Naissaar - Bomb Island
Naissaar is an Estonian island to the North West of the country’s capital Tallinn, which currently has a very s.....mall population of around 36; until WWII the population of the island was around 450 but all fled during the war.
In 1944 the Red army expelled the Wehrmacht from the island and after WWII when Estonia became and SSR (Soviet Socialist Republic) the island became the property of the Soviet forces and the island was off limits to the civilian population. During this time the Soviets built its largest factory for the production of sea mines on the small island, effectively turning the whole island into a factory and a bomb store, they also built a railway on the island to ship the bombs from the factories and storage areas to the port.
When the Russians left in 1993 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, they burnt all of the explosives held within the naval mines leaving the large rusting metal casings scattered throughout the island. Many of these have since been gathered up and sold for scrap but a few still remain as a prominent reminder of the islands past.
In 1944 the Red army expelled the Wehrmacht from the island and after WWII when Estonia became and SSR (Soviet Socialist Republic) the island became the property of the Soviet forces and the island was off limits to the civilian population. During this time the Soviets built its largest factory for the production of sea mines on the small island, effectively turning the whole island into a factory and a bomb store, they also built a railway on the island to ship the bombs from the factories and storage areas to the port.
When the Russians left in 1993 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, they burnt all of the explosives held within the naval mines leaving the large rusting metal casings scattered throughout the island. Many of these have since been gathered up and sold for scrap but a few still remain as a prominent reminder of the islands past.
