Ralph knew it was dangerous to ride the German officer's motorcycle on the open road. While his mother drove the horse and wagon toward Tallinn, he followed trails through the woods alongside her route.
After a few miles, he saw that the wagon had stopped. His mother was crying. Ralph left the motorcycle in the weeds and went to her.
“I cannot go,” Ida said. “This is not something I can do.”
Ralph knew she had made her decision. They embraced and both began to cry. Ralph believed he would never see his mother again.
He took a small pack containing some of his personal belongings—photographs, letters and a book—and gave it to her for safekeeping. As he returned to the motorcycle, Ida turned back toward home and Ralph continued toward Tallinn.
As he approached the city, the woods thinned and Ralph had little choice but to use the road. Ahead he could see a two-story German checkpoint. Then the motorcycle stalled. Ralph tried to start it.
Nothing.
He tried again. Still nothing.
He could feel the ground shaking. Tanks were approaching.
A man came over the hill on a bicycle. “They are just over that hill!” he shouted as he passed. Ralph knew who he meant. The Red Army.
Ralph pulled out his pistol and put it to his temple. Before pulling the trigger, he decided to try the motorcycle once more. He kicked the starter. The engine sputtered, and it caught. Ralph put the motorcycle in gear and headed for the German checkpoint.
Now he had another problem. He was wearing an Estonian National Guard uniform and riding a German officer's motorcycle. He couldn't go back--the Russians were coming from that direction--so he kept going.
As he approached the checkpoint, two German soldiers stepped into the road with their rifles raised. Ralph stopped but left the engine running. “The Russians,” he told them in German. “They are just over that hill. I could hear them. We have to go.”
The soldiers were very young. Ralph thought they might have been fifteen or sixteen. “Turn it off,” the taller one ordered.
Ralph shut off the engine.
The other soldier pushed him away from the motorcycle and leaned it against the concrete wall.
“The Red Army is just over that hill!” Ralph said again.
“Go inside.”
Both soldiers had their rifles pointed at him.
Inside were three more German soldiers. One sat behind a desk while two others stood nearby sharing a cigarette. Two were young. The third, who appeared to be an officer, was older. One of the soldiers from outside spoke quietly to him. The officer turned to Ralph.
“You have to stay and fight.”
Ralph understood what he was saying but did not have enough German to explain that staying there against the approaching Soviet force made no sense. “This is insane,” Ralph said.
“Take him upstairs.”
Ralph turned toward the stairs. A rifle stock struck him from the side. “Up!”
As Ralph started climbing, the officer noticed the raised heel on his left shoe and the way he walked.
“These Estonians have no heart for fighting,” Ralph remembered him saying. The Germans laughed.
Upstairs, Ralph was put into a small room containing a chair and a cot. There was also a window. It had no bars. Ralph went to it and looked down. Climbing onto the sill, he lowered himself over the edge and hung for a moment before letting go. He hit the ground and rolled, then got up and went straight for the motorcycle. He kicked the starter. The engine fired up on the first try. Ralph put it into gear and took off.
Someone shouted behind him. Then came a gunshot.
Ralph didn't look back. When he crossed the next rise, Tallinn and the Baltic Sea lay before him.
CONTINUED
RELATED
UPROOTED: Intro and Part One
UPROOTED: Part Two
UPROOTED: Part Three
UPROOTED: Part Four
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