Ristideta hauad - Arved Viirlaid

The main work of one of the most radical Estonian writers in many ways, Arved Viirlaiu's "Grounds Without Crosses", takes the reader to the beginning of the second Soviet occupation of Estonia. From the autumn of 1944, many who held the freedom of their homeland dear had to take refuge in the forests, from where they waged an armed struggle against the occupying power. This harsh and heroic novel tells of the hopeless struggle of Estonian citizens for their lives and homes. Graves without crosses were the fate of many of the fighters of that time.

Arved Viirlaid was born in 1922 in Harju County as the son of a farmer. In the first year of the Soviet occupation, he joined the Forest Brothers. In 1943, he was a Finnish boy in the Continuation War, in 1944 in Estonia on the Eastern Front, then fled to Sweden and prepared for intelligence activities in England in Soviet Estonia, but in 1953 he moved to Canada, where he still lives today. For a long time, Viirlaid was the chairman of the Estonian PEN Club. Literarily, his work has been compared to that of Jaan Kross.

Afterword: Mart Laar

First published: Lund: Estonian Writers' Cooperative, 1952. Published in two parts

estonian fiction, Estonian abroad, Estonian abroad, novels

Series: Estonian Story No. 33