OTMA in Color

I came across this little video and thought the pictures were quite lovely. My thanks to DiamantaBralova and all those who color old Romanov photographs.

The Lakes of Copenhagen

(Credits)

Isn't this gorgeous?!

Treasures!

I realize this is a bit too far south for this blog (normally), but it's exciting news, with, I think, a clear connection to the Norse world... (Thank you, Robinbird!)

A man using a metal detector in a rural English field has uncovered the largest Anglo-Saxon gold hoard ever found -- an "unprecedented" treasure that sheds new light on history, archaeologists said Thursday...

It's an "incredible collection of material -- absolutely unprecedented," said Kevin Leahy, an archaeologist with the Portable Antiquities Scheme, a voluntary group that records finds made by members of the public. "We've moved into new ground with this material."

The Tragedy of Elina

Here are some clips (in Finnish, with English subtitles) from a 1938 film adaptation of Gustaf von Numers' play, Elinan Surma (1891). The story is based on an old Finnish ballad published in the Kanteletar. In the traditional poem, Klaus Kurki, a medieval Finnish nobleman, marries a young girl beneath his rank, the beautiful, innocent Elina. His jealous ex-mistress Kirsti convinces him that his bride is unfaithful, and Klaus takes revenge by burning her alive, along with her supposed lover Uolevi.

The basic plot is retained in Von Numers' play, although with various changes, putting an ideological "spin" on the story. A new character, a smirking, greedy parish priest exemplifies the anti-Catholic theme in Lutheran Finnish literature. Furthermore, the adaptation also seems (although Von Numers was himself a nobleman) to echo the anti-aristocratic trends of the period. The villain, Kirsti, presented as Klaus' housekeeper in the traditional ballad, appears here as a daughter of the famed house of Fleming, and as Klaus' sister-in-law (via his previous marriage to Kaarina Fleming). In her speeches, Kirsti evokes her family pride, bitter that the humbly born Elina has replaced her in Klaus' affections...

Setting the stage...

Later in the story, the priest hears the confessions of Elina and Klaus. (Elina is agonizing over whether to forget her childhood sweetheart Uolevi and marry the wealthy and influential Klaus in obedience to her ambitious parents. Klaus, meanwhile, after a life of sin, wants to achieve redemption through a pure love and marriage with the innocent Elina). The anti-Catholic theme is glaringly obvious in this part! We even see the Church victimizing a "reformer" (another completely new character not in the traditional ballad).

After the marriage. Kirsti's pride, plots and deception (I'm sorry, the film goes black for a while).

The tragic ending. Kirsti has tricked Uolevi and Elina into entering Klaus' chamber in his absence, locked them inside, and rushed off to Klaus with "proof of adultery," bringing on doom for all...The reformer, imprisoned in the castle, is given the last word.

A bit melodramatic, isn't it? Nonetheless, I think the portrayal of poor Elina is quite touching.

Anastasia Mannerheim, née Arapov

A photograph of Marshal Mannerheim's wife, Anastasia Arapova (1872-1936). People say she was no beauty but here, I think, she looks quite handsome! What do you all think? Anastasia was a charming, flirtatious young Russian heiress, the daughter of General Nikolai Arapov. Gustaf Mannerheim met Anastasia while serving in the Chevalier Guards in St. Petersburg, and Empress Maria Feodorovna, reportedly, enthusiastically favored the match. Gustaf's relatives, however, considered Anastasia emotionally unstable and disapproved of the marriage. Nonetheless, the wedding took place in May, 1892.

Initially, it was a happy union. The couple had two daughters, and a son who died at birth. Sadly, however, the marital relationship crumbled rapidly. In 1903, Anastasia (after traveling to China to nurse Russian troops during the Boxer Rebellion), left her husband, eventually settling with her daughters in France. The separation, however, remained unofficial for 16 years.

In 1919, after returning to Finland, and leading the White Army to victory in the Finnish civil war, Mannerheim obtained a formal divorce. At this point, according to biographer J. E. O. Screen, he intended to marry Catherine (Kitty) Linder, a beautiful Finnish noblewoman, 20 years his junior, with whom (based on his correspondence) he was deeply in love. Yet, Kitty decided against the marriage. After 1921, it was clear that the pair were nothing more than friends.

