Paper short abstract:

The memories of this time show that during World War II, children started playing with munitions and in places where there were visible signs of war. The conflict between what was allowed and what was prohibited was sharper than ever before.

Paper long abstract:

Children of the WWII and post-war period who grew up during the occupations by Nazi Germany (1941–1944) and the Soviet Union (1944–1991) had their own assortment of games. Estonia suffered the fate of becoming the battlefront twice—in 1941 and 1944.

The memories of this time show that during World War II, children started playing in former places of action, including areas where there were visible signs of war—mines, derelict military equipment and ruins. Children and young people appropriated the tools of war—ammunition, various fire-fighting and explosive devices, their shells and miscellaneous military items.

The commands and prohibitions aimed at children were dramatically tightened, and concerned mostly areas and items that were forbidden for playing. The conflict between what was allowed and what was prohibited was sharper than ever before, but there was no way to enforce the prohibitions. The line between dangerous and safe ways of playing, as well as games and hooliganism, was thin. Depending on one’s point of view, such children's activities could be classified as hooliganism, disobedience, dangerous risk-taking and sometimes even anti-Soviet acts. The memories also touch upon accidents that happened both to the autobiographers themselves and others around them. In the memories of boys, however, the enthusiasm and joy of performing and testing their courage are ever-present.

The sources for this presentation include various autobiographical books, in which childhood events are recalled more than 50 years later; oral interviews and manuscripts preserved in the Estonian Folklore Archives at Estonian Literary Museum.