Last Saturday, we went to an Island, very close to Jõelähtme, called Rammu saar. Unfortunately, Amélie couldn’t come, for she was working at the museum, but I went with Cécile, a french volunteer (and friend). We met with Silja and the others and left from the little fishing port of Neeme. Though the sun was shinning, there was a small debate to decide weather or not we should go to sea. Indeed, there was some wind and the little fishing boat we were taking was going to rock quite a lot. We finally decided to go in the first boat to try the adventure and the others would join us in the afternoon if the wind died down. The ones who stayed on the shore were probably right not to go, but we went anyway and found ourselves drenched to the bones, by the spray. It took us about 20 minutes to get to the island, though it was about 5 km away.
The Island of Rammu is uninhabited since 1952, when the soviet soldiers forced the families to leave and installed a small military base on the island. There used to live two families on Rammu, descending from Finnish fishermen who had settled there. There had been up to 30 people living there and there was even a small school for the younger ones. One man still living today, remembers going to high school by row-boat (in summer) or walking on the ice (in winter). A lady came to us and wanted to tell us her story about the island. She was born on the island, (there were no hospitals, so it was probably at home) and had lived there until she was 6 years old. She remembers some of her childhood there and it is a very important place for her, she never went back to live there. Now, in the village of Neeme, many inhabitants come from these two families from Rammu. Even the first husband of the Estonian presidents wife is a descendant from these families (yes, it is a little outstretched).
Here is an archive picture (thank you Cécile !) which shows a burial ceremony in Rammu before 1952.
We were going on this Island, with Margus, the Pastor and other villagers, to commemorate the fishermen who were buried in the small cemetery. Once we landed on the island, (soaking wet) we headed for a small summer house (see picture) still belonging to one of the families. They had a Sauna and it felt good to warm ourselves in it. Our clothes were put to dry on a rope for most of the day, so we walked around the island with towels around our waists. Rammu has become a bird sanctuary and we had a small picnic watching them fish and jabber around us. It felt as if we we Robinson Crusoe or explorers on this abandoned piece of land. We climbed in an old rusted soviet watchtower, where we could get a very good view on all the surroundings. It was wonderful to be there and we could feel a great feeling of freedom.
We did the ceremony in the small cemetary, then headed back to the boat in the afternoon. It took us only 7 minutes this time, for the sea had calmed down. All this fresh air had made us feel hungry, so with Silja, Karl her son, Cécile, and Madleen, we fixed ourselves a nice barbecue before coming back to Tallinn. What a day, it was so sad though that Amélie wasn’t with us to share this…
