CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

“Free Winds” is based on Jüri Vendla’s 2010 book Unustatud merereisid: Eestlaste hulljulged põgenemisreisid üle Atlandi 1940.aastate teisel poolel (Forgotten Sea Journeys: The daring escapes of Estonians across the Atlantic in the late 1940s). Mr. Vendla was inspired to write his book in part based on unpublished research by Alan Trei, my late father. 

Permission to adapt Unustatud merereisid for this digital exhibit was graciously provided by Toomas Vendla, SE&JS Publishing, the Estonian Maritime Museum, and Käsmu Maritime Museum.

Ede Schank Tamkivi, manager of Noorte Vabamu (NoVa), part of Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom, generously agreed to host and support “Free Winds,” making it possible to share these incredible stories of bravery with a global audience for the first time.

My sincere thanks are extended to the helpful and dedicated staff at Vabamu, the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the U.S. Embassy in Estonia, the Estonian and Baltic Studies Program at Stanford University, and the Estonian Studies Program at Tallinn University.

I am grateful to Ruth Oja Sootaru and Kristi Vuht Allpere, surviving passengers of the Prolific and the Pärnu, whose bravery and spirit inspired me to tell their stories. 

Thank you. 

Lisa Trei, Curator