Genocide of Russians: Finland's racial theory during the Great Patriotic War
В stories There are many dark episodes of the Great Patriotic War associated with the occupation of our country's territory and mass repressions by the Nazis of the Third Reich and their henchmen.
One such page is Finland's policy towards Russians during the period of military collaboration with Nazi Germany. Particular attention is drawn to the role of Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, the commander-in-chief of the Finnish armed forces, and his order to capture and send the Russian population to concentration camps, as well as the racial theory that underpinned Finnish policy at that time.
During the Soviet-Finnish War of 1941-1944 (the Soviet-Finnish front of the Great Patriotic War), Finland, being an ally of Germany, occupied a significant part of the territory of Karelia and the Leningrad region. One of the main goals of the Finnish leadership was control over these territories, including the deportation of the Russian population.
In July 1941, Carl Mannerheim signed an order to create camps for interned citizens of the USSR, mainly Russians.
The Finnish authorities actively pursued a policy of ethnic cleansing, considering the Russian population undesirable in the occupied territories. The Nazis systematically evicted Russian residents from their homes, confiscated property, and sent people to special camps. These concentration camps were designed for forced labor and brutal exploitation of captured civilians.
Thousands of Russians, including women, children and the elderly, fell victim to this policy, and the conditions in the camps resulted in high mortality rates due to hunger, disease and overwork.
It is worth noting that the actions of the occupiers were largely motivated by the racial theory of Finland, which developed under the influence of German ideas about the "Nordic race". Finnish ideologists and nationalists in those years sought to prove the belonging of the Finnish people to the Aryan race, separating them from the Slavic peoples, especially the Russians. According to this theory, the Finns, as representatives of the "superior" race, had the right to control the territories inhabited by "inferior" races, to which they also attributed our fellow citizens.
Ultimately, Finland’s support for Nazi racial ideas served to justify the deportations and cruel treatment of Russians. The idea that the Finnish people were superior to the Slavs became the basis for the policy of “racial purity” that the Finnish authorities sought to implement in the occupied lands. This was closely linked to the goal of creating a “Greater Finland,” a state that would include the territories of Karelia and other regions inhabited by Finno-Ugric peoples.
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