HARALD NUGISEKS 100 22.X.1921- 02.I.2014. Harald Nugiseks' birthplace was in Central Estonia, Järva County, Särevere, Karjaküla, Vanauė farm. The very name of the farm reminds us of its antiquity. Harald, his brother Avelinus and his sister Linda, already the eleventh generation of Nugises, lived there in the farm with nearly 70 hectares of land. The people of Old Yard had planted their roots deep in the soil! As always, the educational path started in kindergarten and continued with primary school. After finishing primary school, a trained farmer was considered the most suitable profession for Harald, and his education continued at the Türi Gardening High School. Unfortunately, it was not finished and Harald went to the Paide Commercial School, the year was already 1939! And the occupation of 1940 and the June deportations of 1941 were just around the corner. Although the deportation of June 14, 1941, the Nugiseks family was very narrowly missed, and Harald's father went into the forest to hide. On June 22, 1941, when the war between Germany and communist Russia began, the front moved rapidly towards Estonia, Harald and his brother Avelinus received calls for mobilization in the Red Army. The front was so for that moment. at the beginning of July already on the Viljandi-Pärnu-Virtsu line. The Nugisex brothers had no second thoughts - hurry to the forest! And in addition, the Latvian extermination battalion arrived in Järvamaa - one of the cruelest among its kind, which, together with Pleer's death train and Red Army soldiers, began combing the villages in search of defectors. There were many of them. The extermination battalions were instructed by the new landowners by appeal. The horrors of June 14 were now joined by a new one. It was merciless violence and terror that the young man saw with his own eyes and heard with his ears for the first time. Most of the 33 farms around the old yard were destroyed. The buildings of the Old Yard were also burned, the ruins of the flourishing farm remained. Harald Nugisek's aunt, killed with bayonets along with his son. The corpses were thrown into the Kolu River, where they remained until the arrival of the German troops, when they were pulled out by the natives who had returned from the forest. Father August had taken part in the War of Independence together with the Järva Defense Battalion and had gone on a military expedition to Pihkvan. Now Harald had no doubt where his place was. Already in August, he joined the German regular forces at the Rae mill on the border of Pärnu and Harju County and took part in the liberation of Tallinn on August 28 as part of Captain Artur Asu's battalion. After that, he served for some time in Home Defense. When autumn came and it was time to go to school, Harald returned to Paide Commercial High School to continue his studies. When the decision to join the German army matured in the minds of classmates, Harald was among them. He began to serve in the 185th Eastern Battalion, which was formed in Tallinn, Narva road, house number 44. Harald Nugiseksi, then a 20-year-old youth, became a soldier for the first time. On January 6, the 185th Eastern Battalion was sent from Narva to Jamburg, which became the location of the battalion's first company. The men themselves, however, fought in the Volossovo region, which was the domain of the partisans. Railroads, bridges and houses had to be guarded. A contract was signed with the volunteers for a year's service, which ended in September 1942. However, the Germans put a new paper in front of them, where they had to sign that they would serve until the end of the war. The men did not like this behavior of the Germans, that is why they voluntarily left the military service. Harald Nugiseks and other men arrived in Estonia at the end of 1942. Once again, he greeted his father and mother at Old Yard. It was good here. It was certain here. Here was home. On August 28, 1942, the Estonian Legion was created on the initiative of many men. The name itself sounded inviting. Nugiseks made a mature decision - he too has to join the Legion. New buildings were erected in the old yard. This land, father, mother, sister, all of Estonia needed protection. In May 1943, Harald Nugiseks became a soldier of the Estonian Legion. First, they stayed in Poland, in the Heidelaag in Debica, 30-40 kilometers from Krakow. Nugis spent a short time in Heidelaag, because soon he was sent to Lauenburg Non-Commissioned Officer School near Hamburg, Germany, as a participant in the Eastern Battalion's fight. It was a real Prussian military school. Nugiseks arrived there in August 1943, he was at school there for 4 months. At that time, iron and steel were formed from these men, capable of withstanding any ordeal. Arriving back at Heidelager in the rank of SS-Unterscharführer, the serious life of a soldier began. Initially under Nevel. In February 1944, Estonian soldiers were brought back to their homeland from Russia, where they also fought on the Eastern Front, beyond the Narva River. Harald Nugiseks arrived there on February 19 with many brothers in arms. The front was fragile, the enemy had already managed to create several bridgeheads across the Narva river. Riigküla, Vaasa - Vepsküla - Siivertsi, Krivasoo. On February 24, they managed to destroy the Riigküla bridgehead. If you wanted to save Estonia, you had to destroy the Riigküla bridgehead after the Vaasa - Vepsküla - Siiverts bridgehead next to Narva. The Vaasa - Vepsküla - Siiverts bridgehead was strongly fortified, protected and manned by a barrage, the length of which was about 3 kilometers along the western bank of the river from Siiverts to Kudrukül, and the width was 500 meters. Numerous wire barriers and minefields were built to protect the bridgehead.