page_title: Johan Laidoner
section_title: Soviet occupation, arrest and death
hierarchical_section_title: Johan Laidoner / Soviet occupation, arrest and death
caption_attribution_description: English: Johan Laidoner (1884-1953) – Estonian military, Commander-in-chief of the Estonian Army in 1918–1920 during Estonian War of Independence, and later also during 1924–1925, and 1934–1940. In 1940 arrested by Soviet NKVD, imprisoned, died in Soviet prison in Vladimir
context_page_description: Johan Laidoner was an Estonian general and statesman. He served as Commander‑in‑Chief of the Estonian Armed Forces during the Estonian War of Independence and was among the most influential people in Estonian history between the world wars.
  Born in Viiratsi, Governorate of Livonia, Laidoner joined the Imperial Russian Army in 1901 and fought in World War I. Following the October Revolution, he commanded the Estonian national units of the Russian army. In 1918, the Estonian Provisional Government appointed him commander-in-chief of the armed forces in the Estonian War of Independence.
  After the war, he served as a member of the Riigikogu from 1920 to 1929. He was once again appointed commander-in-chief during the 1924 Communist coup attempt, and then again from 1934 to 1940, during the authoritarian regime of Konstantin Päts. After the Soviet occupation in 1940, he was arrested and deported to Russia, where he died in prison in 1953.
context_section_description: On 17 June 1940, the Soviet Union occupied Estonia. Laidoner was officially removed from his position as the commander‑in‑chief on 22 June 1940. On 19 July, he and his wife were deported to Penza, Russia, where they lived in forced exile until the beginning of the war with Germany. On 23 June 1941, they were put under house arrest and then imprisoned on 28 June by the NKVD. In September 1942, the Laidoners were sent to the Butyrka prison in Moscow, along with Konstantin Päts and a number of former Latvian, Lithuanian and Polish statesmen and their families. From there, they were moved to a prison in Kirov, and then in Ivanovo. On 16 April 1952, Laidoner was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was sent to Vladimir Central Prison, where he died on 13 March 1953. He was buried at the prison cemetery, but his remains have not been found.
  Laidoner's adopted son Aleksei was also arrested by the NKVD. He died in Solikamsk labor camp on 26 November 1941 with chest trauma listed as the cause of death.
  Maria Laidoner was released in 1954 and was allowed to return to Estonia. She died in 1978 in Jämejala, near Viljandi, and was buried in Tallinn at Siselinna Cemetery, next to her son Michael.
caption: Last known photo of Laidoner in Soviet prison (1952)
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