In 1936, shortly before her death, Mannerheim was reconciled with Anastasia, much to the consolation of both. The couple met in France, and agreed that life can be full of misunderstandings...After Anastasia's death, Mannerheim (although still formally a Lutheran) had an Orthodox requiem celebrated for her soul. He also personally prayed for her in an Orthodox church. He signed her obituary and took care to provide her with a fitting tomb. A strange but touching story...

Baltic Tragedy

An incredibly moving article. Irena Wiley, wife of the last American minister to pre-war Estonia and Latvia, recalls her beautiful friendship with Maria Laidoner. Maria's husband, General Johan Laidoner, was Estonia's "Marshal Mannerheim", doomed to perish tragically in a Soviet labor camp.

Queen Frederica of Sweden

Princess of Baden, sister-in-law of Tsar Alexander I and consort of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden. Her life was overshadowed by war, revolution and exile.

The Orthodox Finns

Uspenski Cathedral, Helsinki

A minority among Protestants. I have read they are the only Orthodox community to observe the Gregorian date of Easter.

A video on Lintula Convent, in eastern Finland. (English subtitles). Beautiful singing!

Constance of Austria, Queen of Poland and Sweden

Recently, I posted on Anna of Austria (1573-1598), first wife of King Sigismund III Vasa of Poland and Sweden. Seven years after Anna's death, the King married her younger sister, Constance (1588-1631). Like Sigismund, Constance was an ardent champion of the Counter-Reformation and a great patron of the arts. She was also an able politician. While suffering (like her sister before her) from the hostility of many Polish nobles, who bitterly opposed the King's policy of alliance with Austria, she managed, nonetheless, to build up a party of powerful supporters.

By the time Constance entered the scene, Sigismund had already lost his Swedish throne to his usurping uncle, Duke Karl. For the rest of his life, however, he continued to claim he was the rightful King of Sweden. He devoted much of his time to attempting (in vain) to reconquer Sweden and his family persisted in using Swedish royal titles. It was not until the disastrous reign of Constance's son, John II Casimir, that the Polish branch of the Vasa family would be finally forced to relinquish their claim to Sweden.

Blackening the Finnish Nobility

An interesting (and wry) article by Marja Vuorinen (of the University of Helsinki) on the portrayal of the old Finnish-Swedish aristocracy in 19th century Finnish literature. To quote:

In Finland, the era of the printing press began in earnest in the early 19th century, and gained considerable momentum mid-century, with the founding of several newspapers both in Swedish and, increasingly, in Finnish. In the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars, the war of Finland (1808-09, between Sweden and Russia) brought Finland under Russian rule as an autonomous grand-duchy, and for the first time Finland had a central government of her own.

This new government employed a growing number of civil servants. To enter the civil service they had to attain a university degree. At the beginning there were a considerable increase in the numbers of noblemen who went to the university. Later on the recruits increasingly came from somewhat lower, if not exactly the lowest, strata of society. A new bourgeois, or 'national' elite began to form.

A war of elites followed, with the rising middle class claiming to speak for "the people."

A new group striving for power has nothing to gain by praising those it plans to supplant- rather, it should paint its predecessors as black as possible. The new elite pictured itself as a mirror image of its counterpart- but a mirror image that conveyed only the virtues, while the old elite, as a picture of Dorian Grey, carried all the faults. From the beginning, the bourgeois intelligentsia built its self-understanding, not to mention its public image, on this unbalanced mirror relationship. The noble elite became a "good enemy." The nobility was seen as an evil, suppressive power, whereas the new "middle class elite" represented freedom, future and hope to the people. If the bourgeoisie gained power, an era of enlightenment and democracy would dawn on the nation.

The bourgeois, national elite largely rested its case on the fact that while the old elite (which for hundreds of years had conducted most of its dealings with Swedish-speaking colleagues) spoke 'foreign' Swedish as its mother tongue, the new intelligentsia usually spoke the 'native' Finnish. Another useful accusation was deduced from the fact that that the old elite had thus far held the administrative power in society- therefore every shortcoming could and should be blamed on it. The old elite was obviously the enemy of the people, and new hands were needed to set things right.

