Leen Valdov née Telder from Island Saaremaa

On my annual trip to Estonia this summer, I also visited Saaremaa, the largest island of Estonia, where I stopped by the local antiques store and “raided” their old photos section for labeled treasures. Among them, I discovered a photo of Leen Valdov from Ninase, right there on Saaremaa — a true local!

I also found a Geni.com page for her and hope to get in touch with her relatives. Perhaps after a little vacation in Germany with me, Leen can one day return home to Estonia, reunited with photos of her family. Let’s hope so!

Leen Telder was born on September 17, 1885, at Nelise farm in Võhma, Saaremaa. In fact, the Estonian National Museum has a photo of that very farmhouse in their collection — how wonderful is that!

ERM Fk 892:54

EVM N 49:168

Leen was the second youngest child of Mihkel Telder and Ingel (née Ang). According to her Geni profile, she grew up with an older and a younger brother and three older sisters.

On April 7, 1914, Leen married a local young man, Toomas Valdov, in Mustjala.

An idyllic countryside life might have awaited them — had it not been for the outbreak of World War I just a few months later. By mid-August, Estonia was already caught in the conflict. About 100,000 Estonians participated in WWI, and what made the times even bloodier was that the war was followed by a year and a half of the Estonian War of Independence. Out of that struggle, Estonia finally broke free from the Russian Empire / Soviet Russia and, for the first time in history, declared itself a sovereign republic. This hope of “our own country” motivated many young Estonian men to join the armed forces and risk their lives for the cause.

Over the course of those six violent years, more than 10,000 Estonian soldiers lost their lives. Sadly, Leen’s husband Toomas was among them. He was killed on July 19, 1919, during the battles of the War of Independence in the village of Butõrski. He was just 31 years old.

Photo by Kalle Kolter, Military Heritage

Leen was left a widow with a six-month-old baby girl. Their daughter, Ella Hermiine Valdov, had been born on January 30, 1919.

The battles raged on for another year, until finally, on February 2, 1920, Estonia and Soviet Russia signed the Tartu Peace Treaty. Toomas’ sacrifice had not been in vain, and I like to think that in the eyes of Leen and her daughter he remained a hero.

Leen never remarried. She stayed on the farm in Ninase, Saaremaa, raising her daughter.

Estonia’s hard-won independence lasted just 20 years before the country once again came under fire during World War II. In 1944, Estonia was annexed by the Soviet Union.

In a Soviet propaganda newspaper from August 1948, I came across Leen’s name, listed among the “shameful farm sons and daughters” who had failed to deliver their state-imposed milk quotas on time. By then, the Soviet regime had fully imposed its collectivization and quota system. Farmers were required to hand over set amounts of milk, grain, and meat to the state — often at levels that left their own families struggling. Those who met or exceeded quotas were praised as “model farmers,” while those who did not were publicly shamed.

Saarte Hääl, August 26, 1948

Many farmers resisted passively — withholding deliveries, underreporting, or hiding produce — mostly because the quotas felt exploitative and illegitimate. Being singled out as a “stain of shame” in the press branded someone as a non-compliant citizen, someone who should be watched more closely or even punished. To find Leen’s name there suggests she, too, was reluctant or unable to bend to the system. In other words: this small mention shows that Leen did not accept Soviet authority unquestioningly, and she is remembered in this newspaper as someone who resisted, even if subtly, the forced integration into the Soviet economic system.

According to the Geni page about her, Leen passed away in 1971. Her daughter Ella Hermiine had married Hans Rüüs already in 1938, blessing Leen with a grandson, Jalmar Rüüs, in January 1939. Jalmar got married in 1967, but I don't know if there is any family out there.

When I look into the stern face of Leen Valdov in my found photo, I’m reminded once again that the stories hidden behind old portraits so often turn out differently than I expected. I hope that by sharing her life here, I can give her story a voice, and one day, return her photograph to where it belongs — among her family in Estonia.