Black outs and beach patrols: Fire Island during World War II

From FIRE ISLAND NEWS (July, 1987)

Geraldine Stretch of Ocean Beach was on the beach when she heard.

Her friend and neighbor, Elizabeth Peters, was enroute from Baltimore to New York. Like virtually every American over the age of five on that infamous day, Fire Islanders were angered – and galvanized – by the news of the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that pitched the United States into World War II. They suspected, too, that the confrontation would change their lives, and their world.

They didn’t think, however, that it would change the entire character of their island community – as indeed it would. World War I had come and gone without bringing drastic change or danger; why, most Islanders felt, as their sons dutifully shipped out to fight this newest, distant conflict, would this one be much different? The Kaiser’s men hadn’t invaded – although a German submarine had managed to sink a Navy cruiser off Point O’ Woods in 1918 – why should Adolf Hitler, or Hirohito, be any more dangerous? With the devastation of the hurricane of 1938, still vivid in their minds, most Islanders remained more concerned about the natural furies than those of man. After all, this was Fire Island. Who cared about Fire Island?

“The narrow strip of sand known as Fire Island is anything but a military objective, J. Wright Taursig president of the Point O’ Woods Association members in March, 1942. “Foreign troops would have to come thousands of miles to reach its shores… There are many other places in the Metropolitan [sic] area which would be more accessible and important for incidental raiders.”

To be sure, by this time air raid alarms had become routine, as well as other civil defense measures. Nevertheless, Taursig insisted, “Insurance companies are floating odds of 99 ½ to 1 against air raid damage of any kind. We have been advised that no blackout are anticipated in this area.”

Nevertheless, blackouts did come to the Fire Island are that spring. And, as the news of the grievous American reverses in the Pacific began to sink in, Fire Islanders realized that they were in for a different, and perhaps much longer war.

And, just as the first wartime summer season was getting under way something happened that really gave everyone jitters.

On the evening of June 8, 1942 a young Coast Guardsman by the name of John Cullen was on foot patrol on the beach near Amagansett, Long Island, when he thought he heared the sound of a diesel engine off in the surf. Shortly afterwards, his probing flashlight outlined the forms of four men. Upon questioning, the four claimed that theywere fishermen; however they weren’t dressed like any fishermen that Cullen had ever seen.

In fact, the four were trained German saboteurs; the engine Cullen had heard belonged to the U-boat that had just given them a lift from Wilhelmshaven.

The leader of the four, who newspaper later identified as one George Dasch, pressed $300 into Cullens’ hand (at least what he said was $300; it turned out that he had short-changed Cullen by $30) and made Cullen look him in the eye and swear that he would forget having seen the night stalkers. Fortunately, Cullen did nothing of the kind. As soon as the clandestine landing party had left, the sailor raised the hue and cry, and, with the aid of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the fishy commandos were found and captured before they had a chance to set off their explosive gear. So was another, equally hapless group which the Germans had simultaneously put ashore in Florida.

The Nazi landing at Amagansett, a mere thirty five miles away from the eastern tip of Fire Island, proved to be true keynote of the 42’ season. Rumors, echoing the alarms of 1917, proliferated. Vigilance increased to the point of paranoia: someone was sure that he had seen another group of Germans, signalling out to sea with powerful flashlights; and one skittish lady, that she had espied an alien periscope – in eight feet of water. Old guns were taken out of closets; binoculars were dusted off. Heads turned when an airplane engine was heard at night; you never knew, maybe Hitler had perfected that New York bomber he had been screaming about.

Blackout rules, once laughed at, were now taken seriously. Grimfaced civil defense volunteers, led by air raid warden George Stretch, made their way around the island during the tense drills, telling residents to “Cut that light” and “Pull that shade down!,” until the two short welcome blasts of the all clear signal rang out. “When in doubt,” the motto of the day became, “put it out!”

Beach curfews, once honored more in the breach than in the observance, were also rigidly adhered to – especially now that the Coast Guard had instructions to shoot on sight.

By day, the skywriters still plied their languorous trade in the summer skies, coughing out their slow-motion pitches for Burma Shave and Coca-Cola.

But now they were followed by Army fighter pilots, - would-be Flying Tigers – diving, passing, and shooting at imaginary Zeros and Focke-Wulffs.

At night, dud bombs washed up on the beach, along with the detritus of torpedoed Liberty ships.

One day, sands of Ocean Beach were littered with five gallon cans of cashew nuts. Another time, it was onions. In its own way, war had come to Fire Island.

An item in The New Yorker’s notes and Comments section of July Fourth, 1942, aptly caught the post-Amagansett mood. “The tides that travel from Portugal still roll in a hundred yards from the porch of our shorefront cottage, “wrote the magazine’s anonymous correspondent, “but they aren’t the innocent tides of yesterday. Nobody knows what the waves may bring in, or what may lie further out, in the dark-blue water where the bottom falls away.”

“… The people on the beach and in the shorefront cottages watch the sea, too, watch a black log, drifting in with the tide, watch the run of the horizon, where this year no boats pass. The Fire Island lightship is gone from her moorings and the lighthouse is dark; there are no lights in the village after the sun sets, only rows of blind houses and life hushed and invisible inside…”

“Already in fact it is almost as if nobody on the island remembered any other existence. Obliging women call a neighbor’s attention to a chink of light visible in the same tone in which they would have told her that her slip was showing…”

“Sandwiches, cakes, and cigarettes and soft drinks are brought nightly by summer residents. Hostesses are present as dancing partners. Civilians may give funds but may not cross the threshold unless connected with the entertainment…”

-        Article from 1943 “New York Herald Tribune” describing Ocean Beach Service Club.

Fortunately, the invasion jitters of 1942 proved unfounded, “As far as is known,” writes Madeleine Johnson, in her book, Fire Island 1960-1950s, all that the beach patrols found on Fire Island were “small boys who delighted in lurking on the beach and scrambling up the dunes to safety when they heard a patrol approaching.”

Nevertheless the Amagansett scare, as well as the natural progress of the war and attendant mobilization measures, had brought a considerable number of servicemen to the Bay Shore and Fire Island area. In addition to the enlarged complements of men at the Coast Guard stations at Point O’ Woods and Kismet, the Army saw fit to send a platoon of infantry to Point O’ Woods, as well as an Army Crash Boat Unit – complete with six P.T. boats equipped as marine ambulances – to Bay Shore.

And men had to be entertained.

Elizabeth Peters and Isabella Adler, were two of the Ocean Beach residents who cheerfully pitched in, riding shotgun with the guardsmen and soldiers in their jeeps as they chrned throughout the sands.

“Sure, there were fraternization,” says Betty Peters, who taught at the Island’s Woodhull School during the school year while her husband Walter was off somewhere in Europe with the Army combat engineers. “But,” Mrs. Peters is quick to add, “there was no hanky-panky.”

