Monument to the War of Independence in Pilistvere
Memorial site

This monument is situated near the church in Pilistvere and is dedicated to the 58 men from the parish who were killed in the War of Independence. It was designed by sculptor Aleksander Eller. The monument was unveiled on 26 July 1931. On 19 August 1940 the monument was demolished by order of the Soviet regime, but it was unveiled anew on 12 July 1942. The original monument featured a bronze statue of a soldier. Right before the arrival of the German forces in 1941, the monument was disassembled and taken to Viljandi. Its bronze statue went missing for unknown reasons and the monument had to be restored without it during the German occupation. It was demolished for a second time in autumn 1945. The monument was unveiled for a third time on 28 July 1991. As the bronze statue has yet to resurface, it was replaced with a granite Cross of Liberty. The original memorial tablets are engraved with the names of the 54 men killed.