10. juuli 2026

Kelam: otsustasin mitte elada Nõukogude vale järgi

Kelam: I decided not to live according to Soviet lies

. Ta rääkis raadiosaates, kuidas ta .

Kelam lõpetas 1959. aastal. Ta hakkas tööle Tartu Keskarhiivis. Seal oli palju vene inimesi, kes ei osanud hästi eesti keelt ega teadnud piisavalt ajaloost. See tegi töö raskeks.

Kelam oli . Üllatuslikult said mittekommunistid ametiühingus enamuse. See oli haruldane . Nad korraldasid üritusi ja . See kestis viis aastat.

Pärast arhiivi läks Kelam tööle entsüklopeedia toimetusse. Ta püüdis teha . Näiteks kirjutas ta artikli Jeesus Kristusest, kuigi Nõukogude võim ei tahtnud selliseid teemasid.

Kelam töötas ka lektorina. Ta rääkis inimestele rahvusvahelisest olukorrast. Ta kuulas BBC-d ja luges välismaiseid ajalehti, et saada tõest informatsiooni.

1968. aastal toimus Praha kevad. Kelam hakkas oma loengutes rääkima reformidest. Kui , .

Kelam kohtus sõpradega, et arutada Eesti olukorda. Nad mõtlesid, kuidas aidata Eesti vabadusele. 1972. aastal kirjutasid nad ÜRO-le kirja, kus palusid abi .

1974. aastal vahistati mitu Kelami sõpra. Kelamist sai . Teda kuulati mitu korda, kuid tõendeid tema vastu ei leitud. Ta kaotas töö entsüklopeedias.

Kelam ega meeleavaldustel. Ta uskus, et valet toetada ei tohi. Ta õppis seda oma emalt, kes .

Kelam usub, et . Ta ei kahetse oma valikuid. Tema elu näitab, et ükski inimene .

Tunne Kelam celebrated his 90th birthday. He spoke in a radio program about how he fought against Soviet rule.

Kelam graduated with a degree in history from Tartu University in 1959. He started working at the Tartu Central Archive. There were many Russians there who did not know Estonian well or had insufficient knowledge of history. This made the work difficult.

Kelam was a member of the trade union. Surprisingly, non-communists gained a majority in the trade union. This was rare during the Soviet era. They organized events and emphasized language proficiency. This lasted for five years.

After the archive, Kelam began working for an encyclopedia editorial office. He tried to write objective articles. For example, he wrote an article about Jesus Christ, even though the Soviet authorities did not want such topics.

Kelam also worked as a lecturer. He talked to people about the international situation. He listened to the BBC and read foreign newspapers to get truthful information.

In 1968, the Prague Spring occurred. Kelam started talking about reforms in his lectures. When Soviet troops marched into Prague, he was banned from speaking publicly.

Kelam met with friends to discuss Estonia's situation. They thought about how to help Estonia achieve freedom. In 1972, they wrote a letter to the UN, asking for help in ending the Soviet occupation.

In 1974, several of Kelam's friends were arrested. Kelam became a person of interest to the KGB. He was interrogated several times, but no evidence against him was found. He lost his job at the encyclopedia.

Kelam did not participate in Soviet elections or demonstrations. He believed that lies should not be supported. He learned this from his mother, who refused to write about Stalin.

Kelam believes that truth is important. He does not regret his choices. His life shows that no one has to follow lies.