“They were young, they were far from home, they were lonely. We were happy to help out. Gosh,” she says, her eyes moistening at the memory, “some of them were only babies.”

Isabella Adler fondly recalls placing orders for winter supplies with the Coast Guard, in those days of restricted travel, a service that was particularly appreciated during the winter. “We were good to them,” she says, “and they were good to us.”

Frank Flynn, who returned to Fire Island in 1943, after spending the first two years of the war in the Army – and who witnessed the island-based servicemen’ antics as manager of Maguire’s isn’t quite as sympathetic. “You got to admit it,” he says today. “It was pretty easy duty. Anyone who was assigned to Fire Island was darn lucky.

As one might suspect, there was little love lost between the Army and the Coast Guard. Aggravating the usual interservice rivalry Frank recalls, were the marked differences between the two services’ accommodations. While the Guard was comfortably ensconced in modern quarters, the Army was camped out in tents. Inevitably, this led to resentment – and bar fights.

Then there were the usual intraservice fights - including at least one shooting. “One lieutenant got into a violent quarrel with a Army cook,” Frank recollects. “Apparently they had been at each other’s throats for some time. Anyway, before you know, the lieutenant takes out his pistol and fires two shots into the ceiling.” Eventually the MPs [military police] came and broke it up.”

Apparently, they were the only shots ever fired in anger on the island.

At any rate, there was much relief when the Army, having apparently determined that its men could be put to better use elsewhere, ordered the pugilistic Point O’ Woods detachment to decamp and return to the mainland in 1943.

One soldier – and local son – who Fire Islanders were sorry to see go, however, was General C. Marshall. Marshall, the Army chief of staff, maintained a summer home at 588 Bayberry Breeze, Ocean Beach, during the 1940s and mid-1940s. Islanders were cheered by the sight of the Army seaplane which brought the country’s highest-ranking general to their shores for the weekend at the beginning of the war.

Apparently, Marshall was quite approachable. “He was just a regular guy. We’d see him on the beach, says Robert Stretch, who would later service with the Coast Guard in the Pacific, and “we’d say hi, and he’d say hi. Of course, no one bothered him about the war.”

But in 1943, as Marshall and other war planners began to focus on the upcoming invasion of Europe, the general’s visits to the island abruptly stopped. He was just too busy – even for Fire Island.

“So here is a war job and a vital one that every woman in America can do. If every housewife saved only four ounces of fat a week our war industries would have enough to make nearly two million pounds of high explosives… “Our Sea, Sand, and Sunshine are not going to be rationed licensed or stamped.”

-        Excerpts from Point O’ Woods Association community newsletters. 1944

Interestingly, the aspect of the war which probably had the greatest long-term impact on the island seems to have been gasoline rationing. With long automotive trips temporarily verboten, people living in the metropolitan area now looked for a closer place to home to vacation. Fire Island, they discovered, was only a short hop by train away – followed by shorter hops by bus and ferry.

“We didn’t have enough gas to get to Cape Cod,” recalls Nancy Marsh, a longtime resident of Point O’ Woods, “so we came here.” So did hundreds of other families. Many would later stay one.

In addition to the “ration refugees” the island also found itself playing host to a growing number of real-albeit very wealthy European refugees, particularly Frenchmen, who made the island their new Riviera.

The result was something of a development boom, particularly in Ocean Beach, as well as a breakdown in the psychological barrier separating Fire Island from the Rest of the World.

“Before the war he always used to stress the word ‘escape’ in our advertising,” recalls Frank Flynn. “ ‘Escape to Fire Island.’  And it was really a place to totally escape to”. It was primitive. The reason [New York theater critic] Woolcott Bibbs liked to come here in the thirties, for example, was because he couldn’t be reached, And he couldn’t – except by telegram […].

Campus Cops: Constables or Carabinieri?

From College Monthly Magazine (May, 1974)

An illusory belief that is still quite popular, even in these days of widespread disillusionment, is that crime cannot occur within the realm of academia. The residents of academia themselves – students, faculty, administrators – are, ironically, the ones who seem to be the most impressed with this foolish notion. Crime belongs on the street, say they, not on the campus. “It can’t happen here.”

But can’t it? Check last year’s newspaper: students and faculty were reported murdered in New York, California, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Scores of coeds were either raped or sexually harassed. Numerous institutions experienced armed robberies. Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property was stolen from student dormitories. And you can be sure that the newspaper illuminated but the tip of an iceberg.

“Violent crimes are continuing to increase at a rapid rate”

Recently I spoke with Mr. John W. Powell, Executive Secretary of the International Association of College and University Security Directors, in Hamden, Conn., for an informed perspective on the matter. Because no federal agency maintains separate statistics for the amount of crime that occurs on campus. Mr. Powell was at loss to give us an exact appraisal. He noted, however, that it was his distinct impression that crimes against collegiate property, which usually are not of a violent nature, had begun to “level off”, but that crimes against the person – violent crimes – are continuing to increase at a rapid rate.

Were campus security forces responding to the challenge? Powell thought so. “Slowly but surely, the field is heading towards professionalism,” he said. Nevertheless he admitted that many, if not most colleges and universities in the country were encountering serious obstacles in attempting to provide their campuses with increased security.

We became acquainted with the disconcerting nature of these obstacles when we investigated matters relating to crime and security at numerous representative campuses in the college-dotted state of Nw York. In general we found that at smaller, rural campuses the incidence of crime was so minimal that whatever degree of security was provided – even if by non-professionals – was adequate, at least for the time being. It was easier to perceive the obstacles to increased professionalized campus security once we began to visit the academies who really needed it: the medium to large size, urban and suburban universities.

Frankly, if every college and university in the United States had as much – I should say as little -crime as Keuka College, in Keuka, New York, there would be little reason for us to call the belief that “ it can’t happen here” illusory. From all appearances, it can’t happen – at least not here. “This is a safe place to go to school,” asserts Mr. Ralph Wilkes, president of this small, isolated, liberal arts college on the shore of beautiful Lake Keuka. The most serious crime to have been committed within Wilkes’ memory – and Wilkes has been president for over 23 years – was the theft of a color television set from the lounge of a women’s dormitory. Occasionally, we learned, one of the female students’ rowdy, overintoxicated, out-of-town boyfriends stirs up a fight at a Saturday night dance and has to be forcibly ejected from the campus, but, obviously, no active criminal element threatens the safety and security of this picture-book college community. When we began talking about a “wave of campus crime” no one at Keuka, including President Wilkes, knew what we were talking about.

