Carl Sarap

Carl Sarap was born in Voka, Estonia, the son of Juhan Sarap (1862–?) and Amalie Charlotte Sarap (née Saar, 1868–1952).^[7] His father was a schoolmaster in Voka and later a manor manager in Sompa,^[8] and he operated a bookstore in Rakvere in the 1920s.^[9] Juhan Sarap had a farm in the village of Martsa.^[10] Carl Sarap enrolled at the University of Tartu, but his studies were interrupted by the First World War.^[11]

Toward the end of the First World War, Sarap managed to earn a large sum of money, with which he founded the company Odamees–Carl Sarap in Tartu. In addition to publishing and a bookstore, he also owned a toy factory. Sarap's publishing house bought up and published the works of the former members of the Siuru group, other fiction and non-fiction, translated works, and calendars.^[12]

In 1919 and from 1922 to 1927, Sarap's publishing house published the literary, art, and research magazine Odamees. In 1919, the magazine's managing editor was Friedebert Tuglas, and five issues were published. In 1919, the weekly newspaper Odamees [et] was also published for a short time. The managing editor was August Alle, and ten issues were published. After the magazine's ownership changed, Sarap worked as the editor-in-chief of Odamees from 1928 to 1929. After Sarap's publishing and book business ran into difficulties, the debts were paid off by guarantors—relatives, acquaintances, and friends.^[13] Sarap was declared insolvent in 1929.^[14]

The Triefeldt bookstore in Rakvere, circa 1930–1936. Carl Sarap stands behind the counter in the photo department

The building at Lai tänav 7 in Rakvere in 2025, where the J. Triefeldt bookstore operated in the 1930s

Sarap moved back to Rakvere, where, together with his new partner Johanna Triefeldt (1899–1968), a former Toila school teacher,^[15] he operated a bookstore under the business name J. Triefeldt from 1929 onward,^[16] where Sarap was responsible for photography.^[17]

Starting in 1934,^[18] Sarap began systematically photographing Estonian landscapes, nature, animals, villages, and cities. He traveled with his camera throughout Estonia, making long journeys on foot and by car. Under the pseudonym J. Triefeldt (Joh. Triefeldt), Sarap published many photo postcards and also the postcard series Kaunis kodumaa (Beautiful Homeland, 1936–1940). In 1934, Sarap's photograph of Narva's Rahu Street was published in the Estonian Encyclopedia [et] as one of the illustrations for the entry "photographic art".^[19]

In 1936, a photo-illustrated volume on the architectural history of Narva also included photographs by Sarap.^[20] He received a gold medal at the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris.^[21] In 1937, Triefeldt's business moved to Broad Street (Estonian: Lai tänav) 17 (today Lai tänav 7) in Rakvere.^[22] In 1939, the publishing house Kultuurkoondis in Tallinn published the photo book Vana Narva (Old Narva) compiled by Sarap, which contained photos of the old town of Narva taken by Sarap and a historical overview by the Narva city archivist Arnold Soom.^[23]

On June 14, 1941,^[24] Sarap was arrested by the NKVD in the village of Voka in Virumaa County because of the camera he had with him in the border zone. Along with other detainees from the Tallinn Pre-Trial Prison, he was "evacuated" on July 4, 1941, before the arrival of German troops in Russia, to the Molotov Oblast, where he died in the Usollag prison camp in Solikamsk on November 5, 1942.^[25]

Sarap married Maari Velt (1897–?) in 1920, and the couple had two children.^[22][26]