Fear Behind Us All
The publication of the anthology Fear Behind Us All by Imbi Paju and Sofi Oksanen on March 25, 2009 marked 60 years since the March deportations in Estonia and 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain. “This is a book about the price that Estonia had to pay in order for the most violent utopia known to mankind to be implemented – about how Estonians lost their history and then got it back” reads the press release by the compilation’s publisher WSOY.
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Reviews
"The fact that the journalists of Finland’s largest daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat selected the compilation by Oksanen and Paju as the most noteworthy informative work of 2009 is significant."
Heili Sibrits Jan. 20, 2010 Postimees Estonian newspaper
"Sofi Oksanen and Imbi Paju have created a powerful international partnership for providing information about Estonian history. The ability of these two energetic women to achieve their goals is worthy of admiration and praise. Their work of enlightenment in this compendium also includes foreign writers who write in a manner that is customary in the West, and thus leave the reader with a feeling of credibility. The compilation was published in Finland in March of last year – for the sixtieth anniversary of the great deportations – and has achieved recognition there. As Imbi Paju writes in the foreword, it made “the way of speaking about Estonian history more professional and empathetic.” The substantial book offers a wide variety of materials – serious articles on history, sociological studies, essays, political observations, memoirs, writings on current public and political affairs. Although this approach is not exactly focused, the large scale of the compendium, the seriousness of the topics discussed, and the international group of authors creates a feeling of credibility and significance.”
Kalev Kesküla, Eesti Ekspress Estonian newspaper, 2010
2009
[Fear Behind Us All]
The compilation Fear Behind Us All addresses the situation behind the Iron Curtain in occupation-era Estonia and the other Baltic countries and searches for an answer to the questions of whether the KGB was able to sway Western representations of history; why victims of Soviet terror could not talk about their experiences in public and what effect all this has had on them; how people managed to get by in a system sustained by fear, discrimination and propaganda.
The collection compiled by Paju and Oksanen includes writings by well-known researchers of Estonian history and crimes against humanity, journalists, figures in society and victims of Stalinist terror, including President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Anne Applebaum, Edward Lucas, Iiva-Anna Masso, Lauri Mälksoo, Enn Soosaar, Sofi Oksanen, Imbi Paju, Vladimir Bukovsky, James Wertsch, Olaf Mertelsman, Heino Noor, Aigi Rahi-Tamm, Ivo Juurvee, Jukka Rislakki, Leo Kunnas, Maimu Berg, Igor Kotjuh, Toomas Hiio, Martin Arpo, Peeter Tulviste, Mart Laar, Tauno Tiusanen, and many others.
Finland’s largest daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat chose this book as the best non-fiction book for 2009.
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Imbi Paju on kirjanik, esseist ja filmirežissöör. Ta on õppinud kultuuriteadusi, klassikalist laulu ja Helsingi Ülikoolis soome keelt ja sotsiaalteadusi.
Imbi Paju is a multifaceted creator, writer, documentary filmmaker and essayist. Her books have been published in many languages.
