

During the Continuation War (1941-44), Finland allied with Nazi Germany to fight the Soviets. First, there was the Winter War (1939-40), where the Finns fought off a Soviet invasion. World War II in Finland took place in three stages, each considered a war of its own. Anti-Semitism was relegated to the fringes. They never reached the levels of prominence and prosperity that Jews did elsewhere in Europe. These soldiers generally settled down in trades such as selling second-hand clothes, achieving a certain level of prosperity. After a 25-year term of service, the Czar allowed them to settle anywhere in the Russian empire without restriction. Jews first came to Finland as soldiers in the Russian empire. Before, the national narrative centered on Finland’s defiance of the Soviet Union in the Winter and Continuation Wars (1939-1944), with its treatment of Jews mentioned only to emphasise the exceptional irony of some Finnish Jewish soldiers receiving Nazi war crosses.Ĭonfronted with evidence of Finnish complicity in Nazi crimes, such as mistreatment of POWs, the transfer of Soviet Jews to German security forces, and the potential war crimes of Finnish members of the SS Viking division in the Ukraine, the Finnish government convened a commission of respected scholars to study the topic and produce a comprehensive report, which was then shared with the public. The questions in Finnish memory of the Holocaust are not about the fate of Finnish Jews, but rather about Finland’s treatment of refugees and prisoners of war and the actions of Finnish Nazi sympathisers during the war.įinland has been strong in recent years about confronting its marginal role in the Holocaust. Finnish authorities handed another 12 CentralĮuropean refugees to the Gestapo in Estonia and 49 Jewish Soviet Prisoners of War over to No Finnish Jews died in the Holocaust, though 61 did die in combat fighting in the FinnishĪrmy, often alongside German soldiers. The government has been commendable in its reaction to reports that Finnish SS volunt eers took part in Holocaust killings. You might find that the material simply doesn't exist.Finland, though allied with Germany during the war, never handed over its Jews. If you think Ralph's book is incomplete because it needs more research on engines, then write that book.
MAUNO JOKIPII HOW TO
I started out fully referencing in an academic way (I have a 1st class honours degree in English, I know how to do it) but it was nearly impossible to fit the limit of 64 pages already without adding pages of endnotes.

One potential source was simply a long way from London and I didn't get to visit before moving to New Zealand made it impossible. Some sources simply didn't respond, or would not let material be accessed as it wasn't officially declassified. Writing my book on the P.1121, I did not pursue some lines of research because they were (in my opinion) peripheral to the book I wanted to write. The author uses their judgement on what to include and what to exclude based on what they find interesting and they think the readers will find interesting. Anyone who does research for a book on aviation will find they have to balance many competing demands on their time and usually end up with lots more material than will possibly fit in one book. Over many years I tracked down what I could from a variety of museums, libraries, companies and archives but no doubt there is still more to be found.Įdit: correct book title, you'd think I would remember the name of my own book :Īuthors write books on subjects that interest them and that publishers will release. This is especially true for those aircraft that failed to win races or which were never completed. However, as the racers were all constructed in secret, often hurridly, the amount of technical information documented at the time is not always that great, to the extent that even reliable general arrangement drawings for some are missing. I value my (signed) copy of the Putnam but it was the many questions that it left unanswered that spurred me to research further, produce the drawings for all the aircraft and projects, and then write my book. Derek James' Putnam volume from 1981, republished recently by Fonthill, is both briefer and less complete. Well, what can I say? My book, Schneider Trophy Seaplanes and Flying Boats, is currently the most detailed available.
