The Holocaust Historiography in Finland

Abstract

Since the end of the Cold War, most European nations – including those in Eastern Europe – have reassessed their role in the Holocaust. Although the Finnish scholarly community, as well as the wider public, is now beginning to participate in this process, Finland has been one of the last countries in Europe to recognize that it cannot assume a total immunity or innocence in this Europe-wide event. This article examines the ways in which the Holocaust has entered Finnish historiography over the last decades. Holmila and Silvennoinen's argument is two-fold. First, they hold that there are many contextual matters, such as the absence of visible anti-Semitism, which have for a long time worked as a sufficient barrier to keep Finland disconnected from the Holocaust. Second, they argue that there are important theoretical and methodological underpinnings, especially the so-called ‘separate war thesis’, which has been utilized as a convenient, if no longer tenable, explanation that Finland was very different from all other Axis nations. They also seek to point out the directions in which the Finnish scholarly community is now going in its search for a more nuanced approach to the Holocaust.

Keywords:

• Finland
• the Holocaust
• historiography
• anti-Semitism
• post-war

Notes

1 Olavi Paavolainen, Kolmannen valtakunnan vieraana, 10. Olavi Paavolainen visited Germany in 1936 as part of a ‘cultural exchange’ under the auspices of the Nordische Gesellschaft (the Nordic Society). For more information on Paavolainen's visit and its repercussions, see Hiedanniemi, Kulttuuriin verhottua politiikkaa, 97–9.

2 Raivo, ‘Oblivion without Guilt’, 116.

3 Levine, ‘Förintelsens historiografi i Sverige idag’, 69–95.

4 Silvennoinen, ‘Still Under Examination, 67–92.

5 Ibid., 69–70.

6 For the liberation of the concentration camps and the Nuremberg trial, see Holmila, Reporting the Holocaust, especially chapters 4 and 7.

7 Svensson, Valkeat vaunut.

8 Vinde, Välähdyksiä Nürnbergistä.

9 Kersten, Samtal med Himmler; Briffault, The Memoirs of Doctor Felix Kersten. Finnish translation, Himmlerin henkilääkärinä, 124–5 and 127–9. See also Palmer, ‘Felix Kersten and Count Bernadotte’, 39–51.

10 Jokipii, ‘Kerstenin muistelmat ja elämäkerta’, 357–9 and Jokipii, ‘Himmlerin Suomen matka v. 1942’, 417–41.

11 See for example, Holmila, ‘Varieties of Silence’.

12 For the deportation, see Suominen, Kuolemanlaiva; Torvinen, Pakolaiset Suomessa; Rautkallio, Finland and the Holocaust; and Cohen and Svenson, ‘Finland and the Holocaust’; Holmila, ‘Finland and the Holocaust; and Silvennoinen: Geheime Waffenbrüderschaft.

13 See for example, Suominen, Kuolemanlaiva, 268.

14 Ibid., 266–7.

15 See for example, Torvinen, Pakolaiset Suomessa Hitlerin valtakaudella, 207–11.

16 Jokipii, ‘Himmlerin Suomen matka v. 1942’, 431–2.

17 Polvinen, Suomi suurvaltojen politiikassa.

18 Ibid., 189. Although there were eight Jewish deportees, the early historiography talks about five refugees because the deportation orders were addressed for five men. The other three, a boy of 13, a boy under two and a wife of one of the deportees, joined them ‘voluntarily’. It is also to be noted that between June 1941 and November 1942 Finland deported or handed over a total of 12 civilians (excluding prisoners of war) registered as Jews to the German authorities.

19 Polvinen, Suomi suurvaltojen politiikassa, 189.

20 Ibid., 189–90.

21 Kivimäki, Suomalaisen poliitikon muistelmat.

22 Kivimäki, Suomalaisen poliitikon muistelmat, 243–6.

23 Ibid., 246.

24 Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jewry; Schleunes, The Twisted Road to Auschwitz; Adam, Judenpolitik im Dritten Reich; Dawidowicz, The War Against the Jews. For the emergence of the Holocaust as a scholarly subject, see Bankier and Michman, Holocaust Historiography in Context; and Stone, Constructing the Holocaust.

