Forest Brother Harry Mõttus

Harry Mõttus (1921-1991), the father of the current owner of the farm Meelis Mõttus, became a Forest Brother as early as 1940. As he had killed no one, he voluntarily emerged from the woods in 1954. This was when the first Estonian deportees returned from Siberia following the amnesty declared after Stalin's death.

"My father said little to me and my brothers about his time as a Forest Brother," says Meelis, who was aware of his father's hardship throughout his childhood. “30 years ago I was chopping trees in the woods with him when he told me his big secret, which I kept quiet about for a long time." His father had hidden his submachine gun under the floorboards by the chimney in the school attic before emerging from the forest. On the 75th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia in 1993, Meelis opened a Forest Brother-themed shop in his home village in memory of his father. On the 80th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia he organised a flag-blessing ceremony in front of his shop at sunrise. This was when Meelis got the courage to recover the gun from its hiding place. The PPSh submachine gun was deactivated and gifted to Mõniste Museum, where it is still on display.