With the rude intrusion of the Russian Revolution that Oskar (or Oscar) and all Estonians had to suffer the future became ever more uncertain. Russification had been increasing in the previous three decades and the Estonians had adjusted, but with the advent of the Revolution it was no longer just an evolution. The free press was shut down. The Communists of Lenin wanted to annex Estonia completely, evidently not factoring into their decision just how fiercely Estonians view their independence. The Bolsheviks also wanted Finland just to the north to add to the buffer between their Communist agenda and the free world. With Estonia’s Declaration of Independence on February 23, 1918, the Estonian army recruited heavily and Oscar immediately joined.
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Her name was Hilda Jõks (b 1906, Vollmar or Võnnu, Estonia). Not only was she vivacious and intelligent but, although not formally educated past high school, was often thought as having had higher education. After all she was, at the time, fluent in five languages Finnish, French, German, Russian and of course her mother tongue Estonian. She soon would be learning English to add to the list. Needless to say, she was very well read. Additionally, her personality was a lot stronger than Rosalee’s had been and this was another attraction to Oscar with his own very determined character. An intriguing relationship had …show more content…
There agriculture was in a revolution of its own and families were needed to power it. Not surprisingly there were conditions. These were that Canada was only interested in men with experience in farming and stipulated that the new immigrant would have to work for two years in the place of Canada’s choosing. Alas Oscar was not a farmer but with Oscar’s temperament, this was not really a roadblock to his goal for a better life for himself and Hilda. In presenting himself to the Canadian representatives in Tallinn, he calloused his hands by strenuously using a broom stick giving his hands the look of a farmer’s and kept his face unshaven. These were tricks that had been learnt by previous men attempting to get visas to Canada. It was known that if you didn 't you would fail. All Oscar then needed to do is sound sufficiently knowledgeable. Despite Oscar’s lack of farming experience and Canada’s view that Eastern Europeans were not the ideal for assimilating or ‘Canadianizing’ as from other regions of Europe, Oscar was accepted. At least he had some important ingredients essential to farmers: a hard worker, flexibility, practicality, knowledge of horses and an independent
Her name was Hilda Jõks (b 1906, Vollmar or Võnnu, Estonia). Not only was she vivacious and intelligent but, although not formally educated past high school, was often thought as having had higher education. After all she was, at the time, fluent in five languages Finnish, French, German, Russian and of course her mother tongue Estonian. She soon would be learning English to add to the list. Needless to say, she was very well read. Additionally, her personality was a lot stronger than Rosalee’s had been and this was another attraction to Oscar with his own very determined character. An intriguing relationship had …show more content…
There agriculture was in a revolution of its own and families were needed to power it. Not surprisingly there were conditions. These were that Canada was only interested in men with experience in farming and stipulated that the new immigrant would have to work for two years in the place of Canada’s choosing. Alas Oscar was not a farmer but with Oscar’s temperament, this was not really a roadblock to his goal for a better life for himself and Hilda. In presenting himself to the Canadian representatives in Tallinn, he calloused his hands by strenuously using a broom stick giving his hands the look of a farmer’s and kept his face unshaven. These were tricks that had been learnt by previous men attempting to get visas to Canada. It was known that if you didn 't you would fail. All Oscar then needed to do is sound sufficiently knowledgeable. Despite Oscar’s lack of farming experience and Canada’s view that Eastern Europeans were not the ideal for assimilating or ‘Canadianizing’ as from other regions of Europe, Oscar was accepted. At least he had some important ingredients essential to farmers: a hard worker, flexibility, practicality, knowledge of horses and an independent