25 Mitä, Missä, Milloin: Kansalaisen vuosikirja 1980, 395. For the reception of the TV series in Sweden and Denmark, compare Zander, ‘Holocaust at the Limits’.

26 Suominen, Kuolemanlaiva S/S Hohenhörn. For the systematic plan to deport the Jews, see, 90.

27 Suominen, Kuolemanlaiva, 7.

28 Blomstedt, ‘Juutalaisten luovutukset 1942’, 146.

29 For a more in-depth discussion, see Holmila, ‘Varieties of Silence’. Citation is from Blomstedt, ‘Juutalaisten luovutukset,’ 142. Out of the professional historians, Tuomo Polvinen acknowledged that Sana's work in fact did tease out a lot of valuable new information about the extradition.

30 Torvinen, Pakolaiset Suomessa Hitlerin valtakaudella and Rautkallio, Ne kahdeksan ja Suomen omatunto.

31 Torvinen, Pakolaiset Suomessa, 87–8.

32 See for example, Holmila, ‘Finland and the Holocaust’, 421–2.

33 Rautkallio, Finland and the Holocaust.

34 Ibid., 125–79.

35 Rautkallio, Suomen juutalaisten aseveljeys and ‘Cast into the Lion's Den’, 53–94.

36 Rautkallio, ‘Cast into the Lion's Den’, 89–90.

37 Salomon Steinbock cited in Rautkallio, ‘Cast into the Lion's Den’, 55.

38 Ibid., 57.

39 Rautkallio, Holokaustilta pelastetut, 19.

40 Ibid., 17, 20.

41 See also Holmila, ‘A Different Story Altogether?’, 186–8.

42 See for example, Rautkallio, Holokaustilta pelastetut, 19.

43 Cited in Suominen, Kuolemanlaiva, 33.

44 Rautkallio, Finland and the Holocaust, 76.

45 Munslow, The Routledge Companion to Historical Studies, 195.

46 Ibid.

47 Levene, Genocide in the Age of the Nation State, vol. 2, 9.

48 Cohen and Svensson, ‘Finland and the Holocaust’, 1, 70–93. For a critical examination of Cohen's and Svensson's article, see Holmila, ‘Finland and the Holocaust.’

49 Cohen, Etsin turvapaikkaa.

50 Ibid., 230.

51 Cohen ane Svensson, ‘Finland and the Holocaust’, 70.

52 Bloxham and Kushner, The Holocaust, 96.

53 Silvennoinen, Geheime Waffenbrüderschaft, 233.

54 Silvennoinen, ‘Still Under Examination’, 90–1.

55 Sana, Luovutetut.

56 Holmila, ‘Finland and the Holocaust’, 415–9; Holmila, ‘Varieties of Silence’; and Tilli, ‘Luvutuskeskustelu menneisyyspolitiikkana’, 138–9.

57 Lars, Prisoners of War.

58 Muir, ‘Anti-Semitism in the Finnish Academe’, 62–4.

59 Silvennoinen's much noticed dissertation, Salaiset aseveljet [Secret Brothers in Arms], Helsinki 2008, was written as part of a research project conducted by the Finnish National Archives called Finland, Prisoners of War, and People Handed over 1939–1955 (Suomi, sotavangit ja ihmisluovutukset 1939–1955), ed. by Lars Westerlund; and Holmila, Holokausti. Tapahtumat ja tulkinnat, 187–213.

60 This can also be seen in the many upcoming books which relate Finland to the Holocaust. Apart from this Journal, see for instance, Muir and Worthen, Revising Finland's Holocaust; Kinnunen and Kivimäki, Finland in World War II; and Holmila, Reporting the Holocaust.