European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 14, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse We Are estonians not russians by Philip Talisman new York times w Hile the rest of the soviet Union watches state controlled television programs residents of Tallinn in capita o Estonia tallow the tales episodes of dal As and dynasty. The sagas of the ewings and the Carrington come Courtesy of finned television. Helsinki broadcasts can be picked up in Tallinn from across the Gull of Finland and most antennas Are pointed in that direction. Everyone watches Dallas on thursdays a schoolteacher said. The Access to Western television is one reason Tallinn seems a City suspended Between East and West. Like Chr Tol Eit Onla Tallinn has a Western european flavor overlaid by a soviet government. Estonia is one of the soviet Union s 13 republics or slates. Its population is about 1.5 million of whom about 450,000 Tiva in Tallinn. The combination has produced e culture hat often seems foreign to russians while appearing russian to foreigners. The native language is estonian which is related to finnish most of he people look scandinavian and Al night the sounds of Honky Tonk and blues spill from restaurants and Bare into the narrow cobbled streets of old town the medieval heart of the City. Old town is filled Wilh boutiques that sell clothing jewelry and books. The colourful window displays have More in common with Newbury Street in Boston or Wisconsin Avenue in the Georgetown area of Washington than with Gorky Street in Moscow. Nationalism runs High. We Are estonians not russians a resident said delian to. We have preserved our language and our visitors irom other parts of the soviet Union especially ethnic russians Are greeted with suspicion and hostility. We have no Beer a waiter at the Nord restaurant lord a russian. Moments Laier. When he realized an american was at the same table the waiter arrived Wilh a Large Pitcher of Beer. Yet the cultural autonomy which itself has limits does not extend 10 the political system. Except for a 20-year period Between the world wars Estonia has been dominated or centuries by outsiders including Danes swedes germans and since 1940, russians the communist parly and the other Ristl Lucions of the soviet Union control the political and economic Lite of Estonia. The availability of goods although slightly better than elsewhere in the soviet Union Falls far Short of Western standards. Behind the Chic boutique window displays the Quantity and Quality of clothing jewelry and books Are Only a bit belter than in Moscow or Leningrad. Russian is the second language and its study is mandatory in schools. Official guidebooks and histories refer to the 20 years of Independence As a period of Bourgeois wot Larn diploma who visit Tallinn frequently say thai under the Delia nationalism there seems to be a numbness and sorrow a sense among estonians that As one Diplomat said Moscow tolerates the trappings of Independence but not the an american visitor to Tallinn several years ago was taken around the City by an estonian guide. The guide reciting the official history of Estonia began to stutter As she described the soviet liberation in 1940. She paused to collect Hersell then quickly changed the subject. There is a ast Lane in the social life of Young estonians and it leads to a series of nigh stops along the waterfront just outside Tallinn they could easily be mistaken or Manhattan singles bars establishments not frequently found in the soviet Union. On a recant evening men and women in their 20s and 30s started gathering outside the Olrita restaurant housed in a modern building that served As the Center for the sailing Competition during he 1980 olympic games from the restaurant s Large picture windows the View of downtown Tallinn across the Harbor was reminiscent of the Vista Al san Francisco irom across the Bay in Sausalito. By Early evening the second floor bar a narrow. Act cow soviet Union Crescent shaped room was filled with Young people most dressed in stylish Western clothes including designer jeans. Women sat on bar stools sipping cocktails As men hovered behind exchanging greetings with friends and opening conversations with the women. All the Conversa ions were in estonian. American Rock music blared from Large loudspeakers and Clouds of cigarette smoke were illuminated by a revolving Light. One estonian said the scene was repealed a mile Down the Shoreline at the regatta bar. Asked if he had heard the phrase singles bar the estonian replied. That is what to Call these every year the eito fan artists Union stages an exhibition of the latest paintings by local artists. This year s show on the second floor of the artists Union building in downtown Tallinn included numerous paintings that went beyond even the most Liberal definition of socialist realist Art. Composition pal need by Pavel Ditman. Was an abstract Jumble of colors and spattered oils Hal seemed inspired by Jackson Pollock. Millard Kilk s Samson and Delilah depicted Samson As a modern Man dressed Only in a pair of Bikini undershirts standing Over a Ivory in dressed in tight Black pants and a Black Blouse. Five dyes on Black background by Juri Kask was an abstract design of live brightly coloured shapes against a bad Canvas. Ii these paintings were on exhibition in Moscow people would be lined up Lor blocks trying logo in a visiting muscovite said. The were no crowds in Tallinn. Vilma Reinholm the director of be i Clion of the artists Union said estonian party officials had attended the opening of la ? exhibition and made no complaints the Poitiers of Ito Union she said is to encourage Young or tills to search Tor their own style not to ban three paintings selected by the Union As the Besl. However seemed a reminder of Tallinn s location. There was not an abstract image among them. Union against alcoholism. Statistics on alcoholism and liquor consumption Ere not made Public and requests for interviews on the subject Are routinely denied. But rampant alcoholism is considered one of the major deterrents la improving Industrial output and worker productivity and excessive drinking has been described in the state run Media As a health problem of epidemic proportion. Pravda s article was the first to criticize of Licals for carrying the party s anti drunkenness mandate to extremes. The report made Clear however thai the anti drink Campaign is still very much in Force. The Light against drunkenness and alcoholism is not a Short term noisy Campaign but a Complex difficult and painstaking matter demanding on the one hand uncompromising Eli Orts against carriers of .1 this evil and those who break Laws but on the other hand a respectful attitude toward people barring infringement of citizens rights and the newspaper concluded. Ting it by a by Daull log How a Turnan from the City v its of Imaikop went to a grocery store to buy wine needed a to make a special georgian Chicken dish. She was Jlon refused Sale because she did not have her passport re Wilh her which a militiaman said was needed in order Els at the Ive into by Irve to record her Purchase. Of i prepare Chakhn Twibill twice in one month i risk being sent to a narcotics treatment wrote Galina Samoylova. Another letter writer votary Volkov of the Donetsk Region in the Ukraine said he is an ardent supporter of the anti alcoholism Campaign and a non Drinker Hemsell. But Volkov said he was appalled when the City bus he was Riding Home from work one evening was halted by militiamen who boarded and administered breath analysis tests to All the passengers. When he complained to the militiamen he was threatened Wilh a bad report to his local parly commutes. A professed Teet Taler from Penza wrote that his factory manager had organized a sobriety club and ordered everyone to join. For what so thai i won t drink asked Yuri Lashev. This is very strange other letter writers complained about being pressed into such sobriety clubs so that their Enterprise managers could claim High participation. The party Organ urged enforcers of the Anil drinking measures to take a lesson from the Leitera and keep the rights of citizens in mind. On the other Ratip if we Cut in we Otheir table to be a Bis increase in russian a Letts the stars and stripes Page 15