“This campus is no longer a haven; roughly $83,000 worth of property was stolen”

Whatever minor security problems do arise here are taken care of by Keuka’s tiny, non-professional, police force. The force – if one chooses to call it that – consists of one or two unarmed and unassuming “security officers,” whom the college “rents” from a private, out-of-town, industrial security agency (in this case, William Burns); to be sure, many other small, passive colleges do the same. Every night, the Burns men, who rather resemble genial, old fashioned and harmless English constables, patrol and repatrol Keuka’s 173 acres and 20 major buildings: checking doors and windows, seeing girls to their dorms, etc. Apparently their most stimulating duty is the chaperonage of parties and dances. None of them has ever had to make an arrest. And none of these “officers,” who, incidentally, work for about $100 a week, imagines that they ever will.

A good deal more people seemed concerned about crime and security at Cornell University, in Ithaca. New York (population, 20,000+), whose sprawling, ivy-draped, 730 acre campus, often described as being the most beautiful in America, is located but a half an hour’s drive away. Fortunately, there have been no murders at Cornell – at least not on the college Grounds (a drug-related murder of a lagetown two years ago). But everything else seems to have happened – rapes, armed robberies, felonious assaults, you name it.

“This campus is no longer a heaven,” says Lowell T. George, director of the university’s Safety Division, with an unmistakable gravity in his voice. Only last year two Cornell co-eds were raped, and the number of cases of harassment – in which rape is often the actual motive – reached 27, more than double the number recorded the year before. Mr. Powell’s impressions notwithstanding, crimes against property did not appear to have “levelled out” – at least not here. If anything, they had increased. Roughly $83,000 worth of property was stolen, a record amount.  And, to top everything off, Cornell provided the setting for one of the most spectacular campus heists on history, as two Cornell students on leave of absence broke into Barton Hall, the men’s gymnasium, and made off with the entire arsenal of the university’s Army ROTC unit, including: 48 M-14 rifles, 17.22 calibre rifles, five .45 calibre rifles, a grenade launcher, two telescopic rifle sights, seven compasses, a radio set, and 200 rounds of ammunition. The miscreants, who appear to have wanted to sell their loot (street value was estimated as at least $50,000) rather than employ it, were apprehended and arrested only after an intensive search of the Northeastern underground in which the Safety Division the United States Treasury Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and numerous state police departments all participated.

If Cornell provides a good example of a campus that has been hard hit by the operatives of crime, it provides an equally good example of a university that is fortunate to employ a relatively professional security system. Its forty-odd Safety Division patrolmen are, by and large, a breed apart from the celebrated “rent-a-cops” one is apt to see at one of the smaller colleges in the vicinity. Elderly men in search of companionship and a few extra bucks, Cornell’s protectors seem for the most part to be relatively young, college-educated men who seek the reward of a career. One would not think Cornell would be able to attract such men when it only offers patrolmen a starting salary of $7,650, but it does.

“We’d rather not have cops at all, particularly cops with guns. But who else is going to take care of this shit? The local police?”

Perhaps the best proof of the force’s professionalism is the fact that even though its men have been allowed to wear their hand guns at all times (when they’re on duty, that is) for quite a number of years, and even though they have had frequent occasion to draw their arms (as in apprehending an armed robber), they have never found it necessary to discharge them – at least not in the direction of a human being.  To be sure, such reserve is not only an indication of their character, but of their rigorous training: in all, some 22 weeks of classroom and field instruction and experience are required of the Safety Division rookie before he is permitted to go out on patrol by himself: half of the training is supervised by members of outside law enforcement agencies, half by veterans of the division.

One might suspect that students and faculty at the schools which The Underground Guide to America […] the competence and professionalism of the Cornell University Safety Division.

“Look,” said one sophomore, who seemed to be expressing the campus consensus, “we’d rather not have cops at all, particularly cops with guns. But who else is going to take care of this shit? The local police? Ask anyone. They’re tearass. If they were in charge of enforcing the law on the Hill this college might get it together again, I mean politically.” A lieutenant on the Division proudly confirmed: “The students trust us. They realize that we understand their problems better than any outside force could. We get along very well.”

Seemingly but one major barrier remains before the men of the Safety Division can attain the high morale necessary for a truly steady level of professional self-respect: legal self-sufficiency. State law requires that campus security officers must report the occurrence of any serious crime or accident to the duty incorporated local police department; in this case, the Ithaca City Police. Many of the men resent having to do this, particularly in light of the fact that they consider themselves as well, if not better, trained to deal with crime than their colleagues downtown. “We think that we should have primary jurisdiction over crimes committed on the campus,” says Mr. George. “We can handle our problems by ourselves. But the law doesn’t really let us.” He recommends action by the state legislature to repeal the offending statute, and clarify the legal status of campus security.  Until such action is taken, he affirms, many of the men of the Safety Division will, at least in their own minds, continue to hover in a sort of uneasy twilight zone, uncertain of their constitutional legitimacy and uncertain of their status within the professional police community.

As an institution of comparable wealth, size, and facility, one would think that the United States of New York at Stony Brook, on the plush North Shore of Long Island would suffer as heavily from the wave of campus crime as Cornell. It does. Nevertheless it is not nearly as well-equipped to deal with it, namely because its 35 security men are not armed. Because the men are unarmed, we were told by Ken Sjolin, assistant director in charge […].

Thirty Gigs Your Placement Office Forgot About

From College Monthly magazine (September, 1974)

If you’re beginning your senior year in school, chances are you’ve felt the first tinges of paranoia about what you’re going to be doing the rest of your life. Well, don’t despair. Contrary to your parent’s and society’s popular belief, you don’t have to decide now what you want to be when you grow up. You can hang out, et another degree or decide to cope with the reality of making a living. Lest you think the latter alternative to be perversely onerous, the editors of this magazine have done some research to spare you some neurotic damage. Escaping from the academic cocoon can be thoroughly enlightening or a downright bummer – depending on how you are equipped.

Hence, this story was borne from the idea that most of us are looking for gigs more satisfying than what’s in column A or Column B on your guidance counselor’s list. We thumbed through the pages of College Placement Annual 1974, where we found 454 pages worth of tedious company listings.

So we’ve assembled capsule summaries of 30 alternate professions we think you should consider. If you’re obsessed with becoming a doctor, lawyer, teacher, salesperson, engineer, then stop reading. This article is not for you. Some professions are esoteric and low paying. Others require advanced degrees and some do not even require a high school diploma. Yet we feel most of them are occupations you may not necessarily think of if you’ve been relying on your placement center. We tried to avoid overcrowded professions and attempted to anticipate which areas might be opening up in the near future.

There’s a good chance none of the following alternatives will interest you, but hopefully, they will titillate your sense of self-forget about what your parents want you to be – you can do whatever you want, and change your mind at any time. Who knows? Anything you fall into could be fine until you find the right one… the right one… the right one…

-The Editors

1. Recreational therapist. RT’s are usually employed in hospital settings, and (in the words of one in the field) possess “the skill of helping people meet their human need to have fun.” RT’s accomplish this through a variety of modalities, ranging from organizing parties on hospital wards to taking patients on guided hours of recreational facilities, theaters, cinemas, dance recitals and the like. Entry requirements in the field are fairly undemanding: many RT’s are hired with two-year associate degrees. For more information contact the National Therapeutic Recreation Society, 1601 North Kent St., Arlington, Va. 22209.

