The March Deportation
From Valga County, nearly 1,413 people were deported, including 1,240 from rural municipalities and 173 from towns. Of those listed, every fifth person, a total of 325, managed to escape. The largest numbers were deported from Karula - 143 and Sangaste - 142, Helme - 129, and Kuigatsi - 115, Aakre - 105 people. Fewer than a hundred people were deported from other parts of the county. The people of Valga County were placed into four echelons. According to some sources, 215 people from Otepää, Pühajärve, and Aakre municipalities were taken from Elva station to the Kormilovski, Ulyanovski, and Katshinski districts of the Omsk region, and a few to the Ishimski, Tarski, Tschelakski, and Ust-Ishimski districts. Some were sent to Norilsk and the city of Inta in the Komi ASSR. From Keeni station, 341 people from Põdrala, Helme, Hummuli, and Vaoküla municipalities were taken, 420 from Kuigatsi, Sangaste, and Tõlliste municipalities, and 391 from Kaagjärve, Karula, and Taheva municipalities. They mainly ended up in the Chistoozerny and Ordynsky districts of the Novosibirsk region.
A few people from Valga County ended up in the Puka echelon, which was sent to the Kargatsky and Chanovsky districts of the Novosibirsk region.
With the Puka, Valga, and Võru echelons, people from Valga County were sent to the Ekhirit-Bulagatsky district of the Irkutsk region, as well as to the Irkutsk, Mamsko-Tuyiski, Tatarsky, Ust-Ordynsky, Usolsky, and Usolye-Sibirskoye districts, and also to the cities of Irkutsk, Angarsk, Kirensk, and Tulun. A few were sent to the Idrinsky and Severo-Yeniseisky districts of Krasnoyarsk Krai, the city of Saran in the Karaganda region, the city of Vorkuta in the Komi ASSR, and the Chainsky district of the Tomsk region. The farthest destination was the Kobyai district of the Yakut ASSR. The oldest deportee in all of Valga County was 88-year-old Elsa Kurvits. According to some sources, about 178 people, or 12.6% of the total, died during their time in exile.
The June Deportation
Preparations for the deportation began in Valga County on the night of June 12-13. Families were allowed to take up to 100 kg of personal belongings and food for 30 days. The heads of families were separated from their families under the pretext of interrogation and taken to Valga prison. The echelon departed on June 16 at 13:45. According to some sources, 286 people were deported from Valga County. 121 heads of families were separated from their families and sent mainly to the Sosva and Severouralsk districts of the Sverdlovsk region and to the Saransk forced labor camps in the Mordovian ASSR. According to current data, 59 of them were sentenced to death by the NKVD Special Board. The families were mainly sent to the Chainsky, Krivosheino, and other districts of the Tomsk region. Children were deported a second time.
Memories: "We were taken to the farthest village (in Tomsk region). Apparently, we were destined for a quicker extinction than the worst criminals. In summer, the river dried up (the only road to freedom), surrounded by taiga and swamps. There was no need for an armed guard. In summer, thick swarms of mosquitoes, then tiny poisonous gnats like grains of sand, and finally, a 40-degree frost with snow up to your chest.
There was enormous mortality in our village. In the dormitory (grain dryer), almost everyone was struck by bloody dysentery due to hunger and filth, and half were taken to their graves. Mrs. Kalviste went insane in that same grain dryer and died. Soon after, her son died, whose head and stomach were large, but his legs and arms were extremely thin, and his skin hung from his bones. On the same day, her 10-year-old daughter also died—in short, the whole family. My mother died half a year later." (Aino M.)
