The story of the Altar of Victory in Aidu
The story of the demolition of the victory altar of the War of Independence in Aidu and the history of its remains.
A story about the demolition of the altar and the fate of its remains.
Following the occupation of Estonia, the Altar of Victory in Aidu was destroyed, the culprit being the same person who destroyed the memorial in Põltsamaa. Many people had their photo taken at the half-demolished altar in the 1950s. The monument was completely levelled in 1965, but the saga didn't end there. In 1970, the road that passed through the village was straightened out so that it no longer entered the village. This is remembered even by the writer of this article, as he used to live in the dairy by the old road.
But what he didn't know was that during the process of turning the old road into farmland, all that remained of the altar was eradicated and a capsule filled with documents was unearthed from its foundations, planted there by the builders. Word has it the foundations also contained a sabre recovered from the battleground, but there's been no word of it being found or not found. The capsule was delivered to the road administration. Ants Aaman from the village had noticed the plans on a window sill in the road administration building and pilfered them. He kept them for 19 years, after which he handed them over to the restorers – Heinrich Sellak to be exact. Men working on the state-owned Põdra Farm restored the Altar of Victory in time for Victory Day in 1989. The documents from the first altar’s foundations were copied and placed in a capsule in the new foundations. The original document, written by Johannes Nõmmik, the head of the Kurista Company of the Defence League and the owner of Muti Farm, was given to his daughter Linda.
The residents of Aidu village continue the tradition of placing candles on the altar on the aforementioned dates – the start and end dates of the Battle of Aidu, Independence Day and Victory Day.
Põltsamaa muuseum. Vt: https://muuseum.visitpoltsamaa.com/lugusid-poltsamaalt/aidu-lahingu-voidualtar/
Related objects
Altar of Victory in Aidu
The Altar of Victory is situated next to the former dairy on Vaadu Farm in Aidu, by the Jõgeva-Põltsamaa road.
It is a monument to the War of Independence. This monument marks the furthest point a Red Army soldier advanced.
The monument designed by Eduard Järve was unveiled on 23 June 1929. In 1932 two oak trees were planted near the monument, one of which has survived. On 4 January 1934 the 2nd Infantry Battalion replanted an oak tree brought from Aidu on the square at Lembitu barracks in Tartu in honour of the battle of Aidu.
On 4 January 1934, the 2nd Infantry Battalion uprooted one of the oak trees in Aidu and replanted it on the square in front of the Lembitu barracks in Tartu in memory of the Battle of Aidu. The monument was blown to pieces in 1940 before being completely destroyed in 1965. The current copy of the original monument was unveiled on 23 June 1989.