1-A. Art and dance therapist. Both these fields are extremely new, often unstructured in terms of formal training requirements, and competitive. Nonetheless, jobs exist and are expected to open up in a range of places including nursing homes, institutions for mentally and physically handicapped people, correctional institutions and day care centers. Art and dance therapist encourage non-verbal creative self-expression as a supplement to the work of other teachers and psychiatrists. The work has proved valuable in helping people establish identity and self-respect, in addition to providing a more acceptable outlet for feelings which might not be expressed verbally.

There are still only a handful of schools which offer specific programs. Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. N.Y. and Hahnemann College in Pennsylvania both offer art therapy programs. Hunter College in New York City offers one in dance therapy, Many other colleges, are experimenting with similar programs.

2. Forester. The forester protects, manages and develops our woodland resources in such a way as to perpetuate their many benefits to mankind. Whether he is employed in a public forest or by one of the forest products industries, the forester’s duties are likely to be very similar. He decides which areas will be used for recreation, grazing, experimental purposes of timber harvesting. His work involves planting, thinning and pruning trees. He determines which trees are right for cutting and surveys and supervises the construction of access roads, trails, and various improvements. There was a time when any man who could ride a horse and throw a diamond hitch on a pack animal could qualify as a forest ranger. Job requirements have evolved since then, and today’s forester may occasionally need to wrangle tack stock, but he often needs the skills of the outdoorsman and the technical knowledge of his profession. Forestry schools – there are over 100 of them in the country right now – is a must.

3. Parliamentarian. Is parliamentarian just another fancy word for legislator? Not quite. The present squad of 800 American parliamentarians are our white-collar umpires. These intelligent, good humored fellows are hired by societies, organizations, clubs, schools, political parties and labor unions at the rate of $70 or $80 a day to superintend their meeting, convocations and conventions. Parliamentarians inform and advise the members of these groups of their rights under parliamentary law. They also serve as the final judge in any dispute.  Requirements include a thorough knowledge of parliamentary procedures, self-control, a healthy degree of open-mindedness, some leadership qualities and a good sense of humor. For further information write the American Institute of Parliamentarians, 4453 Beacon St., Chicago, Ill., 60640.

4. Oceanographer. Oceanographers forecast weather, control pollution, obtain food and energy and occasionally assist on the nation’s defense. The oceanographer-to-be should take his/her bachelor’s degree in either oceanography, biology, a geoscience, mathematics or engineering; a graduate degree in oceanography is recommended but is not necessary. Oceanographers work aboard ships, in the sea (a la Cousteau), and in laboratories on land.  They share, in general, the ability to be away from home for long periods, to work in cramped quarters, swim, skin dive, ear unfamiliar foods, and, of course, they all share an abiding respect for the sea.

5. Day care worker. Here’s an outgrowth of the women’s movement which is expected to boom in the next decade, particularly in the government and in large private industries. Better yet, educators are increasingly concerned with day care which goes beyond mere babysitting and custodial work, and experiments with more creative programs. The most rewarding aspect of day-care is that the kids – anywhere from a few months to three or four – are maximally curious, impressionable and uncorrupted.

Day care is a particularly good field for a self-starter who is willing to present a model of operation to one of the many private industries who are beginning to think in those terms. But it is also an open field if you simple prefer to work in a center. The best source of information is the education school at your college.

6. Physician’s assistant. Another of the expanding para-professional fields, it is wide open and challenging, particularly to a person who wants to work away from major cities or suburban areas. It usually required a nursing degree or a certain amount of post-college training. Duties may include routine checkups, symptom recording, treating cuts and burns, running blood tests and applying casts. One usually works with a general practitioner, and – depending on his time commitments – the assistant;s responsibilities may be nearly as far-ranging as a typical physician’s. For more information: Department of Health Manpower, 535 North Dearborn, Chicago, Illinois 60601.

7. Auctioneer. In ancient Greece, auctioneers sold women of marriageable age to the highest bidder among a particular town’s eligible bachelors. Today’s auctioneers no longer traffic human cargo; however, they handle just about everything else: fruit and vegetable produce, machinery, antique cars and furniture, prize racehorses, art, diamonds and other jewellery, cattle, you name it. Veteran auctioneers say their job requires an interest in the intricacies of merchandising, “the lung power of a long distance runner, clear diction, fast reflexes – and a pair pf eyes that swivel directly from left to right while watching the bidders.” Also, since the best auctioneers are really masters of ceremonies, they usually have a good sense of humor. Persons seriously interested in becoming an auctioneer can register in one of the nation’s ten auction schools (where you take courses in elocution, breathing exercises, auctioneer’s jargon, merchandise estimating) or you can hire on as an auctioneer’s assistant. The outlook for the profession is good; there are already 30,000 practising auctioneers in the U.S. (20,000 part-time, 10,000 full-time.) Nevertheless, Bernard Hart, secretary of the National Auctioneers’ Association, recently declared that “opportunities are tremendous for good auctioneers and there is no limit to their earnings.” See you at Parke-Bernet.

8. Death counsellor. Sounds morbid, but this is an important and emerging service, nonetheless. This work has traditionally been delegated to nurses in terminal wards, most of whom have neither the training nor the time off from regular duties, to do it well. The work is done with people who are dying, and includes providing emotional support, helping the person to come to terms with his/her death, and working closely with the patient’s family. The field is so new that there is almost no available literature on it, and the best way to find out more is to inquire discreetly at hospitals around the place you’d like to work.

9. Birth control / abortion counsellor.  As legal and sophisticated birth control and abortion methods have become available – and also due to the concern with overpopulation – this field will widen. Job entails providing birth control information, counselling, and advice on how to obtain an abortion. There are an increasing number of private women’s organizations and counselling services in which the work is done, although traditional employers have been Planned Parenthood groups and Family Planning agencies in local governments.

The more advanced aspects of the field – including Population Planning and allied health services – often require a graduate degree from a Public Health School. The best information on degree requirements and available jobs is through placement offices in Public Health Schools, but it is also worth contacting Planned Parenthood.

