed.3
In Soviet Estonia the transformation of artistic life was directed by the Board of
Arts at the Ministry of Culture (headed by Johannes Semper) and guided by Communist
1
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, signed 23 Aug. 1939.
2
28 Sept. 1939.
3
Eesti kirjanduslugu (Estonian Literary History) (Tallinn: Koolibri, 2001) 345.
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