Tuesday, November 11, 2003
Historian says Finns deported thousands to Nazis Reuters Helsinki, November 10
A Finnish historian said on Monday she had uncovered new information showing that the Nordic nation deported thousands of people to an almost certain death at the hands of the Nazis during World War Two.
In her new book -- "The Extradited - Finland's Deportations to the Gestapo" -- Elina Sana says 3,000 people, mainly Soviet prisoners of war, were handed to the Nazis in 1941-1944 when Finland fought alongside Germany against the Soviet Union.
While most were POWs, there were also Jews and other Europeans among them. Most were handed over in 1941-1942 and later executed or died in concentration camps.
The figure is far greater than the eight deported Jews that Sana wrote about in a 1979 book that stunned a nation used to seeing itself mainly as a victim of aggression during the World War Two.
"(The figure raises questions) of how far we went over to the ideological and political side of Hitler's policy... I think people do not know how much we were involved on that side," Sana said.
"It wasn't one incident. It was a systematic handing over of people to the Gestapo," she said.
Sana said she had arrived at the figure after poring through government archives in Germany and Finland and interviewing some survivors.
An official at the Finnish Foreign Ministry said Finland had already apologised for the eight deportees. "Comment on historical matters is for other historians to do, not the government," he added.
Finland's role as an ally of Nazi Germany in World War Two has long been a divisive issue, with some saying it was justified in the face of the overwhelming Soviet threat but others condemning any ties with Hitler.
Finland decided to join in the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, looking to recover land lost when its larger neighbour attacked it in the bloody Winter War of 1939-1940.
With the start of the Cold War, and Finland sharing a 1,300-km long border with the Soviet Union, the thorny issue of the Nazi alliance was buried as the country strove to keep its independence and please Moscow at the same time.
Sana said the reluctance to air unpleasant realities from the past was evident in the fact that nothing had been written on the deportations in the past 24 years.
"We are still reluctant to admit and share the European guilt," Sana said.
© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2003.