10. Diamond cutter. Surgeons need a steady hand to do their work – so do diamond cutters. Not infrequently, the master diamond cutter, a highly skilled artisan with years of training, is given an irregularly shaped diamond to “cleave.” First the cutter scratches a painstakingly calibrated little groove into the diamond. Then he places a “knife,” or a square-edged blade, into it and strikes the knife carefully and forcefully with a mallet. Then he breathes. The master cutter, of course, is the most important participant in the process. His entourage usually includes a girdler, who rounds the corners of the cut stone with another diamond that is mounted on a lathe; the blocker, who grinds the gem’s sixteen principal facets with a Scaife or sheif (a horizontal wheel similar to a record turntable); and the brillinateerer, who polishes the ground diamond, bringing out the remaining number of its 58 facets. Geological neophytes generally enter their chosen trade by reference. They may expect to earn at least 10$ an hour if and when, several sudoriferous years later, they blossom into full-fledged master cutters. Other job requirements include good vision, honesty, and dependability. The best cities to look for work are Antwerp, Tel Aviv and New York City.

11. Geographer. Believe it or not there is room for the geographer in the post-Columbia world. Professional geographers analyze the geographic distributions of economic activities (economic geographer), demonstrate the relationship between geographic conditions and political processes (political geographer), study the physical characteristics of the Earth and Moon (physical geographer), record and analyze the physical, economic, political and cultural characteristics of a particular region or area (regional geographer) and design and construct maps (cartographer). More than two-thirds of the 7,500 geographers in this country are employed by universities, where they usually combine teaching and professional research. Virtually all the rest work for the Department of Defense’s Defense Mapping Agency, the Aeronautical Chart and Information Center, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and numerous other government agencies. Beginning positions in geography usually require a bachelor’s degree in the field. Graduate training is often preferred, however, for research and teaching jobs. Three-quarters of American geographers earn between $12-20,000 a year, a quarter earn between $20,000-25,000.

12. Piano tuner. If you love pianos, but aren’t blessed with the afflatus to play one on a professional basis, then perhaps you might consider becoming a piano tuner. The mission is, of course, to adjust piano strings so they will be in proper pitch and sounds musically correct. There are 220 strings in the modern 88 key piano. After muting the strings on either side, the tuner uses a tuning hammer to tighten or loosen the string until its frequency matches that of a standard tuning fork. The other strings are tuned in relation to the starting string. Sometimes the tuner has to make minor repairs, such as replacing worn or broken strings. Major repairs, however, are made by piano technicians. About 3,000 persons work as full-time piano tuners and servicemen, earning anywhere between $7-20,000 a year. Piano tuners and servicemen generally learn their job through dealers and repair shops who hire beginners to do general clean up work, help servicemen, move and install instruments, and do other routine tasks, You need good hearing, mechanical aptitude and manual dexterity.

13. Medical illustrator. Medical illustrators do more than illustrate textbooks; they make films, television programs, exhibits and three-dimensional models, and frequently they also make artificial moses and ears. Today there are about 250 medical illustrators; they are employed by medical centers, biological laboratories, schools of veterinary medicine, dental and medical colleges, authors, publishers, pharmaceutical companies and sometimes by themselves. These highly-skilled, highly-respected professionals earn anywhere between $15-30,000 a year, sometimes more. Admission into a school of medical illustration (there are only two or three in the country, and each accepts only a handful of matriculants each year) is highly competitive: for a reasonable chance of success the potential illustrator should have a diverse, well-executed portfolio of drawings as well as a strong background in biology and zoology. For more information about this obscure, but highly rewarding profession, write the Corresponding Secretary, Association of Medical Illustrators, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Ga. 30902.

14. Landscape architect. Landscape architects plan, design and supervise the arrangement of outdoors areas. Their projects include beaches, botanical gardens, campuses, cemeteries, country clubs, highways, hospitals, parks, parkways, recreational areas, resorts and shopping centers. They are employed by architectural firms, engineering firms, industrial firms, landscape contractors, city planning and urban renewal offices and universities. Prerequisites: a B.A. in landscape architecture, an interest in art and nature, imagination, a good sense of design, an understanding of plants and ability to get along with people. The best way to see whether you will like this line of work, as well as to break into the profession, is to get a summer job with a landscape architect or contractors.

15. Archivist. The holdings of the National Archives in Washington, D.C., where millions of visitors come each year to see original copies of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence on display, amount to some 900,000 cubic feet of records, including 11/2 million maps, nearly 200,000 rolls of microfilm, and 34,000 sound recordings. Responsibility for the upkeep and maintenance of this information depends upon an archivist: in a sense, he is in charge of editing the nation’s history. Work is available for archivists at dozens of state museums and individual family libraries which also maintain their own sets of archives. “Since the activities of our society are growing,” writes Dr. Virginia C. Purdy of the National Archives, “there is likely to be an expansion in the archives service in the future.”

16. Sex surrogate. One of the oldest and most titillating professions can now be practiced in the service of science, psychology and peace of mind. Open to men and women alike. If performance is your speciality, check your area to see what “sex therapy,” “reproductive biology research” or “human sexuality” clinics are in operation. You may have to call a medical facility; most haven’t made the Yellow Pages yet.

17. Osteopath. Contrary to popular opinion, an osteopath is a licensed physician who has AMA approval to practise in hospitals. The only difference is that he has a “DO” after his name rather than an “MD”. Osteopaths manipulate your “parts”, attacking the idea that whatever ails you has to do with your body’s tissue.

The advantage of osteopathy is that it is still relatively obscure (only 13,000 of them in the U.S.) and the 13 schools are not quite as difficult to get into as medical school. If money’s your thing, you can become as rich as a doctor. A word of caution: Don’t let on that you are applying to osteopathic school as an alternative to medical school; the admissions people may get insulted. For more information, write the American Osteopathic Association, 212E. Ohio Street, Chicago, Ill. 60611.

18. Blacksmith. Like most self-annointed cosmopolitans, you probably regard the American blacksmith as an endangered, if not indeed extinct, species. If you do, you’re wrong, dead wrong. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, there were 10,000 fully qualified blacksmiths among the nation’s work force in 1972. Almost two-thirds were gainfully employed in factories, and mines, as well as on railroads; the remainder, mostly self-employed, were pounding the forge in small, hot and noisy, old-fashioned, but not unprofitable blacksmith shops located in rural communities or near racetracks and horse farms. Most beginning forgers enter the occupation as helpers in blacksmith shops. Others break in via three or four-year formal apprenticeships.

19. Fundraiser. If you’re good at organizing and like the feel of money, fund raising can be the field for you. When a charity or community group needs funds, you counsel them on the best means of doing it, and then direct the organization members in the drive. Theatre parties, raffles, sales, even entire carnivals, can cost the fund raiser no more than a few hours a week of work for a few months and end up netting him a healthy commission – perhaps 15 percent, depending on state laws.

20. Ichthyologist. […] are found in museums of natural history, public aquariums and oceanariums and in the Federal government, where they usually work as fishery biologists. Persons interested in this unusual line of work should major in zoology during their undergraduate years, then, if adequately inspired, go for a master’s (although a graduate degree is not absolutely necessary for employment). Don’t give ichthyology a second thought, however, unless you a) have a strong, natural sense of curiosity, b) are able to observe details carefully, c) are willing to work hard, and d) are capable of ignoring pungent smells.