I do highly recommend reading the whole article. Of course, I do not mean to suggest that the Finnish nobility were all innocent angels, but "trashing" whole groups of people is simply unfair. As a final ironic note, whom did "the people" nominate, in 2004, for Greatest Finn of all time? Some 19th century Finnish nationalist? No...an incarnation of all that was supposedly most antithetical to the new, democratic Finland- a Tsarist general who was also a Swedish nobleman- C. G. E. Mannerheim.

Carl Gustaf Mannerheim (1797-1854)

Some may remember my post on the 19th century Finnish statesman, Count Carl Erik Mannerheim. His eldest son and heir, Carl Gustaf (namesake of his grandson, the Finnish national hero, Field Marshal, and President), was a famed jurist, provincial governor, and...entomologist. Carl Gustaf was born in 1797 in Lemu. As a little boy, he was already eagerly collecting insects (especially beetles) on the family estates. This passion would last to the end of his days. At 16, he began studying at the University of Turku. He joined the circle of C. R. Sahlberg, a famous Finnish naturalist. The two men would remain close friends for life.

Nonetheless, Mannerheim specialized in law. He began a brilliant career as a civil servant in the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland, then ruled by the Tsar. In 1819, he was appointed an aide to the Minister Secretary of State (an official representing Finland in St. Petersburg), Count Rehbinder. In 1833, Mannerheim became governor of Vaasa (Ostrobothnia), and, the next year, assumed the same position in Viipuri (Karelia). From 1839 until his death in 1854, he served as President of the Viipuri Court of Appeals. In these various capacities, he played an important political role. He was an early champion of the use of Finnish (as opposed to merely Swedish) in public affairs.

Mannerheim's wife was Eva Wilhelmina Schantz, a leading lady of Finnish society, famed for her wit throughout the country. They had a number of children, including the later Count Carl Robert, father of the Marshal of Finland. One of their daughters, Anna Maria, married the renowned Arctic explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld.

Mannerheim's official duties were difficult and demanding, and he found solace in his passion for entomology. No mere dilettante, he devoted every spare moment to collecting and classifying specimens and publishing scientific papers. Nobody saw him at balls, plays, or operas. Instead, he spent all his free time with other naturalists. Outstripping his old mentor, Sahlberg, Mannerheim rapidly became a world expert on beetles. When it came to collecting, money was no object for him (he even warned his friends not to tell his wife the prices he had paid for some rare specimens). After his death, his amazing collection of 20,000 species passed to the University of Helsinki.

Another instance of the multi-faceted talent of the Mannerheim family!

The Voice of Karelia

Singing in Karelian dialect, by Heli Keinonen. Only about 118,000 people in the world understand this language. Sadly, I am not one of them, but I still love these songs.

A girl's grief for her fiancé, killed in war (a tragically common occurrence throughout Karelia's stormy history).

A boy and a girl meet at a well.

No idea what's happening here! It's great though!

Elsa Beskow

Whatever the critics say, I loved her books as a child. Here is a biography, courtesy of Petri Liukkonen.

...Elsa Beskow was born Elsa Maartman in Stockholm, the first daughter of Bernt Maartman, a businessman, and Augusta (Fahlstedt) Maartman, a teacher. In 1875 her father's business went bankrupt and the family moved to the Old Town and then to Östermalm in Stockholm. She started to draw at an early age, deciding to become an artist. An especially important person for her was her grandmother, Johanna Wilhelmina, who told her fairy tales. At home her favorite writer was Zacharias Topelius (a famous Finnish author of children's stories and historical romances). Johanna Wilhelmina died when Beskow was 13. This ended according to Beskow her "happy childhood." Bernt Maartman died in 1889. Augusta tried to support her family by opening a small shop, but she had to close it after two years. In 1890 Beskow entered the Technical school with her sister Malin. Malin studied at the school for only a few years - she died of cancer in 1907, which was again a deep blow to the family. Beskow planned to continue at the Art Academy, but when this was not possible due to a shortage of money, she worked as an art teacher at the Whitlockska School from 1894 to 1897. In 1897 she married Natanael Beskow, an older art student, whom she had already met in 1892.

