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{{Short description|Estonian soldier allied with the Soviet Union}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2013}}
{{more footnotes|date=March 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox military person {{Infobox military person
|honorific_prefix = | honorific_prefix =
|name =Arnold Meri | name = Arnold Meri
|honorific_suffix = | honorific_suffix =
|native_name = | native_name =
|native_name_lang = | native_name_lang =
|image =Arnold meri 05.jpg | image = Arnold Meri.jpg
|image_size =300px | image_size =
|alt = | alt =
|caption =Arnold Meri in the ] | caption =
|birth_date ={{birth date|1919|07|01|df=y}} | birth_date = {{birth date|1919|07|01|df=y}}
|death_date ={{Death date and age|2009|03|27|1919|07|01|df=y}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|2009|03|27|1919|07|01|df=y}}
|birth_place =], Estonia | birth_place = ], ]
|death_place =Tallinn, Estonia | death_place = Tallinn, Estonia
|placeofburial = | placeofburial =
|placeofburial_label = | placeofburial_label =
|placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} --> | placeofburial_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
|nickname = | nickname =
|birth_name = | birth_name =
|allegiance ={{flag|USSR|23px}} | allegiance = {{flag|USSR|23px}}
|branch =] | branch = ]
|serviceyears =1940–1945 | serviceyears = 1941–1945
|rank =] | rank = ]
|servicenumber = <!--Do not use data from primary sources such as service records.--> | servicenumber = <!--Do not use data from primary sources such as service records.-->
|unit = | unit =
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⚫ *]
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⚫ *] (2)
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⚫ *]<br>(2nd and 1st degree)
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⚫ *{{nobr|] (2)}}
⚫ *]
*{{nobr|]}}
⚫ *{{nobr|] (posthumously)}}
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'''Arnold Meri''' (1 July 1919 – 27 March 2009) was a ] ] veteran of ] and ]<ref> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927225549/http://vkmtuci.edu.mhost.ru/svjaz/svjaz2e1.htm |date=27 September 2007 }} {{ru icon}}</ref> who was charged with ] for his role in the deportation of ]ns to the inhospitable regions of the USSR.<ref name=ap></ref> He was the cousin of former ], ]. At the time of his death, Meri was an honorary chairman of the Estonian Anti-Fascist Committee.<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://www.russiatoday.com/Top_News/2009-03-28/Estonian_Red_Army_veteran_dies_amidst_genocide_trial.html | title = Estonian Red Army veteran dies amidst genocide trial | publisher = ] | date = 28 March 2009 | accessdate = 5 April 2009 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20090331081019/http://www.russiatoday.com/Top_News/2009-03-28/Estonian_Red_Army_veteran_dies_amidst_genocide_trial.html | archivedate = 31 March 2009 | deadurl = yes | df = dmy-all }}</ref><ref name="Medvedev">{{cite web|url=http://president.kremlin.ru/eng/text/news/2009/03/214463.shtml |archive-url=https://archive.is/20130417035854/http://president.kremlin.ru/eng/text/news/2009/03/214463.shtml |dead-url=yes |archive-date=17 April 2013 |title=Dmitry Medvedev sent a telegram of condolences at the passing of veteran of the Estonian Red Army Rifle Corps Arnold Meri to Mr Meri's widow, Yekaterina. |date=29 March 2009 |publisher=] |accessdate=4 April 2009 }}</ref> '''Arnold Meri''' (1 July 1919 – 27 March 2009) was a ] World War II veteran and the first Estonian ].<ref> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927225549/http://vkmtuci.edu.mhost.ru/svjaz/svjaz2e1.htm |date=27 September 2007 }} {{in lang|ru}}</ref> After Estonia became independent, he was later charged with ] for his role in the deportation of some ]ns to the inhospitable regions of the USSR.<ref name=ap></ref> He was a first cousin of the ], ]. At the time of his death, Meri was an honorary chairman of the Estonian Anti-Fascist Committee.<ref name="Medvedev">{{cite web|url=http://president.kremlin.ru/eng/text/news/2009/03/214463.shtml |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130417035854/http://president.kremlin.ru/eng/text/news/2009/03/214463.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 April 2013 |title=Dmitry Medvedev sent a telegram of condolences on the passing of veteran of the Estonian Red Army Rifle Corps Arnold Meri to Mr Meri's widow, Yekaterina. |date=29 March 2009 |publisher=] |accessdate=4 April 2009 }}</ref>


