Boats

The long route to South America took refugees mostly to Argentina, where the small Estonian community in Buenos Aires welcomed them. 

JOURNEYS TO SOUTH AMERICA

Argentina
Until the late 1940s, Argentina was an attractive destination for refugees because it was experiencing an economic boom.

Between 1946 and 1950, seven Viking boats left Sweden for Argentina, six of which were organized by Estonians and Latvians and the seventh by a German with close ties to Estonia.

Brazil
At least two boats headed to Brazil, but little is known about them. In August 1947, a Latvian-owned cutter, the Kolumbus, left San Sebastian port in Spain with three people on board but there is no information about when it arrived in Brazil.

On December 28, 1947, Stockholms-Tidningen Eestlastele (see below) reported on the second boat: “On Boxing Day two Estonians arrived at a Brazilian coastal town after crossing the Atlantic in a small yacht. They left Stockholm in June. They explained that they are looking for a new homeland where they can live free from Russian rule.” Further information is unknown.

Stockholms-Tidningen Eestlastele, December 28, 1947

By 1950, it became difficult and expensive for refugees to get residence permits without a visa. On September 10, 1950, Välis-Eesti posted a long article by Karl Ast, the former Estonian consul to Rio de Janeiro, warning would-be immigrants. He noted that two large boats with Estonian refugees had arrived in South America that year and that the people on the first, unnamed boat had to wait four months before they could get a residence permit.

During that time, they were forced to survive on their meager provisions because they did not have work permits and were restricted from leaving the boat. Ast wrote that people on the other vessel, probably the Themis, waited for three months to get permission to come ashore, but then gave up and sailed to Argentina. After spending several months earning money for yet another journey, the Themis left for Canada.

Boat name        Date of arrival   Passengers   Destination

  1.  Snygg     September 9, 1946    12             Buenos Aires 
  2. ?             December 26, 1947     2                         Brazil 
  3. Kolumbus*              1947-48      3                         Brazil
  4. Falken             June 26, 1948    18             Buenos Aires
  5. Elsa       November 13, 1948    65             Buenos Aires
  6. Olinde        November 1948      5             Buenos Aires 
  7. Ilmarine December 27, 1949    15             Buenos Aires
  8. Themis**       February 1950     9             Buenos Aires
  9. Elfdalen       December 1950   84             Buenos Aires

     TOTAL 213 passengers

    * The Kolumbus departed from Spain.

    **The Themis left Argentina in December 1950 bound for Canada via Brazil and the United States. It reached Toronto in July 1951.