21. Smokejumper. The U.S. Forest Service has a crack squad of 450 airborne firemen, known as smokejumpers. Like the city fireman, the smokejumper, stationed at one of the country’s regional fire control camps, is ready for his job at a moment’s notice. Once a fire is spotted, the smokejumper pulls on his jump suit, fastens his wire-masked helmet, clips on his parachutes and dashes to a nearby airfield. Then he jumps as close as is physically feasible to the fire, first containing, then, hopefully, extinguishing the advancing flames. Despite some 80,000 jumps since 1941, smokejumpers have never suffered a fatality. Qualification needed for this $3,50/hour gig ae obvious: self-reliance, physical endurance and strength, courage, a tolerance of hights, and, of course, and affection for trees. One can learn the necessary skills for smokejumping – parachute-jumping, first aid, fire control equipment use, woodmanship, etc. – at the Forest Service’s four-week course in fire control. For more information write the Director, Division of Fire Control, Forest Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250.

22. […]

23. Speech Pathologist/Audiologist. The 27,000 speech pathologists and audiologists work in public schools, colleges, hospitals, speech and hearing centers, private industry and government agencies. The first and basic duty of the speech pathologist/audiologist is to diagnose and evaluate his or her patient’s supposed speech and/or hearing disorder; this he does with the aid of highly sophisticated instruments (like an audiometer). Then, in conjunction with physicians, psychologists, physical therapists and counsellors, he develops and organized program of therapy. The outlook is good: one of every 10 Americans has either a speech or hearing problem, and with the nation’s population exploding, the number of afflicted will continue to rise. If you’re interested in this field take courses in biology, physiology, linguistics, and semantics; courses in speech and voice, as well as in child psychology should also prove helpful when you look for a job. A master’s degree is desirable for higher-paying job.

24. Voice-over person. Most actors you see on TV commercials aren’t really using their own voices; producers hire one actor for the right appearance and another for the right voice. If you can do a wide range of voices and imitations and can time your spiel to the second, you may be in for big money. To get your start, American Guild of Variety Artists suggests you make a tape of yourself imitating three diverse announcers in three commercials messages, copied verbatim, with the original timing. Send the tape, with a covering letter, to a representative – Charles Ryan (35 W. 53. St., New York, N.Y.) and Fifi Oscard (19 W. 44 St., New York, N.Y.) are two good ones. With luck and skill, you may ne the next deodorant or dog food sensation.

25. Organ harvester.  An organ harvester works in hospital, in conjunction with surgeons and kidney specialists. His/her job entails procuring the kidneys from a person who is on the verge of death (usually the victim has suffered a stroke or is critically ill from an accident). The organ harvester attaches the removed kidneys to a maintenance machine, follows them to the new recipient, and provides all related supportive services. The job requires compassion and some technical knowledge but not necessarily a degree. The vastly increased success with organ transplantation could increase openings in the field. Check local hospitals for further details.

26. Physical therapist. Those highly skilled professionals are experts at getting malformed, injured or painful parts of the body repaired. A physical therapist may help rehabilitate a veteran’s war injury or knead the muscles of a sore back (as illustrated on our cover). At least a bachelor’s degree is required, but some institutions demand graduate work. Starting salaries average $8-10,000 per annum; more experienced PT’s can earn up to $20-22,000. There are only some 20,000 participating in this profession in the U.S., and there are shortages in the field dur to the poor distribution of medical personnel in suburban/rural areas. PT’s get referrals from physicians, and you will find them working mostly I hospitals. For more information write the American Physical Therapy Assoc., 1156 15th St. N.W., Washington D.C. 20005.

27. Taxidermist. Taxidermy is defined as “the art of collecting, melting, and preserving birds, animals, game heads, fishes and reptiles as they appeared in life.” It can be a rewarding full-time occupation. Professional taxidermists are employed by individuals, private companies, schools and museums. The best known American school currently offering course in taxidermy is the University of Iowa City. Taxidermy can also be learned through the mail. The Northwestern School of Taxidermy, 1202 Harney Street, Omaha, Nebraska, a correspondence school, is the largest and best known school of its kind.

28. Soil conservationist. Soil conservationists supply farmers, ranches and others with technical assistance for conservation of soil and water. A B.S. degree, with a major in soil conservation or one of the closely related natural science or agricultural fields, constitutes the minimum requirement. Opportunities for well-trained soil conservationists are expanding because government agencies, public utility companies, banks and other organizations are becoming interested in conservation and are adding conservationists to their staff. Additional information on employment prospects can be obtained from the United States Civil Services Commission, Washington, D.C., 20415.

29. Oenologist. That’s the heavyweight title for a person who deals in wine and winemaking, At present only the University of Bordeaux in France and the University of California at Davis issue oenology degrees. But many colleges offer courses on wine. Very little grape stomping is involved. You spend your time in the lab “balancing, sometimes mutating, various grape strains to blend, ferment, and age a product that measures up to the most exacting standards,” according to a representative from Schieffelin and Co. Most salaries fall in the $12-20,000 range, and the field is opening up due to the current consumption rage. See your little old winemaker for more details.

30. Stuntman/Stuntwoman. With movie companies getting crazier in their zeal to scare audience, this field could really open up. Funny thing is you don’t have to be the particularly athletic type as long as you have a good sense of timing – and balls. Even the latter qualification is becoming outmoded as the new realism sets in: the practice of using men with wigs to stand in for female starlets is beginning to give wat to the use of stuntwomen like Pat Daley. She is the only female member of the East Coast Stuntmen’s Association (850 Seventh Avenue, Suite 705, New York, N.Y. 10019), which handles many tv and film assignments when they are shot on location around New York. It’s a sideline for Pat, who is an actress. She did her first stunt while working in the capacity on a production and has been picking up odd calls ever since. It’s not as dangerous as it looks.

Extortion of therapy patients in Finland shakes culture of privacy →

HELSINKI

Katleena Kortesuo wasn’t completely unprepared when the extortionist known as “RANSOM_MAN” got in touch with her last October.

Two days earlier, it had been reported that hackers had stolen confidential therapy records from Vastaamo, a private psychotherapy center based in Helsinki where Ms. Kortesuo was a patient. RANSOM_MAN – perhaps the original hacker, perhaps not – had been sending emails to patients threatening to make their stolen information public if they didn’t pay the sum demanded, usually €200 ($238).

“They knew my name, my email, and my personal identification number [the Finnish equivalent of the U.S. Social Security number],” says Ms. Kortesuo. “And they knew that I had been a patient at Vastaamo.” Even though it wasn’t a total surprise, she says, it was hard to process the affair – especially after the hacker backed up his threat by leaking some of the stolen data relating to the victims on the dark net. As of February, some 25,000 criminal reports had been filed in connection with the hack.

