TALLINN - Much has been written about what is arguably Eastern Europe's most famous statue, but few have bothered to peer into the Bronze Soldier's peculiar history. Like the statue's removal, its past is steeped in controversy. The Bronze Soldier was first unveiled on Sept. 22, 1947 to commemorate the third anniversary of the "liberation" of Tallinn by Soviet troops. However, this was a most disingenuous commemoration, since the Nazis had already pulled out of Tallinn early in September 1944, and there were no battles when the Red Army entered. The Estonian flag flew on the Toompea tower, and the city of Tallinn had already formed an ad hoc government.
So when Russians claim that the Red Army "liberated" Tallinn, the statement rings hollow.
The statue itself adds to the confusion. Designed by famous Estonian sculptor Enn Roos, the Bronze Soldier, according to legend, was made in the image of Krisjan Palusalu, an Olympic gold medalist. Palusalu won two golds in heavyweight wrestling 's both freestyle and Greco-Roman 's in the Berlin games of 1936, and is a national hero. Who better than to mold the statue of the fearless warrior?
Anyone but Palusalu, as it turns out. Deported to Soviet Russia after the occupation in 1940, the Olympic wrestler eventually defected to Finland, and by doing so forever disgraced himself in the eyes of Soviet historians.
So Roos, commissioned by Soviet authorities in Tallinn to sculpt a statue for Tonismagi, could hardly have modeled the Bronze Soldier after the gold medalist. Yet at the same time Roos may have done precisely that as a snub to communist occupational authorities. Some experts claim this is exactly what the sculptor did.
There is also a widespread belief, however, that Roos sculpted this Bronze Soldier after his assistant, Albert Adamson, who was a carpenter.
But when juxtaposing the photos of Palusalu and the Bronze Soldier, one immediately sees the eerie resemblance.
As was customary at Soviet war memorials, there was an eternal flame at the base of the Tonismagi statue for some 43 years. However, in 1990 the mayor of Tallinn, Hardo Aasmae, ordered that the flame be extinguished. He also wanted to remove the Bronze Soldier after Estonia won back its independence, but the commander of the Russian troops, who were still in the country and would remain until 1994, told him he couldn't allow it.
Palusalu, thankfully, was not destroyed by the totalitarian Soviet state. He was allowed to work as a wrestling trainer, and eventually passed away in 1987, at the age of 79.