== Early life == == Early life ==
In 1926 Meri's family emigrated to ] where the young Arnold was baptised into the ]. He completed Russian primary school in ] and the Russian-Serbian Gymnasium in ] in 1938. After returning to Estonia Meri was soon drafted into the Estonian Army. After the ] in 1940, he was elected to the City ] Committee in Tallinn and was instructed to create a Komsomol organization in his Estonian army unit. After the absorption of his unit into the Red Army ], he was appointed a deputy political officer in 415th Radio Battalion. His parents were Konstantin, ], and Olga, ] ] from ], the daughter of a wealthy merchant. In 1926, due to economic reasons and political convictions, Meri's family emigrated to ], which was the main centre of the ]. There, Arnold's father worked as a chef and his mother as a maid and young Arnold was baptised into the ] and renamed Adrian. He completed Russian primary school in ] and at the Russian-Serbian Gymnasium in ] in 1938. After returning to Estonia, he took a job as an intern at ], but he was soon called on to serve in the auto-tank regiment of the Estonian military. After the ] in 1940, he was elected to the City ] Committee in Tallinn and was instructed to create a Komsomol organization in his Estonian army unit. After the absorption of his unit into the Red Army ], he was appointed a deputy political officer in the 415th Radio Battalion.


== Military career == == Military career ==
Meri voluntarily joined the ] in 1940 while the ] was still in force. After Nazi Germany attacked in June 1941, he was wounded in battle while serving as a platoon commander in north-west Russia in 1941. In August 1941 he was awarded a ] of the ] for organizing the defense of the headquarters of the 22nd Estonian Territorial Rifle Corps when the German army broke through the lines near ] in July 1941. In reality the defense was commanded by captain Georg Loog,<ref name="ERSM">{{cite book After the start of ] on 22 June 1941, the ] retreated to the Porhov region. Meri was wounded four times during the battle while serving as a platoon commander in north-west Russia in 1941. In August 1941, he was awarded a Gold Star of the ] for organizing the defense of the headquarters of the 22nd Estonian Territorial Rifle Corps when the German army broke through the lines near ] in July 1941. In reality, the defense was commanded by captain Arnold Isotamm,<ref name="ERSM">{{cite book
| editor=Leonid Lentsman, Endel Sõgel | editor=Leonid Lentsman, Endel Sõgel
| title=Eesti rahvas Nõukogude Liidu Suures Isamaasõjas, 1941-1945 | title=Eesti rahvas Nõukogude Liidu Suures Isamaasõjas, 1941-1945
| series=1
| location=Tallinn | location=Tallinn
| language=Estonian | language=Estonian
| publisher=Eesti Raamat | publisher=Eesti Raamat
| year=1971}} | year=1971}}
</ref> but he was not deemed to be suitable for the decoration, as he was not a member of the ] and had been an officer of the ].<ref name="ee03"> - '']'', 18 November 2003 {{et icon}}</ref> Meri was specifically commended for remaining on the battlefield despite being wounded four times.<ref name="school"> - '']'', 28 May 2008 {{ru icon}}</ref> Meri retired from the Red Army as a ]. The building that housed the headquarters of the 22nd Estonian Rifle Corps in July 1941 is currently occupied by a secondary school. In 2008 the school was renamed in honour of Arnold Meri.<ref name="school"/> </ref> but he was not deemed to be suitable for the decoration, as he was not a member of the ] and had been an officer of the ].<ref name="ee03"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927004046/http://www.ekspress.ee/viewdoc/87FA8AE4B858184AC2256DE2003507D4 |date=27 September 2007 }} – '']'', 18 November 2003 {{in lang|et}}</ref> Meri was specifically commended for remaining on the battlefield despite being wounded four times.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} Meri retired from the Red Army as a ]. The building that housed the headquarters of the 22nd Estonian Rifle Corps in July 1941 is currently occupied by a secondary school. In 2008 the school was renamed in honour of Arnold Meri.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}


From 1945 to 1949 he served as the secretary of the central committee of ] in Estonia. In 1948 he was awarded the highest Soviet order, the ]. Meri's opinion on the Estonian part in World War II: From 1945 to 1949, he served as the secretary of the central committee of the ]. In 1948, he was awarded the highest Soviet order, the ]. Meri's opinion on the Estonian part in World War II:


{{cquote|Estonia's participation in ] was inevitable and only a fool could have believed otherwise. ... Every Estonian had only one decision to make: whose side to take in that bloody fight—the ]' or the ].<ref> - ], 9 May 2007</ref>}} {{cquote|Estonia's participation in ] was inevitable and only a fool could have believed otherwise. ... Every Estonian had only one decision to make: whose side to take in that bloody fight – the ]' or the ].<ref> – ], 9 May 2007</ref>}}


After the internal struggle within the ], which his "home communist"{{clarify|date=March 2023}} faction lost, he was stripped from his posts in 1950, then stripped of his honours and expelled from the party in 1951. In order to escape potential arrest, he settled in the ] with his new family. He was ] in 1956.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}
He was stripped of his honours in 1951, but was ] in 1956.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rss.russiatoday.ru/Top_News/2009-03-28/Estonian_Red_Army_veteran_dies_amidst_genocide_trial.html|title=Estonian Red Army veteran dies amidst genocide trial|date=28 March 2009|publisher=]|accessdate=28 March 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401130418/http://rss.russiatoday.ru/Top_News/2009-03-28/Estonian_Red_Army_veteran_dies_amidst_genocide_trial.html|archivedate=1 April 2009|deadurl=yes|df=dmy-all}}</ref>


== Involvement in deportation and the charge of genocide == == Involvement in deportation and the charge of genocide ==
{{See also|Operation Priboi}} {{See also|Operation Priboi}}
] ]
In 2003, the Estonia Security Police investigated Meri for participating in the ] in ] in 1949.<ref name="ee03" /><ref> - '']''</ref> In August 2007, the Estonian Western Circuit Prosecutor’s Office formally charged Arnold Meri with ], for his admitted role in organising the deportation of 251 Estonian civilians from the island of ] to the ] of ]{{citation needed|reason=page not found|date=December 2014}}.<ref name=iht2207></ref> According to the Prosecutor’s Office, most of the deportees were women and children, and 43 subsequently died{{citation needed|reason=page not found|date=December 2014}}.<ref name="iht2207"/> Meri had acknowledged taking part in the deportations, but denied responsibility.<ref name="ap"/> According to the BBC, Estonia's claims that genocide took place is not widely accepted.<ref name="bbcmeri"/> In 2003, the Estonia Security Police investigated Meri for participating in the ] in ] in 1949.<ref name="ee03" /><ref> – '']''</ref> In August 2007, three months after the ], the Estonian Western Circuit Prosecutor's Office formally charged Arnold Meri with ], for his admitted role in organising the deportation of 251 Estonian civilians from the island of ] to the ] of ].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Chivers|first=C. J.|date=2007-08-22|title=Cousin of former Estonian president charged with genocide (Published 2007)|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/22/world/europe/22iht-estonia.4.7214101.html|access-date=2020-10-05|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> According to the Prosecutor's Office, most of the deportees were women and children, and 43 subsequently died.<ref name=":0" /> Meri had acknowledged taking part in the deportations, but denied responsibility.<ref name="ap"/> According to the BBC, Estonia's claims that genocide took place are not widely accepted.<ref name="bbcmeri"/>


On 20 May 2008 the trial against Meri began. Meri pleaded not guilty.<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090402154455/http://www.postimees.ee/200508/esileht/siseuudised/331847.php?arnold-meri-ei-tunnistanud-end-genotsiidis-suudi |date=2 April 2009 }}</ref> In his defense, Meri maintained that he was appointed to monitor the compliance of the process with then-current laws and to ensure that the punitive actions were limited to the individuals specifically listed by security services. Meri claimed that he was unable to control the abuses of the local authorities and withdrew from the process. For this decision he himself was prosecuted, stripped of his military honors and expelled from the Communist Party in 1949. Meri maintained that he was targeted by the current Estonian authorities in retaliation for his ] activities and harsh critique of the Estonian government.<ref name="bbcmeri" /><ref name="rian1"> // ], 28 March 2009 {{ru icon}}</ref><ref name=lenta1> // ], 20 May 2008 {{ru icon}}</ref> On 20 May 2008 the trial against Meri began. Meri pleaded not guilty.<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090402154455/http://www.postimees.ee/200508/esileht/siseuudised/331847.php?arnold-meri-ei-tunnistanud-end-genotsiidis-suudi |date=2 April 2009 }}</ref> In his defense, Meri maintained that he was appointed to monitor the compliance of the process with then-current laws and to ensure that the punitive actions were limited to the individuals specifically listed by security services. Meri claimed that he was unable to control the abuses of the local authorities and withdrew from the process. For this decision he himself was prosecuted, stripped of his military honors and expelled from the Communist Party in 1949.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} Meri maintained that he was targeted by the current Estonian authorities in retaliation for his ] activities and harsh critique of the Estonian government.<ref name="bbcmeri" /><ref name="rian1"> // ], 28 March 2009 {{in lang|ru}}</ref>