“This was the biggest crime in Finnish history, as well as one of the most horrific,” says Ms. Kortesuo, who is now writing a book about the breach and its societal repercussions.

The Vastaamo hack and subsequent blackmail has deeply shaken Finnish society. While the crime would have been intrusive anywhere, it has struck at some of Finland’s cornerstone values, including privacy and faith in online connectivity. But it may at least be opening the door to a more public discussion of the importance of mental health and health care.

“This was definitely a watershed event for Finland,” says Michael Franck, a noted Finnish documentary filmmaker. “The fact that this sort of thing could happen here in Finland, a country which prides itself on being one of the cradles of connectivity, as well as one with a strong and secure health-care system, was shocking.”

Shaking societal trust

“Break-ins to computers and stealing databases are unfortunately not so unusual anymore,” says Detective Chief Inspector Marko Leponen of the Finnish National Police. “Still, if we look at this case, it was basically unprecedented.”

Inspector Leponen ought to know. He is the head of the task force that is investigating the case. “The amount of personal data that was targeted was just enormous,” he says. Also, he notes that this is the first instance in Finland where ransom was demanded not just from the breached organization, but from the patients whose data was stolen.

“One of the reasons why this hack has been so devastating is trust,” he says. “We Finns trust our society and trust that all of our sensitive systems are properly secured.”

The fact that the victims were psychotherapy patients, including those with depression and other severe problems, added to the public shock, particularly in a society whose members are not used to discussing their private lives, no less that they or their loved ones are in therapy to begin with.

Psychotherapy isn’t taboo, says veteran Finnish diplomat Petri Tuomi-Nikula, but talking about it is. “We don’t talk about therapy the way people do in the U.S. In this sense we are more private.”

Ami Hasan, a leading Finnish advertising executive, agrees. “Going into therapy isn’t as natural for Finns as it is for Americans,” he says. “Then, to have a hacker take advantage of this shyness, or avoidance, or whatever you call it, and tell the patients whose therapy notes he stole, ‘Pay me or I will let your employer or loved ones know that you have mental problems.’ Well, Finns don’t take that lightly.”

“Of course, breaching the trust and secrecy of what you would tell your therapist would be – ought to be – egregious anywhere,” says Teivo Teivainen, professor of world politics at Helsinki University, “but perhaps here it was even a greater shock because the level of societal trust is high.”

Dr. Teivainen says that Finns’ trust in society is probably due to a combination of factors, including a tradition of relative equality tracing back to Swedish rule, the influence of the once powerful Lutheran Church, and the relative homogeneity of Finnish society.

“Vastaamo was a kind of perfect storm for Finns,” says Mark Maher, an American art curator who has lived in Finland for many years. “It wreaked havoc with several pillars of the Finnish ethos at once – their pride in being one of the first digitalized societies, their sense of privacy, and their trust in institutions, both public and private. ... All that was damaged here.”

Responding to the hack

The damage and the aftershocks from it have been seen at Victim Support Finland (RIKU), an organization that provides counseling and support to victims of crimes. “We have had victims of identity theft,” says RIKU director Leena-Kaisa Åberg, “but never on this kind of scale.”

All told, she says, her agency had more than 22,600 clients in 2020, an increase of nearly 50% from 2019. The Vastaamo hack has been a significant driver behind the increase, she says.

The government is trying to fix the security holes revealed by the hack, says Olli-Poika Parviainen, the state secretary to the Ministry of the Interior. “The digitalization of health care and welfare require a high level of security,” he says, “and we are doing our best to ensure that.”

However the trauma and gnawing sense of insecurity for the thousands of victims of the blackmail continues, says Ms. Kortesuo, who has been keeping a blog about the case. “Clearly people are suffering from insecurity, hopelessness, anxiety, and powerlessness in this matter.”

As an example, she cites one message she received from an anonymous victim. “This is a hell that lasts for the rest of my life,” the victim wrote. “I might find my data after 4, or 6, or 12 years. My anxiety and stress levels are going through the ceiling.”

Still, as traumatic as the affair has been, she says she feels some good has come out of it as well. “Companies’ awareness and investment in cybersecurity has risen. I also appreciate the fact that the whole nation supported the victims and condemned the criminals.”

A ferry sank, killing hundreds. Now, a film stirs decades-old Baltic mystery. →

The sinking of the MS Estonia ferry in 1994 affected all of Estonia and Sweden. Today, revelations in a new documentary are bringing the disaster back to the forefronts of their national psyches.

– Kim Campbell Culture & Education Editor

Claudio Bresciani/TT News Agency/AP/FIle

People at the memorial for the victims of the catastrophic sinking of the MS Estonia after a ceremony in Stockholm, Sept. 28, 2014. Crowds gathered to commemorate 852 people killed, including 501 Swedes, in one of Europe's worst peacetime disasters on Sept. 28, 1994.

By Gordon F. Sander Correspondent

RIGA, LATVIA

Mart Luik was in Paris when he found out that the MS Estonia ferry had sunk, killing more than 850 people, a quarter century ago.

“I ... rushed to call to see if any of my family were aboard and to see what happened,” Mr. Luik, now an adviser in the Estonian foreign minister’s office, says. “I think all Estonians of a certain age remember where they were when they heard about the Estonia.”

The sinking of the passenger ferry in the early hours of Sept. 28, 1994, under mysterious circumstances in the Baltic Sea is the worst peacetime maritime disaster in European waters. All told, 852 of the 980 passengers and crew aboard the massive vessel died in the tragedy.

Citizens of seventeen nations died when the MS Estonia capsized. It was especially devastating to the two countries with the most people on board: Estonia and Sweden, who lost 285 and 501 citizens respectively. The scale of the tragedy, and the small size of the nations involved, meant that it struck across their entire populaces. “Sweden is so small that basically everyone knew someone who drowned,” says Rolf Sorman, a Swedish survivor.

For years, the official cause of the sinking has been written off as a mechanical failure – a finding that has not sat well with survivors who were on the MS Estonia at the time. But now, after Swedish journalist Henrik Evertsson incorporated new footage of the ferry wreckage into a new documentary, the question of what sank the ferry has been reopened. And the revelations he has brought to light are stirring the two countries to rethink one of the greatest tragedies in their modern history.

A sudden bang, a ship sinking

The MS Estonia was the pride of its newly independent namesake republic. The 15,000-ton steel vessel, 510 feet long and nine decks high, featured a swimming pool, a sauna, a casino, and a cinema, along with labyrinths of cabins with accommodations for up to 2,000 people for the overnight trip between Sweden and Estonia. It also had a car deck that stretched from bow to stern through the hull’s insides. In port, the car deck was accessed through a special bow that could be raised to allow vehicles to roll on and roll off.