Natanael became a doctor of theology. He had studied painting before finally choosing the career of a teacher and theologian. In 1901 they settled in Djursholm. Beskow's son Dag died in 1922. Her fairy tale, 'Jon Blunds paraply', which dealt with the loss, was not published until 1944 in DET HÄNDE EN GÅNG. Two years after the death of Dag she traveled to Palestine, at least to catch a glimpse of the paradise where she believed her son was. In the early 1930s Beskow went with her friend Signe von Kochin to the Mediterranean. Its sun and orange trees influenced her book SOLÄGGET (1932). After a deep depression she published VILL DU LÄSA? (1935), in which she modernized Lisa from her illustrated fairy tale 'Lisas framtidsplaner' from 1907. Beskow lived in Djursholm until her death in on June 30, 1953. Natanael Beskow died a few months later in October.

In 1894 Beskow started to contribute to the children's magazine Jultomten. Her first book, SAGAN OM DET LILLA, LILLA GUMMAN, appeared in 1897. It depicted an unruly cat, who drinks all the milk from a bowl and is chased away by an old lady...The work was partly inspired by Walter Crane's drawings. Crane was an advocate of the Jugend style and supporter of the slogan "art for people!" Beskow's breakthrough work was PUTTES ÄFVENTYR I BLÅBÄRSSKOGEN (1901).

In her books Beskow used her own childhood experiences as a source for ideas. Her own six children also inspired her work. Central themes were the relationships between children and adults and children's independent initiative. The pictures were large, with carefully studied details of nature and bourgeois small town life. Often Beskow combined reality with elements from the fairy tale world - ordinary children meet elves or goblins, ugly witches sulk on the street corners, and farm animals talk with people. The texts were written in verse or in prose. Sometimes Beskow satirized manners, as in the poem about the foreign Mr. Tomato, who is envied by a local cucumber, admired by Miss Parsley, and imitated by small radishes. Beskow's most popular books included TOMTEBOBARNEN (1910), TANT GRÖN, TANT BRUN OCH TANT GREDELIN (1918), and PETTER OCH LOTTA series (5 vols., 1918-47). PELLES NYA KLÄDER (1912) emphasized the importance of honest work. Its illustration showed the influence of National Romanticism - a style that inspired many Nordic artists from the 1890s, among them Carl Larsson. RÖDA BUSSEN OCH GRÖNA BILEN (1952) depicted adventures of an archetypical Swedish car, Volvo...

In the 1960s and 1970s Beskow's work was considered by many critics old-fashioned. Her idyllic pictures, full of good-natured children, animals, brownies, and flowers, were seen to present false ideals. Also her gender roles were seen as too narrow: "the father is strong and brave, and the mother is obedient and loving" (from Tomtebobarnen). According to Gunvor Häkansson, Beskow satisfies authoritative ideals in the upbringing of children, but Astrid Lindgren represents more democratic principles. Beskow published some twenty books. Her works have been translated into many languages.

(From Solägget, or Sun-egg, 1932)

The Finnish Nobility Today

The great hall of the Finnish House of Nobility

Once a political and military élite, the Finnish aristocracy has faded from the public scene, and many old families have died out. Today, Finland is a very egalitarian society. Yet, Finnish nobles can still be found, sometimes in unexpected places...

Interesting interviews, via Helsingin Sanomat.

Another article on the topic. (I don't quite like the slightly flippant tone of this one).

What Makes a Finn Happy?

An interesting survey, via Virtual Finland.

The Cloister of Dalum

A Benedictine cloister became the Danish King's retreat after the Reformation, then a manor house, and finally a convent once again.

Mari Palo Sings

Singing by Finnish soprano Mari Palo.

The Ave Maria.

"Tonttu" ("Elf"), a traditional Finnish Christmas carol.

Anna of Austria, Queen of Poland and Sweden

A little-known Swedish queen is Anna of Austria, first wife of King Sigismund Vasa. Born in 1573, she was the daughter of Archduke Charles of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria. One of her brothers was the Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II. In 1592, Anna married Sigismund, heir to the Swedish crown. He had already been elective King of Poland for five years and was determined upon a policy of close alliance with the Habsburgs. Many powerful Polish nobles, however, opposed this policy, and one group even tried to prevent Anna from entering the country. Nevertheless, the Archduchess evaded the border guards, arrived in Krakow, and was duly crowned Queen. Cultivated and gracious, Anna won the sympathy and respect of many former foes, and her marriage, although politically motivated, was a happy and collaborative one.

