"Margus Reinsalu's Diary": Chapter. 1918 - My Father's Life Before My Mother
Photo: My Father My father, Ottmar Reinsalu , was born in March 1918 in Taali , Tori parish, Pärnu County , at a time when Estonia declared its independence and German troops occupied the country at the same time. He was born in the midst of historical events, but his own life turned out to be peaceful at least initially, as the son of a prosperous farm. Father came from a fairly large family. His father Johannes was a worker and craftsman who, despite becoming blind in early childhood, managed to build a home and family. My grandmother Marta was the heart and soul of the farm, who bore the entire household. Father grew up with his brothers Evald and Ervin and sister Helta. The family lived in Taali, Pärnu County, on a prosperous farm, of which my father was the young master as the eldest son. Fate later handed the farm over to father's brother when times changed and the war disrupted everyone's lives. In 1936, the family name Reinhold was Estonianized to Reinsalu, where gran...