World War II Finland: Child Evacuations (1939-44)


Figure 1.--If we are reading the writing on the back of this photograph correctly, this little Finnish refugee child in 1942 is a little girl named Anita. She is pictured in front of her new home with the SWedish mother who took her in. Children this age forged very strong bonds with their host families and largely forgot heir Finnish birth families. Quite a number ere adopted by their Swedish host families and remained in Sweden after the War.

The Finns along with the British, Germans, and Japanese conducted major child evacuations during World War II. The Finnish evacuations was the smallest of these, but were comparable in imprtance relative to the size of the population. The major causes of the larger evacuations was bombing. This was a factor in Finland, but by far the most important fasctor in Finland was food shortages. The Finns in addition to the family evacuations carried out from Karelia seized by the Soviets in the Winter War, conducted extensive child evacuations. The refugees from Karelia and other areas seized by the Red Army were resettled within Finland. The child evacuations were different. They were settled in sympthetic Scandinacian countries, mostly Sweden. The child evacuations began during the Winter War, first as a result of Soviet bombing raids on Finninsh cities and even fear of a Soviet take over increased. A major factor was the deteriorating conditions, especially food shortages became severe. Parting with one's children is a very difficult ecession. Being unable to properly feed hungary children was a major deciding factor. The initial idea was to place the evacuee children with families, nit to create institutional settings. As the War progressed, howevrer, the children arriving were not only hungary, but many were sick. There were even special medical transports. So they had to be placed in hospitals and sanatoria. Overly 70,000 children were evcuated, nostly to children. Not all returned to their families after the war. The younger ones in particularly firged bonds with their Swedish hist families and remained in Sweden.

Winter War (1939-40)

There was another aspect of the evacutions, especially as the Red Air Force began bombing Helsinki and other Finnish cities. The Finns began evacuating children from the cities to sympathetic Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Norway and Denmark). Here the fear was both air raids as well as the danger that the whole country would be overrun by the Soviet colosus. For a time it looked like the Soviets might occupy all of Finland. And given Soviet brutality toward the Karlian/Ingrian Finns left in the Soviet Union after World War I and toward the Poles in occupied Poland (1939), the Finns had real reason to fear. Finland bordered on Sweden and the Sweedes took in many Finnish children. The Sweeds wre unwilling to risk war with the Siviet Union, but were moved by the plight of the Finns. Beginning with the Winter War (1939-40) and than again during the Continuation War (1941-44).The forst wave of Finnish war chilren came during the winter War. The largest number were evacuated during the Continuation War. Many were the children of tge Finns that returned to their homes and farms in Karelia after Hitler laubched Barbarossa (June 941). Finland never joined the Axis, but became a co-belgerant. Finland became the only democracy to fight with the Axis. And it resticted its war goals to revoverling the land seized by the Soviets in the winter War. It was an enormos task rebuilding homes and starting up farms again. Thus it was thought that they could do all of this beter withour=t the task of varing for younger children. The Finns evacuated a total of some 70,000 children to Sweden. These included children from both Finnish homes and Finnish-Swedish (Swedish-speaking) homes. Given the long border and the fact that Finland was once part of Sweden, there were still a number of Sedish speaking homes. Approximately 15,000 of the children never returned to Finland, especially the younger childre who came to see their adopted parents as their real parents. They were adopted by her Swedish foster family. Smaller numbers of chilren were sent to Denmark and Norway.

Continuation War (1941-44)

The conclusion of the Winter War did not end the evacuations and refugee movements. The Finnis evacuee flow varied over time with periods of war, peace, defeat and victory. Some of the children in Sweden even returned home. After the Winter War, the next major event was the Continuation War. And there would also be movement evacuee substantial evcuee movement associated with the Continuation War. Finland was a small country and totally outclased by the Soviet behoumouth and massive Army. As a result, Stalin forced the Finns into the hands of the Germans. Talks with the Germans began immediately after the Sovierts forced concensiions on the Finns--The Peace of Moscow. Te Germans offered arms and support. Finland refused, however, to join the Axis or to accept NAZI racial dogma. But to regain its lost territory became a co-bligerant after Hitler launched Operation Barbrossa (June 1941). The small but highly motovated Finnish Army proved to be the Germans most effective ally. They attacked from the north into Karelia, but to the frustration of the Germans, did not advance significantly beyond the Finnish territory seized in the Winter War. The evicted Finns returned to their homes. The Russian settlers were moved into camps. And then as the Red army reversed the course of the War, the Finns were once again forced to evacuate Karelia (1944) and aceed to Soviet demands. Given the dngers of an advancing Red Army, some children may have been evacuated from other areas as well. We think that some Finnish children began returned home in late 1944, but have few details at this time.

Destinations

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. This changed when the Germans invaded and occupied Denmark and Norway (April 1940). This did not end all evacuatiins 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. Almost all of the evacuees went to Sweden. This was an undertaking by both Swedish Governmentvgencies and private chgaritable organizations. This is important because the largest numbr 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.

Return Home (1945-47)

The Finnish Committee for Children’s Evacuation started to bring the Finish evacuee children home. This began mostly after the WWar (1945). This largely occurred (1945-47), longer than you might have thought. The difficult consitions in post-War Finland was probably a factor. Surprisingly not all the families in Finland wanted their children back. One survey conducted in Helsinki found that along 600 families, only a third wre willing to accept the children back (December 1945). [CCE] It isunckear why this was only a small fraction. Most of the evacueechildren were blue-collar families. Maby of these famiies adter the war were struggling to survice. This may have been a factor. The CEE believes that the children were away so long that the parents had lost contact with them dilutng bonds of affection. we think the difficult conditions in Finland may have been more impotant. We have not noted thisame problem in other countries with evacuee children (Britain, Germany, and Japan). The CEE still wotked to retrive the childrem finding fister homes and orphanages for them. Another problem was that some of the Swedish foster parents did nt want to let the children go. And the children had formed attachmets with the Swedish foster parents.

Sources

Adler, Nanci Dale, Selma Leydesdorff, Mary Chamberlain, And Leyla Neyzi. Leyla. Memories of Mass Repression: Narrating Life Stories in the Aftermath of Atrocity (Transaction Publishers: 2011).

Committee for Children’s Evacuation (CCE).

Mannine, Hannes. Lapin sodan ja evakoitumisen muistojuhlassa (Pudasjärvellä: 2004).

Taagepera, Rein. The Finno-Ugric Republics and the Russian State (Routledge: 2013).







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Created: 2:41 PM 10/14/2016
Last updated: 2:42 PM 10/14/2016