Memorial to Ants the Terrible Memorial site

This is a memorial to Ants Kaljurand, nicknamed Ants the Terrible, and the mass grave of Forest Brothers at Mihkli church yard.

The grave of the Mihkel Havi group of Forest Brothers is located in the cemetery in Mihkli. From the church in Mihkli, drive 650 metres towards Vanamõisa and turn north onto the road leading to the cemetery. The road runs on for 300 metres. The mass grave is near the main entrance.

Owing to his lively character, Ants Kaljurand was already the hero of many stories, some true and some made up, during his own lifetime and remained so for years after his execution. He took part in attacks against the Red Army in summer 1941, fought on the Eastern Front and continued offering resistance for five years after the second occupation of Estonia as a Forest Brother until he was arrested on St John's Day in 1949. In a court-martial he and his two comrades were sentenced to death. He was executed in Tallinn on 13 March 1951. His gravesite is unknown, as per countless other victims of communism. The cenotaph in his memory was unveiled near the church in Mihkli in 2011. In addition, the court ordered that 18 people associated with Ants the Terrible be deported and sentenced them to 10-25 years in a forced labour camp.

The group of Forest Brothers led by Mihkel Havi was captured in a raid on their bunker on 23 June 1949. Since the bunker was deep in the forest with no roads leading to it, those killed were buried on the spot in an unmarked mass grave that was found in 2001. They were then reinterred in Mihkli cemetery. In 2012 their grave was marked with a tombstone.