My Estonian grandfather worked as a police officer in Viljandi prior to and during the German occupation. It was only when the Russians invaded Estonia towards

My Estonian grandfather worked as a police officer in Viljandi prior to and during the German occupation. It was only when the Russians invaded Estonia towards the end of the war that he, my grandmother and mother decided it was safer to flee; the terrible reputation of the advancing Russians, murdering and raping as they went, proceeded them. Just was well, as a number of his colleagues were murdered by Russian soon after they escaped. If you weren't a Jew, you were - in general - treated OK by occupying German soldiers, and least according to accounts I've heard from people who where actually there. The Germans were professional and courteous, the Russians uncontrolled and ravaging thugs. Funny how Russians always see themselves as 'liberators', not 'occupiers' of Estonia. If this was the case, once they'd driven out the Germans, why didn't they then leave?