Paul Lill
Paul-Adolf Lill (25 January 1882 – 13 March 1942) was an Estonian military officer and Minister of War. He served in the Imperial Russian Army, participating in the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. Lill joined the Estonian Army during the 1918–1920 Estonian War of Independence, and held important staff positions. After the war he continued military service, holding posts of Chief of Staff of the Estonian Defence Forces, Undersecretary of the Minister of War, and from 1933 to 1939 Minister of War, reaching the rank of lieutenant general. With the onset of Soviet occupation, he was arrested by NKVD in 1941, and died in imprisonment the following year. Biography Paul Lill was born on 25 January 1882 to a family of a miller in Veski farm in Roobe Parish (now part of Tõrva Parish), Estonia, then part of the Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire. He studied 1891–1892 in Jõgeveste and 1892–1894 in Helme parish schools, and 1894–1899 in Valga town school. In 1900, Lill voluntarily joined the Imperial Russian Army, and studied from 1901 to 1904 in Vilnius Military School where he met Johan Laidoner, the future Commander‑in‑Chief of the Estonian Armed Forces. In 1905 Lill participated