Just recently sworn in for her third term on the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad, Great Neck's Lee Seeman is deep into a new project involving Estonia. And she is looking for both financial contributions to her project, as well as information on Estonians who lived through World War II.

Ms. Seeman explained that Estonia was chosen for this project because most people do not know much about what happened there during World War II. ''Few people who lived in Estonia knew what happened there during Hitler's regime,'' she said.

Ms. Seeman told of the existence of about 20 concentration camps and labor camps in Estonia established by the Nazis in World War II. And, as well, there were killing sites where people were taken and killed on the spot. According to Ms. Seeman, all of these camps and sites have been neglected for the past 60 years. There were some markers, but there have never been any descriptions on the markers as to what really happened there. ''There is inaccurate information,'' Ms. Seeman added.

She went on to tell the story of how ''the peaceful and active life of the small Jewish community in Estonia came to an abrupt halt in 1940 with the Soviet occupation of Estonia ... in July and August of 1940 all organizations, associations, societies and corporations were closed.'' Then, on June 14, 1941, a large group of about 400 Jews were deported. After the German occupation later in 1941, all Jews who had failed to flee were murdered, according to data from Israel, Ms. Seeman said. Then 1000 Estonian Jews were executed in 1941.

Ms. Seeman continued the history, telling how Jews were brought to Estonia from other areas of Eastern Europe. They were brought into areas in the forest, so deep in the forests that even the local people did not know about them because they never saw them.

Lee Seeman is determined to complete this Estonia project, and quickly too. ''We must do this now, before the 6oth anniversary of the Holocaust. We need funds for markers at each site, each marker inscribed ''with a good description,'' she said. The commission has already raised some money.

When asked why she is so passionate about ensuring the preservation of the heritage of her country, and why she is so dedicated to projects involving cemeteries, Ms. Seeman seriously stated that it is ''a collective responsibility to care for the graves of the dead ... in the best of times we can expect our friends and relatives to care for us as we would care for them ... for victims of the Holocaust it is therefore our duty to respond to the need where we find it.''

Ms. Seeman was first appointed to the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad by President Bill Clinton in 1995. Her third appointment to the commission came recently from President George W. Bush. Her last project was the restoration of one of the largest monuments in Poland, in a cemetery in Wyszkow.

For anyone who would like to make a contribution to this current project in Estonia, you can send a check to the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad and mail it to Lee Seeman, 20 Laurel Drive, Great Neck Estates, NY 11021. ''No matter what amount, please send your contribution,'' Ms. Seeman asked.

Also, Ms. Seeman would like to contact anyone who has any information about Estonia during World War II. If anybody knows of anyone over age 80 who came from Estonia or survived a concentration camp or a slave labor camp there, or if anyone has any knowledge of what went on in Estonia during World War II, call Lee Seeman at 487-1347.