Boats

Journeys to South Africa were the longest and most difficult. Six Viking ships set out from Sweden but only three boats reached their destination. From Lüderitz, the passengers traveled by train to Cape Town. 

JOURNEYS TO SOUTH AFRICA

The continent of Africa was a largely unknown destination for Balts who had escaped to Sweden in 1944. But as Soviet authorities called on Sweden to return “its citizens,” refugees began searching for safer lands far from the Soviet Union. 

Jüri Vendla writes in Unustatud merereisid (Forgotten Sea Journeys) that Estonians in Sweden contacted the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa in Stockholm to investigate the possibility of a large group of refugees settling in South Africa. The embassy reportedly contacted the relevant authorities, but the government was not interested in welcoming the would-be immigrants. 

Consequently, Estonians quietly began making plans that would bypass official channels, just as their brethren had done sailing to other parts of the world. The refugees collected funds, bought ships, and set plans in motion. Little did they know how long and difficult the journeys to South Africa would be. It is known that six boats left Sweden for South Africa. Three of them, the Dagmar, Ann-Mari, and Ly, were successful and transported about 70 refugees to their new homeland via Lüderlitz, German South West Africa (Namibia). 

The boats that didn’t make it are described in Broken Journeys. 

Boat name / Date of arrival / Passengers / Destination

  1. Dagmar November 2, 1947 16 Lüderlitz
  2. Ann-Mari December 8, 1948 44 Lüderlitz 
  3. Ly June 1949 11 Lüderlitz

TOTAL 71 PASSENGERS