Tallinn tules : dokumente ja materjale Tallinna pommitamisest 9./10. märtsil 1944

More than half a century separates us from the major bombing of Tallinn on the night of March 9–10, 1944. The Soviet air force attack that took place that night was unparalleled in any previous wartime event in the city’s centuries-long history. Ashes and ruins filled the ancient Old Town, entire districts were destroyed without fire, hundreds of lives were lost, and tens of thousands of Tallinn residents were left homeless. Cultural treasures were destroyed, schools and hospitals demolished—nothing like it had ever been experienced in the old Hanseatic city. The March bombing has left a deep mark on the historical memory of the Estonian people. Despite Tallinn’s postwar reconstruction, empty spaces and ruins in the heart of the city still recall the horrors of the attack.