FROM COMMUNIST CADRE TO OUTSIDER

Abstract

This article builds on recent research on Scandinavians in the international communist movement and on intelligence operations in Sweden before and during the Second World War. Through a microhistorical approach that centres around the Swedish communist cadre Ingvar Larsson, who was first an operative of the Comintern’s highly secret communications and courier network (OMS) and later was estranged from the communist movement, the article looks beyond structures and organizations, focusing instead on the choices and options of people driven by both ideology and opportunism. By exploring a diverse collection of Comintern, Soviet, and Swedish archival sources, the article highlights some of the peculiar challenges of intelligence history and of constructing a narrative in a way that illuminates both the agency of individuals and the wider culture of tensions and uncertainties between ideals and realities.

Keywords:

• Ingvar Larsson
• intelligence
• OMS
• Second World War
• Sweden
• Soviet Union

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Janne Flyghed, Norbert Götz, Kimmo Rentola, Samira Saramo, Mika Suonpää, and two anonymous reviewers for their invaluable comments and suggestions on draft versions of this article, as well as Tatiana Androsova, Lars Björlin, and Meri Herrala for their expert assistance with archival work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 ‘Svenska kommunister studerar gatustridernas praktik i Moskva!’, author marked with acronym ‘XB 48’, Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning 9 April 1948; Trägårdh to Lönn, 25 May 1948, Säpoarkivet in Riksarkivet, Stockholm Arninge (SA), personakt (P) 663 (Larsson, Karl Gustav Ingvar).

2 Rosenfeldt, ‘Special’ World, vol. 2, 220–308; Rosenfeldt, Verdensrevolutionens generalstab, 81–92; Firsov, Klehr, and Haynes, Secret Cables of the Comintern, 1933–1943, 7–50; Huber, ‘Structure of the Moscow Apparatus’, 41–60; Møller and Rosenfeldt, ‘Koder, kapital og kurerer’, 328. Regarding OMS and Sweden, see Björlin, ‘För svensk arbetarklass’, 212–17; Björlin, ‘Russisk guld i svensk kommunisme’, 88–108; Agrell, Stora sabotageligan, 64.

3 Larsson to OMS leadership, 2 August 1934, Rossiyskiy gosudarstvennyy arkhiv sotsial’no-politicheskoy istorii, Moscow (RGASPI), fond (f.) 495, opis (op.) 275, delo (d.) 387, list (l.) 5. At the time, Larsson was under advanced training for ‘Stations-Dienst’ at the secret OMS compound in Pushkino, near Moscow. In some publications, Abramov-Mirov’s name is given in the opposite form, Mirov-Abramov.

4 See, in particular, Møller and Rosenfeldt, ‘Koder, kapital og kurerer’; Rosenfeldt, ‘Special’ World; Rosenfeldt, Verdensrevolutionens generalstab; Rosenfeldt, Jørgensen, and Møller, ‘Det hemmelige forbindelsespunkt’; Jørgensen et al., Komintern og de dansk-sovjetiske relationer. Earlier important publications include Thing, Kommunismens kultur 1–2, as well as several books by Erik Nørgaard, e.g. Revolutionen der udeblev. In recent years, Danish–Russian collaboration has also enhanced the accessibility of Danish Comintern files, which are published in Jørgensen et al., Datskiye kadry Moskvy v stalinskoye vremya.

5 Additionally, several important OMS operatives were Danish-born, such as Borge Houmann and Richard Jensen, who both also later disclosed some of their Comintern activities in published accounts, as well as Georg Moltke (born Laursen), and Arne Munch-Petersen. See Houmann, Kommunist under besættelsen; Jensen, En omtumlet tilværelse. Jensen was also active in the Internationale der Seeleute und Hafenarbeiter (International of Seamen and Harbour Workers), which was established in Hamburg in 1930 and moved to Copenhagen after the Nazi takeover. See e.g. Rosenfeldt, Verdensrevolutionens generalstab; Weiss, Framing a Radical African Atlantic; Weiss, ‘Stockholm – Hamburg – Köpenhamn’.

6 See, in particular, Björlin, ‘Russisk guld i svensk kommunisme’; Rosenfeldt, ‘Special’ World; Rosenfeldt, Verdensrevolutionens generalstab; Rosenfeldt, ‘Komintern og de hemmelige apparat’.

7 Møller and Rosenfeldt, ‘Koder, kapital og kurerer’, 328–9; Agrell, Stora sabotageligan, 60–71. Signe Sillén, or ‘Gondel’, who oversaw the Stockholm OMS point in the first half of the 1930s, was an SKP veteran and the spouse of Hugo Sillén, the leader of the Comintern-oriented SKP minority after the party split in 1929. After Sillén apparently both fell ill and out of favor in 1935, she was succeeded by Karl Gustav Johansen and later Karl Fritjof Lager. See also Police memo, 6 July 1933, SA P 647 (Karlsson, Johan Arthur); Björlin, ‘Russisk guld i svensk kommunisme’, 53–108; Rosenfeldt, Verdensrevolutionens generalstab, 85.