In May 2008, the ] wrote to the European parliament with a call to stop what they called a "shameful trial". The adopted statement in part read "The trial is a purely political order to revise the results of WWII and to discredit the efforts of the anti-Hitler coalition to save mankind from the fascist plague".<ref name="rianovosti"/> On 2 April 2009, the ] passed a resolution condemning ] as a ].<ref></ref>


== Death == == Death ==
] honoring the ] laying ceremony]] ] honoring the ] laying ceremony]]
] ]
Arnold Meri died in his sleep on 27 March 2009 at the age of 89.<ref></ref> This automatically halted Meri's trial. Arnold Meri died in his sleep on 27 March 2009 at the age of 89.<ref></ref> This automatically halted Meri's trial.


The ] ] posthumously awarded Meri with the ] within hours after Meri's death.<ref name="rianovosti">{{cite web|url=http://en.rian.ru/world/20090328/120786314.html|title=Medvedev decorates Soviet hero Meri with Medal of Honor posthumously|date=28 March 2009|location=]|publisher=]|accessdate=28 March 2009| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20090331054126/http://en.rian.ru/world/20090328/120786314.html| archivedate= 31 March 2009 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref><ref>{{ru icon}} {{Cite Russian law|ru_entity=]|ru_type=]|ru_number=332|ru_date=28.03.2009|ru_title=О награждении Орденом Почета Мери А.К.|ru_url=http://document.kremlin.ru/doc.asp?ID=051528|en_entity= ]|en_type=]|en_number=332|en_date=28.03.2009|en_title=On the awarding of the Order of Honour to A.K. Meri|en_url=http://document.kremlin.ru/doc.asp?ID=076959}}</ref> In a telegram to Meri's widow, Yekaterina, Medvedev wrote "Arnold Meri was an exceptional and courageous figure, who devoted his entire life to the ideals of justice, freedom and humanism. Decorated with the Hero of the Soviet Union for his feats on the battlefields of the Great Patriotic War, he fought Nazism to the end of his days, and actively resisted attempts to rewrite history and whitewash those responsible for the twentieth century’s greatest tragedy, and their accomplices."<ref name="Medvedev" /> The ] ] posthumously awarded Meri the ] within hours of Meri's death.<ref>{{in lang|ru}} {{Cite Russian law|ru_entity=]|ru_type=]|ru_number=332|ru_date=28.03.2009|ru_title=О награждении Орденом Почета Мери А.К.|ru_url=http://document.kremlin.ru/doc.asp?ID=051528|en_entity= ]|en_type=]|en_number=332|en_date=28.03.2009|en_title=On the awarding of the Order of Honour to A.K. Meri|en_url=http://document.kremlin.ru/doc.asp?ID=076959}}</ref> In a telegram to Meri's widow, Yekaterina, Medvedev wrote "Arnold Meri was an exceptional and courageous figure, who devoted his entire life to the ideals of justice, freedom and humanism. Decorated with the Hero of the Soviet Union for his feats on the battlefields of the Great Patriotic War, he fought Nazism to the end of his days, and actively resisted attempts to rewrite history and whitewash those responsible for the twentieth century’s greatest tragedy, and their accomplices."<ref name="Medvedev" />


