Figure 1.--Here Fru Lille Chiappa a Swedish foster mother with hetvtwo with her two Finnish evacuee children in 1944. There is writing on the back in Swedish, but we are unsure hat it means. As best we can mkeout it says, "Fru Lille Chiappa, Boras m focnne syskon fr Finl som hn lagif hand om." .

The Finnish children were evacucate to sympathetic Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Norway and Denmark) which were nutral at the time of the Winter war. By far the larget number when to neigboring Sweden. There is no precicie accounting, but the Finns are bekieve to have evacuated some 70,000 children during the War about 65,000 were taken in by the Swedes. There were also private evcuations which are not included in the official statistics. The evacuations began with the Soviets invaded Finland (November 1939). This politica sitution changed when the Germans invaded and occupied Denmark and Norway (April 1940). This did not end the evacuations as Finland was neutral toward Germany and eventually became a co-beligerant when Germany invaded the Soviet Union (June 1941). But very few evacuees were placed in German-occupied Denmark and Norway. The grear majority of the evacuees went to Sweden. The effort in Sweden was an undertaking by both Swedish Government agencies and private charitable organizations. The largest number of evacuations occurred durung the Continuation War rather than the Winter War. The children were placed in homes and referred to as guests rather than foster parents--although this is what they became. Some of the children were placed in institutions. This was especially the case of children tht were ill or in poor physicl conditions. They were placed in hospitals, orphanages, and santoria. This was the case near the end of the War as conditions deteriorated in Finland a food becme increasingly scarce. Special medical transports were organized. Some 10,000 to 15,000 evacuee children fell into this category. Conditions in the orphanages wee very cramped We see photographs of the children doubled up in beds with children at both the head and foot of the beds. The evacuations from Finland to Sweden were one of the largest evacuations of children in the 20th century, only exceeded by the British, German, and Japanese evacuations. It of course primarily occurred during the War, but Finnish children moved between the two countries for 20 years (1939-59). It took some time to get the hildren back to Finland. In fact a substantial number of children bonded with their Swedish parents and stayed in Sweden. Some of the children moved back and forth.

Sweden

The larget number of the Finnish child evacuees by far were taken in by neigboring Sweden. There is no precise accounting, but the estimate we see most commonly is about 70,000 children. The evacuations began when the Soviets invaded neutral Finaland launching the Winter War (November 1939). The political situation changed when the Germans invaded and occupied Denmark and Norway (April 1940). This did not end the evacuations because Finland was neutral toward Germany and eventually became a co-beligerant when Germany invaded the Soviet Union (June 1941). The Finns called it the Continuation War. Relatively few evacuees were placed in German-occupied Denmark and Norway. Most of the evacuees were taken in by the Sweeds. This was an undertaking by both Swedish Government gencies and private charitable organizations. The largest number of evacuations occurred durung the Continuation War rather than the Winter War. The children were placed in homes and referred to as guests rather than foster parents--although this is what they became. Some of the children were placed in institutions. This was especially the case of children that were ill or in poor physical condition. They were placed in hospitals, orphanages, and santoria. This was the case near the end of the War as conditions deteriorated in Finland and food became increasingly scarce. Special medical transports were organized. Some 10,000 to 15,000 evacuee children fell into this category. Conditions in the orphanages were very cramped. We see photographs of the children doubled up in beds with children at both the head and foot of the beds. The evacuations from Finland to Sweden were one of the largest evacuations of children in the 20th century, only exceeded by the British, German, and Japanese evacuations. It of course primarily occurred during the War, but Finnish children moved between the two countries for 20 years (1939-59). It took some time to get the children back to Finland. In fact a substantial number of children bonded with their Swedish parents and stayed in Sweden. And a substantial number of Finnish parents decided not to take the children back. Some of the children moved back and forth.

Denmark

We do not have much information on the Finnish child evacuees placed in Denmark yet. Other than Sweden, Denmark was the Scandinvian country lest affected by the War. Although occupied by the Germans, there were no battles in Denmark. And except for a few pro-NAZI Fascists, the Danes did not have to fight the War. Thus conditions were better in Denmark including the avilability of food than in Finland and Norway. Some 4,000 Finnish evacuee children were placed in Demark. We have found a report about a private summer camp for Finnish children. Palle Daell, a wealthy Danish wholesaler wanted to help Finnish children escape the consequences of war. In 1942 he sent an invitation to Finland, offering to host a 6-month stay in Denmark for 25 children from the town of Oulu, where he had personal business contacts. Conditions in Denmark were far better than in Finland which was involved in a life and death struggle with the Soviets. There were among other problems, serious food shortages. As a result, 25 children, 13 boys and 12 girls from the city, traveled to Denmark with three young women. The kids were aged 4-11 years. They came from families of war widows or where the father was at the front. The journey by train started on March 23, 1942. When the children and their escorts arrived in Elsinore on March 26 they were welcomed by Palle Daell with his family and a small 'reception committee' and a few journalists. The children stayed a few kilometers from Elsinore, where previously there had been a nursing home. Upon arrival a few children were ill, everyone was pale and undernourished, but with little medicine and a good diet they quickly recovered their health. The daily routine started in the morning with washing, dressing and cleaning the rooms. Then came a good breakfast, a moment of teaching, and then a lot of play and outdoor activities. For school the children were divided into three groups. They were taught in Finnish. From a Montessori school there was help for the youngeer children, including games and activity training. On many hot summer days the children could stay all day swimming and playing by an adjacent small lake. Some enterprising boys built simple wooden boats and paddled around the lake. The host family had provided the children with summer clothes. For the trip home in October, the children also were given a complete set of winter clothes. The trip home went by train went through Sweden.

Norway

Only a small number of Finnsh evacuees were taken in by the Norwegians. A factor here was that Norway was not seen as safe as either Sweden or Denmark. Unlike Denmark, severa battles were fought in Norway and Norway had a long coastline vulnrable to naval attacks and raids. we have not yet found information on Finnish children take in by the Norwegians.

Created: 11:33 AM 2/26/2016
Last updated: 11:33 AM 2/26/2016