Six months after his marriage, upon his father's death, Sigismund inherited the Swedish crown. Religious and political conflicts, however, fomented by his ambitious uncle, Duke Karl (who would later usurp his throne) delayed his coronation for two years. In 1594, Sigismund and Anna were finally crowned King and Queen of Sweden. Yet their reign was brief and deeply troubled. They were both devout Catholics, reigning over a Lutheran realm, and Duke Karl (who served as Regent during the King's protracted absences in Poland) seized every opportunity to weaken Sigismund's position, portraying him as a tyrant intent on reimposing Romish heresy and himself as the heroic defender of Protestantism. Anna, for her part, also clashed on religious grounds with Sigismund's stepmother, the firmly Lutheran Dowager Queen Gunilla.

One misfortune, however, was spared Queen Anna. She did not live to see her husband's loss of the Swedish throne, dying in childbirth some months before Sigismund was crushingly defeated by Karl at the Battle of Stångebro. She was only 25 years old. Her life and reign had been sadly brief but her son, Wladyslaw, would later become one of Poland's greatest and most popular monarchs as King Wladyslaw IV Vasa.

Njet Molotoff

I realize this may be controversial- but here is a famous Finnish song from the war with the Soviets. (Bobrikoff, as I have mentioned before, was a hated Tsarist governor of Finland, murdered by the Finnish nationalist Eugen Schauman in 1904).

Gustav Mauritz Armfelt

Finnish statesman and cosmopolitan.

Count Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt was one of the most remarkable men that Finland has fostered. His life had been subject to changes, which sometimes brought him to exile and the threat of death and sometimes to the pinnacle of honor and influence. He had been a favourite of and had given counsel to two illustrious and outstanding rulers, Sweden’s Gustaf III and Russia’s Alexander I. Historians have described him as a giant in Finland’s history and a man who more than most influenced the future development of his native land...

Margaretha, Märtha, Astrid

A video tribute to three lovely Swedish Princesses- Margaretha, Märtha, and Astrid, nieces of King Gustav V. My thanks to Soderstrom91.

Internet Problems

Lately, I have been experiencing difficulties off and on with my internet connection. I hope this issue will be resolved soon, but, in case I have to be offline for a few days, I wanted to let my readers know.

Sigrid Vasa

Some may remember my post on Karin Månsdotter, Queen of Sweden. Her daughter was Sigrid Vasa (1566-1633). At the time of Sigrid's birth, her parents were not yet married. Karin, so far, was only the beloved young mistress of the king, Erik XIV. In 1567, however, Erik married Karin morganatically, and, the following year, had her crowned Queen. Sigrid and her brother, Gustav, attended the coronation, and were officially recognized as legitimate. Gustav became the heir to the throne and Sigrid was granted all the honors of a royal princess.

Shortly after Karin's coronation, however, King Erik was deposed by his brothers, John and Karl, and imprisoned, together with his family. In 1573, Karin and her children were forcibly separated from Erik and confined to Turku Castle in Finland. In 1575, little Gustav was exiled. Two years later, King Erik died in captivity, and Sigrid and Karin were set free. Sigrid's status for the rest of her life remained unclear, but the royal family treated her kindly. In 1582, she became a lady-in-waiting to her cousin, Princess Anna, daughter of the new king, John III. Her relationship with her mother was close and she often visited her in Finland. For her part, Sigrid was married twice, to prominent aristocrats. Her son was the famous Swedish soldier and politician, Åke Henriksson Tott.

Queen Dagmar's Cross

A moving reminder of Scandinavia's medieval Catholic past.

Dettifoss

The most powerful waterfall in Europe, located in NE Iceland. Photograph courtesy of Roger McLassus.

