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ABSTRACT
The death of Joseph Stalin resulted in the liberalization of formerly strict travel policies in the Soviet Union. The number of foreign tourists to the Soviet Union gradually increased, and soon Finnish visitors accounted for the majority of foreign visitors. One of the main travel destinations of Finns was Soviet Estonia. The aim of this paper is to analyze security considerations related to the growing number of Finnish tourists to Soviet Estonia from the mid-1950s until 1980.
Notes
1. According to the final report of the Special Committee of the Estonian parliament from 2002, in November 1989, the Estonian KGB sent to Ulyanovsk the personal files of approximately 13,500 agents. Two months later the archive of operational files of the Estonian KGB, containing information about special operations and secret surveillance was also sent to Ulyanovsk. See, for example, ‘KGB dokumendid’ Citation2007.
2. I interviewed Priit Männik (b. Citation1948), Toivo Ninnas (b. Citation1940), and Kulle Raig (b. Citation1940). Männik worked as an investigator at the Tallinn City District Attorney’s Office in the 1970s. Ninnas worked in the 1970s in various positions at the Estonian State Shipping Company (under the Ministry of the Merchant Marine), which organized the transportation of tourists between Tallinn and Helsinki. Raig was an Intourist guide in Tallinn in the 1960s and 1970s. From 1975 until 1989, she edited Finnish-language programs on Estonian radio.
3. Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Archives (Ulkoministeriön arkisto), collection 87 C, pp. 2–3. ‘Lentoliikenne Helsingin ja Tallinnan välisellä reitillä’ [Air traffic on the route between Helsinki and Tallinn].
4. Finnish National Archives (Kansallisarkisto), collection Suomi-Neuvostoliitto Seura, archival record 56, pp. 5–6. ‘Suomalais-Neuvostoliittolainen kauppakamari’ [Finnish-Soviet Chamber of Commerce].
5. Estonian National Archives (Rahvusarhiiv, hereafter RA), f. R-2347, n. 3, s. 1068, l. 8. ESSR Academy of Sciences Institute of Economics report from 1971 on tourism, export, and import in the ESSR.
6. RA, f. R-2136, n. 1, s. 9, l. 8, 21, 32. Overview of the movements of foreign tourists from March to October 1961, 31 October 1961. More exact data about the annual number of Finnish tourists to the ESSR is available from the year 1965 onward.
7. RA, f. R-1, n. 5, s. 837, l. 16. Letter from D. Pronski to V. Klauson, 20 August 1970.
8. RA, f. R-2206, n. 1, s. 23, l. 17. Report on the delegation from Kotka to Tallinn on 5–11 November 1958.
9. Ibid., 12, 18.
10. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 7, l. 11–12. Report on serving foreign tourists in the USSR in 1963, 25 March 1964.
11. RA, f. R-2136, n. 1, s. 2, l. 56. Intourist route number 1 (44) Leningrad-Tallinn, 10 October 1959.
12. RA, f. R-1, n. 5, s. 689, l. 71. Letter from M. Suhoruchenko to A. Green, 29 April 1965.
13. RA, f. R-2347, n. 3, s. 1068, l. 11. ESSR Academy of Sciences Institute of Economics report from 1971 on tourism, export, and import in the ESSR.
14. RA, f. R-1, n. 5, s. 817, l. 8. Report on the work of the ESSR Foreign Tourism Administration for 1969, 20 January 1970.
15. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 35, l. 39. Report on the distribution of inbound foreign tourists between republics and cities in the first half of 1972, 7 September 1972.
16. RA, f. R-2347, n. 3, s. 1068, l. 18. ESSR Academy of Sciences Institute of Economics report from 1971 on tourism, export and import in the ESSR.
17. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 51, l. 7. Report on the work of the ESSR Foreign Tourism Administration in 1975, 17 February 1976.
18. RA, f. R-2136, n. 1, s. 49, l. 54. Letter from E. Liim to V. Ankudinov, 22 July 1965.
19. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 23, l. 27. Report on work with foreign tourists in the ESSR in 1967, 9 January 1968.
20. The travel agencies were Lomamatka, Suomen Matkatoimisto, Kaleva, and AREA.
21. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 4, l. 20. Letter from E. Liim to V. Boichenko, 30 November 1962; f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 3, l. 29. Letter from E. Liim to S. Nikitin, 6 July 1961; f. R-2288, n. 1, s. 76, l. 10. Intourist informational letter on the procedure for organizing tourist trips to the USSR by sea transportation, 24 March 1971.
22. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 2, l. 1. Minutes of the meeting of the Bureau of the ESSR Council of Ministers, 11 February 1961.
23. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 23, l. 28. Report on work with foreign tourists in the ESSR in 1967, 9 January 1968.
24. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 3, l. 29. Order issued by the head of USSR Intourist, 15 June 1961.
25. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 19, l. 20. Report on informational-propaganda work with foreign tourists in Tallinn in 1966, 13 February 1967.
26. RA, f. 17sm, n. 4, s.734, l. 59. ESSR Ministry of Internal Affairs report on work with visas and registration of foreigners during 1977, 30 December 1977.
27. RA, f. 17sm, n. 4, s. 480, l. 4. Working plan of the department of visas and registration of foreigners at the ESSR Ministry of Internal Affairs for 1972, 21 December 1971.
28. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 68, l. 14. Report on the work of the ESSR Foreign Tourism Administration for 1979, 29 January 1980.
29. Interview with Priit Männik.
30. Central Office of Antiquity Affairs of Finland (Museovirasto), Collection A 28:11, ‘Suomalaisten matkat etelään ja muualle’ [Travels of Finns to the south and other places]: Respondents Joutsen, T. Lehtonen.
