Religion in Estonia as well as Latvia, some evangelical Christian clergy attempted to resist the Soviet policy of state atheism by engaging in anti-regime activities such as Bible smuggling. The text titled "World and Its Peoples: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland", published by the Marshall Cavendish, states that in addition to the Soviet antireligious campaign in Estonia, which mandated the confiscation of church property and deportation of theologians to Siberia, many "churches were destroyed in the German occupation of Estonia, from 1941 through 1944, and in World War II (1939-1945)". After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, this antireligious legislation was annulled. Less
Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 an unexpected winner and had never been ahead in the voting until the final juror's votes enabled it to snatch an unpredicted last minute victory. On the night of the final Toome performed 23rd in the running order, following Norway and preceding Turkey. At the close of voting "Mere lapsed" had picked up 36 points (over half of which comprised a maximum 12 from Finland and 8 from Slovakia), placing Estonia joint 12th (with Portugal) of the 25 entries. The 12 points from the Estonian televote were awarded to Sweden. Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 Estonia was represented