A Controversial Book

I am not sure what to make of this. I gather the book has earned alot of ridicule and been dismissed by many historians. Nonetheless, I thought it might spark an interesting discussion. (Article courtesy of ProKarelia)

Educational councelor, ret. Major Erkki Hautamäki has written an interesting book, "Finland in the eye of the storm". It brings forth many things from the time of the last wars, things that no one has known or things that no one has spoken of – the people have not wanted to tell about them.

The book changes the historiography of the war times in a significant way. - Up to now there has only been a hypothesis, since we have only had secondary evidence of the documents that describe the operations and their consequences, says Hautamäki.

The book was published first in Swedish with the name ’Finland i stormens öga’. It is based on the contents of the so-called file S-32 of Marshal Mannerheim and is copied from there by the Marshal’s secret agent Vilho Tahvanainen, who worked with him during the war.

- File S-32 has been destroyed or hidden almost completely under Kekkonen’s regime. The book is going to be translated into many languages. Within a year another part is going to be published. This second part will also include more detailed argumentation about the happenings of the first book.

Vilho Tahvanainen was Marshal C.G.E. Mannerheim’s trusted special agent since the 1930s till the death of Marshal in 1951. Tahvanainen familiarized himself with the matters of the secret files that Marshal recorded in the file with the sign S-32. Tahvanainen’s book called ’Special task’, aroused deep suspicion and strong condemnation, when it was published in 1970.

The Swedish version of Erkki Hautamäki’s book was examined by the scientists of University of Uppsala, Sweden. The introduction was co-written by Colonel, M.A. Erkki Nordberg. He is the chief of the educational department at the main headquarters of the Finnish army. Professor Kent Zetterberg, a teacher of the Swedish defense academy, was the second writer.

Erkki Hautamäki was born in 1930. In the 1960s he worked in a special task of the Finnish army headquarters. Between 1970 and 1990 he was supervisor of the Vuokatti sports academy. He is an internationally known sports leader and a critic and trendsetter of the Kekkonen era.

The central hypotheses concerning and changing the writing of the history of Finland are as based on his book:

- Churchill and Stalin negotiated the starting of co-operation in a war of many fronts against Germany since April 1939. In July it was agreed that when Germany and the Soviet Union attack Poland, the declaration of war of the western allies would be focused only against German actions.

- On the 23rd of August 1939 Stalin and Hitler signed the so called Molotov-Ribbentrop agreement. Its secret extra protocol included the so-called concept of the sphere of interest that did not mean permission to conquer the Baltic states and Finland. It meant instead the right to demand strategic bases in case of war.

- On the 15th of October 1939 an agreement was signed between Stalin and Churchill (the allied forces). The core of it was the plan to destroy Germany both militarily and economically. Churchill’s old plan regarding the Scandinavian operation was also accepted.

- The winter war of Finland did not stop because of Stalin’s fear of a possible threat of western allies attacking to defend Finland. It ended when Hitler sent Stalin an edict that Stalin shall cease the acts of war against Finland, or Germany will bombard Soviet troops and fight for Finland unbidden. The Marshal received from Hitler information about this edict and copies of the plan of the western allies and Stalin concerning Finland.

- If this would have happened, the allied forces would have conquered Norway and Sweden in the name of Finnish aid. Simultaneously the Soviet Union would have conquered Finland. Finland would have drawn into war and Scandinavia would have been a front against Germany. Churchill and the allied forces thus sold Finland to the Russians.

- Stalin played simultaneously an ally of Germany and the western allies. His goal was to get the western allies and Germany to wear themselves down in their fighting against each other. After this he would conquer a weakened Europe.

- Stalin purchased first the newest mechanical weaponry from Germany. After it he obtained from the USA an immense amount of war material against Germany (and Finland) as Lend-lease aid. No final account of these possessions has yet been made.

- The unconditional denial of passage for allied forces through Sweden partially saved Finland. The agreement of Churchill and Stalin allowed the conquering of Scandinavia and the Baltic countries. A section was added that the conquered areas should be given their independence back after peace had come.

- When the general courier of Stalin was transporting the strategic war plans from Churchill, the air force of Germany compelled the airplane to land on 9 Feb. 1940. During the examination of the air crew and the passengers, all documents were photographed. Hitler received exact information about the attack plans on several fronts of the allied forces. He thus started a preventive attack plan in Norway. Stalin did not know that the plans had been revealed.