31. According to official statistics from the first half of 1974, 6% of the total number of Finnish tourists visiting Tallinn belonged to the intelligentsia and another 6% were students: RA, f. R-1, n. 5, s. 911, l. 244. Report on foreign tourists visiting the ESSR in the first half of 1974, 17 July 1974.
32. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 65, l. 14. Report on the work of the ESSR Foreign Tourism Administration for 1978, 31 January 1979.
33. Interview with Toivo Ninnas.
34. RA, f. R-1040, n. 13, s. 1110, l. 161. Report from tourist group leader E. Kleison on a trip to Finland, 1 September 1972.
35. RA, f. 17sm, n. 4, s. 526, l. 46. Numerical data on the work of the ESSR Ministry of Internal Affairs during nine months of 1973, 28 September 1973.
36. RA, f. 17sm, n. 4, s. 679, l. 62. ESSR Ministry of Internal Affairs report on work with visas and registration of foreigners during 1976, 29 December 1976.
37. RA, f. R-2136, n. 1, s. 203, l. 44. Letter from T. Huik to R. Nittim, 11 September 1974.
38. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 45, l. 6–7. Letter from R. Nittim to the Central Committee of the ESSR Communist Party, 17 June 1975.
39. RA, f. R-1, n. 5, s. 795, l. 158. Information on foreign tourists in the ESSR over the period of 1–15 July 1969, 21 July 1969.
40. Interview with Priit Männik.
41. RA, f. R-1, n. 5, s. 795, l. 200. Information on foreign tourists in the ESSR in the period of 1–15 September 1969, 18 September 1969.
42. RA, f. R-1, n. 5, s. 936, l. 87. Report on the work of the ESSR Foreign Tourism Administration for 1974, 24 January 1975.
43. RA, f. 17sm, n. 4, s. 734, l. 59. ESSR Ministry of Internal Affairs report on work with visas and registration of foreigners during 1977, 30 December 1977.
44. RA, f. 17sm, n. 4, s. 480, l. 49. ESSR Ministry of Internal Affairs report on work with visas and registration of foreigners during 1972, 29 December 1972.
45. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 67, l. 26. Order issued by the head of USSR Intourist, 25 March 1980.
46. Interview with Priit Männik.
47. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 19, l. 25. Report on informational-propaganda work with foreign tourists in Tallinn in 1966, 13 February 1967.
48. Ibid., pp. 22–23.
49. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 12, l. 3–4. Report on informational-propaganda work with foreign tourists in Tallinn in 1965, 7 January 1966.
50. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 23, l. 22. Report on work with foreign tourists in the ESSR in 1967, 9 January 1968.
51. RA, f. R-1, n. 5, s. 795, l. 129. Letter from R. Nittim to the ESSR Council of Ministers, 16 May 1969.
52. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 23, l. 21–22. Report on work with foreign tourists in the ESSR in 1967, 9 January 1968.
53. RA, f. R-2136, n. 1, s. 146, l. 83. Letter from V. Pehk to R. Pollimann, 2 October 1970.
54. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 53, l. 8. Letter from R. Nittim to the Central Committee of the ESSR Communist Party, 19 October 1977.
55. RA, f. R-1, n. 5, s. 795, l. 212. Information on foreign tourists in the ESSR in the period of 20–31 August 1969, 8 September 1969.
56. RA, f. 17sm, n. 4, s. 561, l. 177. Letter from V. Grigorjev to A. Volkov, 22 August 1974.
57. RA, f. R-1, n. 5, s. 749, l. 167, 173, 176. Information on foreign tourists in the ESSR in Tallinn in the period of 16–31 May 1967, 12 June 1967; Information on foreign tourists in Tallinn in the period of 1–15 May 1967, 25 May 1967; f. R-1, n. 5, s. 795, l. 143. Information on foreign tourists in Tallinn in the period of 1–15 June 1969, 19 June 1969.
58. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 72, l. 2. Instruction for securing public order in places where foreign citizens are accommodated, 26 February 1981.
59. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 64, l. 37. Letter from P. Guskov to R. Nittim, 30 August 1979.
60. RA, f. 17sm, n. 4, s. 608, l. 116. Plan of measures to strengthen public safety in places for tourist accommodation and excursions, 30 April 1975.
61. Interview with Männik.
62. RA, f. 17sm, n. 4, s. 679, l. 62. ESSR Ministry of Internal Affairs report on work with visas and registration of foreigners during 1976, 29 December 1976.
63. RA, f. 17sm, n. 4, s. 734, l. 59–60. ESSR Ministry of Internal Affairs report on work with visas and registration of foreigners during 1977, 30 December 1977.
64. RA, f. 17sm, n. 4, s. 760, l. 32. Letter from V. Ani to Y. Churbanov, dated 9 February 1978; 17sm-4–608, p. 33. Report of the directorate of criminal investigation to the staff of the ESSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, 19 February 1975.
65. RA, f. R-2288, n. 2, s. 72, l. 12. Instruction for securing public order in places where foreign citizens are accommodated, 26 February 1981.
66. RA, f. 17sm, n. 4 s. 825, l. 189. Letter from M. Tibar to the ESSR Council of Ministers, 12 August 1979.
67. Interview with Raig.
68. RA, f. 17sm, n. 4, s. 824, l. 38. Letter from M. Tibar to Y. Lozhkin, 19 September 1979.
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Oliver Pagel
Oliver Pagel (19 May 1984) studied history and politics in Estonia and Germany. He obtained his MA in history from University of Tartu (2009) and University of Jena (2010). He is a current PhD Student at University of Tartu, Institute of History and Archaeology, and his research topic includes tourism between Finland and Soviet Estonia during Cold War.