Metsavennad (Forest Brothers) collection

The Forest Brothers (Estonian: metsavennad) were the Estonian partisans who waged guerrilla warfare against Soviet rule during the Soviet invasion and occupation of the three Baltic states during, and after, World War II. Thousands of residents of Estonia used the heavily-forested countryside as a natural refuge and basis for armed anti-Soviet resistance. Resistance units varied in size and composition, ranging from individually operating guerrillas, armed primarily for self-defense, to large and well-organized groups able to engage significant Soviet forces in battle. By the late 1940s and early 1950s the Forest Brothers were provided with supplies, liaison officers and logistical coordination by the British (MI6), American, and Swedish secret intelligence services. In Estonia a total of 14,000 - 15,000 men participated in fighting during 1944-1953. The conflict between the Soviet armed forces and the Forest Brothers lasted over a decade and cost thousands of lives.