- The Marshal’s so called scabbard order of the day on 9 July 1941 was born after Hitler’s edict to unambiguously express the goals of Finnish warfare, or otherwise Germany starts taking Finland under its government. Marshal Mannerheim was before the continuation war compelled to accept Stalin’s demands that were secretly introduced to him: Finland shall not advance to Leningrad or over Lake Syväri and shall not disturb the railroad leading from Sorkka.

Where did you get motivation to write this book, Erkki Hautamäki?

- I was studying Vilho Tahvanainen’s book, but I left it without doing anything for 20 years. I think it was worth it to scrutinize, and my personal feeling was that an innocent man should get rehabilitated. Why weren’t these things investigated during 50 years instead of being thrown away? The more I delved into international source literature and documents, the more I found information leading the balance in favor of things and writings in File S-32, not against them.

What is the latest news that supports the hypotheses?

- Holding the archives secret comes to mind. File S-32 has become secret or is destroyed. There are Finnish scientists who have been in Moscow, but all Stalin’s and NKVD’s archives are closed. No one is admitted to investigate the documents.

- The last airplane that left Berlin included Hitler’s secret archives. The Americans shot down the plane and nothing was left, everything disappeared. It was said that Hitler turned pale when he heard of this and said: “There went all the possibilities to witness that the things are otherwise than the winners will insist”.

- I have all the material of Tahvanainen at my disposal and I have read the file S-32’s documents many times. In the archives of the Marshal there is only a small part of the papers and they contain nothing new. After this I started to hunt material and fill out the mosaic.

- There were white blotches that could not be true. More data must to be found. I started to find data in the form of copies. I had a team in Sweden. I travelled in Russia, Germany, Estonia, purchased literature, discussed with people. I have found literature that is almost unknown in Finland.

- Under the negotiations of the Paris treaty the Finns were not allowed to present any details of File S-32. Churchill’s archives are closed at least until 2017. In Nürnberg the Germans were not permitted to render anything of the Churchill-Stalin materials, nor was that information given to the prosecution.

- The main prosecutor of Great Britain made in 1985 a statement that we blamed completely falsely Germany for these things and now we have as a threat the impossible communistic, bolshevist Europe, which we perhaps may not be able to control. We rejected Hitler’s desperate wishes for peace. There were altogether nine of them and they were not introduced, because they were considered to be nonsense and a fool’s ideas.

Why did the western states want to destroy Germany?

- If one looks at the theses of Churchill from the year 1934, no suspects remain left. The answer of Churchill and Roosevelt was approximately this: Germany is much more dangerous and that is why Stalin was chosen as an ally. The question was of both militaristic and economic threat. The economic aspect was more dangerous to England and France.

- In March 1940 Sumner Welles visited Italy, Germany, France and England. The persons he met said openly that they were compelled to war, no peace propositions are accepted. Similar orders were also given to Poland. Germany was driven into a compulsory situation. The terms of World War I were already shocking.

What would it have happened if the Scandinavia plan of the allies would have come true?

- Nothing would have been left of Finland. It would have been a total collapse. According to the Marshal’s opinion the occupation of Denmark and Norway made by Germany – as regrettable as these phenomena locally were – saved partially Finland. Sweden saved Finland by denying the passage.

- It is not right to blame Swedes, for they saw the overall situation. King Gustaf V received personally the assurance from Hitler that Germany has no claims, if Sweden stays neutral and delivers ore as before. The King also got knowledge of the plans of the allies.

What about Karelia?

- The boundaries of 1939 are a completely clear issue, they need to be returned. There is no ambiguity, and there should not exist any obstacles internationally all the way to the UN. The Marshal was compelled to agree to Stalin’s demands that we do not go to Leningrad or over Lake Syväri.

- The Marshal told Zhdanov of the Supervision Commission that Finland had fulfilled the agreement with Stalin. Then Zhdanov had to exit with red cheeks and return to Moscow to ask, what Stalin had agreed. Then the noose started to swing for Zhdanov.

Does history change?

- History has to change. The truth will appear undisputedly”, affirms Erkki Hautamäki, the writer of this very interesting book. He is also ready to discuss these issues with anybody.