Meri was interred on 1 April 2009 in the ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.postimees.ee/?id=101714|title=Arnold Meri maeti täna Liiva kalmistule|last=Rudi|first=Hanneli|date=1 April 2009|publisher=]|language=Estonian|accessdate=20 June 2010}}</ref> on the outskirts of ] in a funeral which was attended by several hundred people.<ref name="bbcmeri">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7978111.stm|title=Estonian war figure laid to rest |date=2 April 2009|publisher=]|accessdate=2 April 2009| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20090404111252/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7978111.stm| archivedate= 4 April 2009 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}</ref> Meri was interred on 1 April 2009 in the ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.postimees.ee/?id=101714|title=Arnold Meri maeti täna Liiva kalmistule|last=Rudi|first=Hanneli|date=1 April 2009|publisher=]|language=Estonian|accessdate=20 June 2010}}</ref> on the outskirts of ] in a funeral which was attended by several hundred people.<ref name="bbcmeri">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7978111.stm|title=Estonian war figure laid to rest |date=2 April 2009|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=2 April 2009| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20090404111252/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7978111.stm| archivedate= 4 April 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref>

==Awards==
⚫ *]
*]
⚫ *Two ]
⚫ *] 1st and 2nd class
*Two ]
⚫ *Two ]
⚫ *]
⚫ *]
⚫ *]

<ref>{{Cite web|title=Мери Арнольд Константинович|url=http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=1111|access-date=2020-10-05|website=warheroes.ru}}</ref>

⚫ ==References==
⚫ {{Reflist}}

==External links==
⚫ * {{Commons category-inline}}
⚫ * {{Wikiquote-inline}}


⚫ == References ==
⚫ {{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
⚫ {{Commons category|Arnold Meri}}
⚫ {{Wikiquote}}
{{Authority control}} {{Authority control}}


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Latest revision as of 04:15, 21 October 2024

Estonian soldier allied with the Soviet Union

Arnold Meri
Born(1919-07-01)1 July 1919
Tallinn, Estonia
Died27 March 2009(2009-03-27) (aged 89)
Tallinn, Estonia
Allegiance Soviet Union
Service / branchRed Army
Years of service1941–1945
RankColonel
Battles / warsWorld War II
AwardsHero of the Soviet Union

Arnold Meri (1 July 1919 – 27 March 2009) was a Soviet World War II veteran and the first Estonian Hero of the Soviet Union. After Estonia became independent, he was later charged with genocide for his role in the deportation of some Estonians to the inhospitable regions of the USSR. He was a first cousin of the President of Estonia, Lennart Meri. At the time of his death, Meri was an honorary chairman of the Estonian Anti-Fascist Committee.

Early life

His parents were Konstantin, an Estonian, and Olga, a Russified German from Saint Petersburg, the daughter of a wealthy merchant. In 1926, due to economic reasons and political convictions, Meri's family emigrated to Yugoslavia, which was the main centre of the White emigrants. There, Arnold's father worked as a chef and his mother as a maid and young Arnold was baptised into the Russian Orthodox church and renamed Adrian. He completed Russian primary school in Skopje and at the Russian-Serbian Gymnasium in Belgrade in 1938. After returning to Estonia, he took a job as an intern at AS Franz Krull, but he was soon called on to serve in the auto-tank regiment of the Estonian military. After the Soviet occupation in 1940, he was elected to the City Komsomol Committee in Tallinn and was instructed to create a Komsomol organization in his Estonian army unit. After the absorption of his unit into the Red Army 22nd Estonian Territorial Rifle Corps, he was appointed a deputy political officer in the 415th Radio Battalion.

Military career

After the start of Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941, the 22nd Estonian Territorial Rifle Corps retreated to the Porhov region. Meri was wounded four times during the battle while serving as a platoon commander in north-west Russia in 1941. In August 1941, he was awarded a Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union for organizing the defense of the headquarters of the 22nd Estonian Territorial Rifle Corps when the German army broke through the lines near Dno in July 1941. In reality, the defense was commanded by captain Arnold Isotamm, but he was not deemed to be suitable for the decoration, as he was not a member of the Communist Party and had been an officer of the Estonian Army. Meri was specifically commended for remaining on the battlefield despite being wounded four times. Meri retired from the Red Army as a colonel. The building that housed the headquarters of the 22nd Estonian Rifle Corps in July 1941 is currently occupied by a secondary school. In 2008 the school was renamed in honour of Arnold Meri.

From 1945 to 1949, he served as the secretary of the central committee of the Leninist Young Communist League of Estonia. In 1948, he was awarded the highest Soviet order, the Order of Lenin. Meri's opinion on the Estonian part in World War II:

Estonia's participation in World War II was inevitable and only a fool could have believed otherwise. ... Every Estonian had only one decision to make: whose side to take in that bloody fight – the Nazis' or the anti-Hitler coalition's.

