The Second World War and the Jews of Finland

The situation in 1939

When the Second World War broke out in the autumn of 1939, Finland's small but well-organised Jewish community had found a secure place in the democratic Finnish state governed by the rule of law. Through the citizenship act that had come into force two decades earlier, the country's roughly 2,000 Jews had organised themselves into three democratically governed communities, in Helsinki, Turku and Viipuri (present-day Vyborg, Russia).

As dark clouds rolled from Europe towards Finland, Jewish refugees seeking sanctuary elsewhere arrived in the late summer of 1938, mainly from Austria, then occupied by Nazi Germany. Through them, Finland's Jews received the first news of the danger threatening the Jews of Europe.

The Winter War and the loss of Viipuri

Finland found itself in the middle of the trial of strength between Germany and the Soviet Union, and its eastern neighbour, which had presented territorial demands to Finland, attacked the country in November 1939. The Winter War lasted 105 days and claimed the lives of more than 25,000 Finns. In the peace treaty, Finland lost a tenth of its territory, including Viipuri.

Like nearly half a million other Finns, the roughly 250 Jews of Viipuri and its surroundings also lost their homes, as well as their synagogue building, which was destroyed in the bombing. A journey into evacuation lay ahead, and the Jews of Viipuri found new homes in the communities of Helsinki and Turku. Many people from Viipuri also settled in Tampere, where they later founded their own community.

The Jews regarded the Winter War as a war of independence in which they finally secured their place as full members of Finnish society. The war was seen as a turning point that changed the social standing of the Jews and at the same time strengthened the community's national identity.

The Continuation War — an exceptional constellation

The position of Finland's Jewish community was historically unique during the Continuation War which broke out during the summer of 1941: Nazi Germany, which was carrying out the genocide of Europe's Jews, became Finland's brother-in-arms against their common enemy, the Soviet Union. More than 300 Finnish Jewish soldiers and Lotta auxiliaries shared part of the front with the Germans.

The Jews were conscious of being loyal soldiers of the Finnish army, defending their homeland. The German army had no right to touch them without breaking the agreement between the two countries. The situation tested the Jewish soldiers and also bewildered the Germans, whose homeland's aim was to annihilate the Jews of Europe.

Sholka's shul — a field synagogue at the front

The German soldiers had to accommodate the fact that a field synagogue was established at the front, next to their brothers-in-arms. Among the Jewish soldiers it was known as Sholka's shul, Sholka's synagogue, after the nickname of its founder, Isak Smolar. Operating with the permission of the Finnish army command, the synagogue served not only as a place of devotion but also as a meeting place for the Jewish soldiers — after all, they had known one another since youth. Some Germans became interested in the synagogue and did not regard it as a provocation, even though their homeland was fervently destroying everything connected with Judaism elsewhere in Europe.

The presence of Jewish brothers-in-arms sometimes gave rise to peculiar situations, when a German soldier had to salute a Finnish Jewish officer. It was also exceptional that the German army awarded some of its Jewish brothers-in-arms the Iron Cross for bravery — a decoration that the Jews nevertheless refused to accept. Nothing comparable is known to have occurred anywhere else on the German war front.

Summer 1942 — Himmler's visit and the deportations

In the summer of 1942, the situation on the home front grew tense when Hitler and Himmler visited Finland. After Hitler had briefly called to congratulate Marshal Mannerheim on his 75th birthday, the head of the Gestapo, Himmler, who made a separate visit, showed an interest in Finland's Jews. His host was Prime Minister Jukka Rangell, who briefly stated to his guest that there was no Jewish question in Finland.

Under German pressure, however, Finland's reputation was stained. The pro-German Ministry of the Interior, together with the Finnish State Police, decided, on fabricated grounds, to hand over to the Germans eight Jewish refugees who did not hold Finnish citizenship. One of them survived the extermination camp, having lost his wife and child at Auschwitz.

The end of the Continuation War and Mannerheim's gesture

As a mark of honour towards the country's Jews and its soldiers, the President and Commander-in-Chief, Marshal Mannerheim, honoured with his presence the first Independence Day memorial service in post-war Finland, held in the Helsinki Synagogue on 6 December 1944. Twenty-three Jews fell in the wars, most of whom are buried in the Jewish cemetery at Hietaniemi. Five men who fell on the battlefield have yet to be found.

The apology in 2000

At the unveiling of the memorial to the deported Jews on 6 November 2000, Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen offered the Finnish state's official apology to the country's Jewish community.

The Mannerheim Forest in Israel

In Israel, on the hillsides around Jerusalem, there is a memorial forest named after Marshal Mannerheim, established by Finland's Jews.