Laas Leivat: Occupation isn’t just a word

When Estonian war refugees, born during the first Soviet occupation, first applied for their Canadian citizenship, their ‘place of birth’ was often designated as ‘Tallinn, USSR’ or ‘Estonian SSR’ or something similar. Rarely was it marked ‘Estonia’.

This was an insult, made by ignorant officials who ignored the Canadian policy, which didn’t recognize de jure the annexation of the Baltic states. Plus, they didn’t grasp the painful meaning of ‘occupation’ for people who had to endure and then escape from repressive, foreign subjugation.