After the internal struggle within the Estonian Communist Party, which his "home communist" faction lost, he was stripped from his posts in 1950, then stripped of his honours and expelled from the party in 1951. In order to escape potential arrest, he settled in the Altai Republic with his new family. He was rehabilitated in 1956.

Involvement in deportation and the charge of genocide

See also: Operation Priboi
Meri in 2008

In 2003, the Estonia Security Police investigated Meri for participating in the deportations of Estonians in Hiiumaa in 1949. In August 2007, three months after the April Events, the Estonian Western Circuit Prosecutor's Office formally charged Arnold Meri with genocide, for his admitted role in organising the deportation of 251 Estonian civilians from the island of Hiiumaa to the Novosibirsk region of Siberia. According to the Prosecutor's Office, most of the deportees were women and children, and 43 subsequently died. Meri had acknowledged taking part in the deportations, but denied responsibility. According to the BBC, Estonia's claims that genocide took place are not widely accepted.

On 20 May 2008 the trial against Meri began. Meri pleaded not guilty. In his defense, Meri maintained that he was appointed to monitor the compliance of the process with then-current laws and to ensure that the punitive actions were limited to the individuals specifically listed by security services. Meri claimed that he was unable to control the abuses of the local authorities and withdrew from the process. For this decision he himself was prosecuted, stripped of his military honors and expelled from the Communist Party in 1949. Meri maintained that he was targeted by the current Estonian authorities in retaliation for his anti-fascist activities and harsh critique of the Estonian government.

Death

Official representatives of the Pskov region honoring the wreath laying ceremony
Arnold Meri's tombstone at Liiva cemetery in Tallinn, Estonia.

Arnold Meri died in his sleep on 27 March 2009 at the age of 89. This automatically halted Meri's trial.

The President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev posthumously awarded Meri the Order of Honour within hours of Meri's death. In a telegram to Meri's widow, Yekaterina, Medvedev wrote "Arnold Meri was an exceptional and courageous figure, who devoted his entire life to the ideals of justice, freedom and humanism. Decorated with the Hero of the Soviet Union for his feats on the battlefields of the Great Patriotic War, he fought Nazism to the end of his days, and actively resisted attempts to rewrite history and whitewash those responsible for the twentieth century’s greatest tragedy, and their accomplices."

Meri was interred on 1 April 2009 in the Liiva Cemetery on the outskirts of Tallinn in a funeral which was attended by several hundred people.

Awards

References

  1. Связисты Герои Советского Союза Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
  2. ^ Estonian accused of genocide
  3. ^ "Dmitry Medvedev sent a telegram of condolences on the passing of veteran of the Estonian Red Army Rifle Corps Arnold Meri to Mr Meri's widow, Yekaterina". President of Russia. 29 March 2009. Archived from the original on 17 April 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
  4. Leonid Lentsman, Endel Sõgel, ed. (1971). Eesti rahvas Nõukogude Liidu Suures Isamaasõjas, 1941-1945 (in Estonian). Tallinn: Eesti Raamat.
  5. ^ Võõrad Suled Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine – Eesti Ekspress, 18 November 2003 (in Estonian)
  6. When giants fought in Estonia – BBC, 9 May 2007
  7. Entisen presidentin serkkua syytetään neuvostoajan kyydityksistä – The Baltic Guide
  8. ^ Chivers, C. J. (22 August 2007). "Cousin of former Estonian president charged with genocide (Published 2007)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  9. ^ "Estonian war figure laid to rest". BBC News. 2 April 2009. Archived from the original on 4 April 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2009.
  10. Arnold Meri ei tunnistanud end genotsiidis süüdi Archived 2 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  11. В Таллине скончался Герой Советского Союза Арнольд Мери // RIA Novosti, 28 March 2009 (in Russian)
  12. Eesti Postimees 28 March 2009 – Suri Arnold Meri
  13. (in Russian) Президент Российской Федерации. УКАЗ №332 от 28.03.2009 «О награждении Орденом Почета Мери А.К.». (President of Russia. Ukaz #332 of 28.03.2009 On the awarding of the Order of Honour to A.K. Meri. ).
  14. Rudi, Hanneli (1 April 2009). "Arnold Meri maeti täna Liiva kalmistule" (in Estonian). Postimees. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
  15. "Мери Арнольд Константинович". warheroes.ru. Retrieved 5 October 2020.

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