Around 1 a.m. on Sept. 28, 1994, the MS Estonia, then en route from Tallinn, Estonia, to Stockholm, foundered in a severe Baltic storm off the southwest Finnish coast. As numerous survivors have attested, a sudden clanging sound reverberated through the ship.

“I was sitting in the ship’s bar, quite sober, when a sudden ‘bang’ took place,” says Swedish Special Envoy to the Korean Peninsula Kent Härstedt, then a young foreign ministry official. “Suddenly the ferry was immediately thrown to the side.”

“I immediately thought that the ship had hit something, perhaps a container, and changed course,” said Mr. Sorman, who also happened to be up at that hour.

“Actually, the blow was so strong I was too stunned to think anything,” says Mr. Härstedt. “Then everyone was falling.”

Leif R Jansson/Scanpix/iPhoto.ca/Newscom/File

Crew members of a helicopter prepare to rescue survivors from the passenger ferry MS Estonia from the Baltic Sea, Sept. 28, 1994.

As Mr. Sorman, Mr. Härstedt, and others fought their way to the passenger deck, the car deck became flooded, causing the ferry to capsize and sink in less than 50 minutes. At the same time the door, and putative cause of the disaster, came off entirely.

In 1997, the Joint Accident Investigation Committee (JAIC), the body appointed by the Estonian, Swedish, and Finnish governments, issued its report on the sinking. It indicated that the locks on the bow door had failed from the strain of the immense waves hitting the MS Estonia, causing the door to be separated from the rest of the vessel, pulling the ramp behind it ajar, leading to the lightning-fast flooding. Although the investigators found other contributing or aggravating factors, including the ship’s high speed and the MS Estonian crew’s passivity and lack of safety training, that was deemed the principal cause of the disaster. The JAIC’s report indicated no external damage to the hull.

“It’s engraved in my memory forever”

However that was not the end of the story for the families of the deceased, nor the survivors, like Mr. Sorman and Mr. Härstedt, who were frustrated by the investigators’ refusal to interview the survivors. Mr. Sorman ended up being one of three survivors in his traveling group of twelve, while Mr. Härstedt was one of only two in his group of two dozen.

“We were never given the opportunity to share our information,” says Mr. Härstedt. “It was very upsetting. ... It still is.”

And the sinking traumatized Estonia and Sweden. This correspondent reported on the tragedy for The New York Times in Helsinki, and later in Turku, the Finnish city nearest the sinking, where the haggard, too few survivors from the MS Estonia were helicoptered in, along with Stephen Kinzer, the Times’ Berlin bureau chief who anchored the paper’s coverage.

Mr. Kinzer still recalls the crater-like impact the disaster had on the two societies. “Death on this scale was a cataclysm that deeply shook people in both countries. It seemed to strike every family. People were stunned. The emotions went as deep as any I’ve ever seen or felt. And with that level of shock and grief surrounding you, even reporters can’t help being affected by it.

“To this day I remember looking at people’s blank faces in Turku and [Estonia’s capital,] Tallinn,” says Mr. Kinzer, who now teaches at Brown University. “Even for those of us not directly affected, it was a traumatic episode to live through. It’s engraved in my memory forever.”

The catastrophe also made a lasting impression on Mr. Evertsson, who was only 7 when he first heard about it on the radio. Investigating the sinking has been a priority for him ever since he became a journalist.

It took some years for Mr. Evertsson, who directed the documentary along with his co-producers Bendik Mondal and Frithjof Jacobsen, to acquire the financing from Discovery Networks Norway for the expensive – and potentially illegal – expedition they envisioned. An international treaty deeming the MS Estonia a sacred site forbids approaching it or diving near it.

Nevertheless, Mr. Evertsson’s team, including a Norwegian diving company, traveled to the site on a ship registered in Germany – the only nation on the Baltic Sea that did not sign the aforementioned treaty. And they went ahead and filmed the length and breadth of the sunken ship.

In the process, they discovered a 14-foot-long hole in the ship’s hull, contradicting the JAIC report’s finding about the lack of external damage and suggesting that a collision may have caused the catastrophe.

A new investigation?

On Sept. 28, the 26th anniversary of the disaster, their five-part documentary, “Estonia: The Find That Changes Everything,” was broadcast throughout the Baltic region. The effect of the film, as well as the furor it caused, was immediate.

Among those watching were survivors Mr. Sorman and Mr. Härstedt.

“My reaction was that the film confirmed the Archimedean principle also applied to [the MS] Estonia,” says Mr. Sorman, now a school headmaster in Nacka, Sweden. “For a ship to sink there must be a hole beneath the waterline. I thought the film was very well done.”

“I thought the documentary was credible and trustworthy,” Mr. Harstedt agrees. “I also am upset that it took a private filmmaker and journalist to do a job that three democratic states should have properly done in the first place.”

The reaction of the Estonian, Swedish, and Finnish governments was more complicated. For its part, the Estonian government took it seriously enough to dispatch its prime minister and foreign minister to Stockholm and Helsinki to discuss the film and its findings with their counterparts.

At the same time, all three governments have reserved judgment about the film’s reliability. As Mr. Luik, who is assisting with the new investigation, put it, “We have no reliable information which would disprove the main conclusion of the JAIC’s report” – that the failure of the bow door caused the MS Estonia to sink.

That said, Mr. Luik continues, “it is obvious that we need to conduct a new technical investigation which is exhaustive, technically sophisticated, transparent, and independent.” Currently the three governments “are discussing the proper criteria for the new investigation.”

“I simply do not trust the original investigative entities to investigate themselves,” says Mr. Sorman. “For me this is all about trust, as well as about maritime safety.”

“To conduct a new trustworthy investigation is of the utmost importance out of respect for those who died, as well as their relatives, and everyone else who was impacted by the disaster,” says Mr. Härstedt.

Ramifications

Mr. Evertsson says that his purpose in making the film was not necessarily to disprove the JAIC report, but to posit another theory for why MS Estonia sunk so quickly that might account for the new hole he discovered.

“I want to be clear that we didn’t and don’t make any conclusions,” he says. “It’s up to the experts to investigate further.”

In the meantime, the Swedish government indicted Mr. Evertsson for trespassing on the MS Estonia site, for which he faces up to two years in prison. The case goes to court in January.

“To perform the critical journalism that was necessary in the case of the Estonia was more important than the charges,” he says. “I welcome the opportunity to discuss the film in a court of law.”

“People are calling me and crying and thanking me because now maybe the truth can be revealed,” he says. “For me that is sufficient.”

On Thursday, Mr. Evertsson received validation of another kind when he was awarded the Swedish Grand Prize for Journalism, the Swedish equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, for Best Scoop of the Year.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct Mr. Luik's employment in the Estonian government.