8 See, in particular, Björkman, Säkerhetstjänstens egen berättelse; Flyghed, Rättstat i kris; Flyghed, ‘Außenpolitik und Recht’; Eliasson, Övervakning i försvarets intresse. In 2002, the Swedish government-appointed Commission of Inquiry to the Security Service (Säkerhetstjänstkommissionen) published several extensive reports. Among them, see, in particular, Säkerhetstjänstkommissionen, Övervakningen. Journalist Anders Thunberg’s biography on the double agent Karin Lannby (pseudonym ‘Annette’) also presents a vivid and extensive overview of the war-time functions of both Swedish and foreign intelligence services in Stockholm.

9 On the biographical approach in Comintern studies, see the above-mentioned Danish contributions as well as Morgan, Cohen, and Flinn, Agents of the Revolution; Studer, Transnational World.

10 Lepore, ‘Historians who Love too Much’, 130–3, 141.

11 Møller and Rosenfeldt, ‘Koder, kapital og kurerer’; Møller, ‘Fra Komintern-kurér til modstandsmand’, 337–8.

12 On ‘lost’ history and archival silences in the research of international communism, see Fowler, Japanese and Chinese Immigrant Activists, 12–13. On transnational Comintern history, see Studer, Transnational World.

13 On the challenges of writing intelligence history, see e.g. Kerr, ‘Investigating Soviet Espionage and Subversion’.

14 Farge, Allure of the Archives, 29. The approach in my article is further inspired by Morten Møller’s eloquently constructed book Ellen og Adam, a ‘documentary narrative’ of a Scandinavian communist couple, the Danish OMS courier Ellen Schou and her Norwegian spouse Adam Egede-Nissen, by Yvonne Hirdman’s Den röda grevinnan, a narrative of her Baltic German mother, Charlotte Hirdman, who probably was involved in OMS operations and later settled in Sweden, and by Erkki Tuomioja’s A Delicate Shade of Pink, a study of his Estonian–Finnish grandmother Hella Wuolijoki and her sister Salme Pekkala-Dutt in the international communist movement.

15 The files in question are RGASPI, f. 495, op. 275, d. 387 (Larsen Engbar) and RGASPI, f. 495, op. 275, d. 328 (Felt Ingvar Larsovich). The ‘Larsen’ file contains several documents directly related to his involvement in the OMS, and it also mentions that his studies at KUNMZ started in September 1929. It was thus relatively easy to identify his KUNMZ pseudonym ‘Ingvar Fält’ (ИнгварФэльт, first name also spelled ‘Ingvald’ in some documents) among the dozen young Swedes of his class.

16 Larsson’s autobiography from 31.1.1930, Moscow, RGASPI, f. 495, op. 275, d. 328, l. 10; Larsson’s autobiography from 18.3.1931, Moscow, RGASPI, f. 495, op. 275, d. 328, l. 3; Sverges Kommunistiska Ungdomsförbund, Protokoll, 7. Similar autobiographies were required from all cadres. While Larsson’s concise descriptions do not contain anything questionable, the autobiographies could also be used to narrate a favourable image of people aspiring for positions in the Comintern and their national parties. See also Studer, Transnational World, 15–18.

17 Studer, Transnational World, 90–107. KUNMZ also had a smaller branch in Leningrad (LOKUNMZ) that hosted more than 200 simultaneous students, mainly Finnish and Estonian. For the most comprehensive available studies of KUNMZ, see Köstenberger, ‘Die Geschichte der “Kommunistischen Universität”’; Rønning, Stalins elever. The Swedish sector as such has not yet been studied in detail, but an overview with a general Nordic perspective is provided in Krekola and Rønning, ‘International Cadre Education’. In the Swedish language, KUNMZ was commonly referred to as ‘Västernuniversitet’.

18 KUNMZ assessment from 22.5.1930, Moscow, RGASPI, f. 529, op. 1, d. 635, l. 16.

19 Larsson’s autobiography from 18.3.1931, Moscow, RGASPI, f. 495, op. 275, d. 328, l. 3.

20 The KUNMZ Swedish sector was suspended in 1932, after which Swedes were trained at the MLS. See Köstenberger, ‘Die Geschichte der “Kommunistischen Universität”’, 253–5.

21 Köstenberger, ‘Die Geschichte der “Kommunistischen Universität”’, 252.

22 Zysman’s reference (spravka), 2 November 1939, RGASPI, f. 495, op. 275, d. 387, l. 6.

23 Memo for case 306/40, 12 February 1940, SA P 663.

24 For more information on how OMS couriers operated, see Rosenfeldt, Verdensrevolutionens generalstab, 91.

25 The assignment in Sweden is mentioned in Zysman’s reference, 2 November 1939, RGASPI, f. 495, op. 275, d. 387, l. 6.

26 Rosenfeldt, Verdensrevolutionens generalstab, 85.

27 Møller and Rosenfeldt, ‘Koder, kapital og kurerer’, 328–9; Agrell, Stora sabotageligan, 60–71.

28 Larsson to OMS leadership, 2 August 1934, RGASPI, f. 495, op. 275, d. 387, l. 5.

29 Huber, ‘Structure of the Moscow Apparatus’, 55; Weber and Herbst, Deutsche Kommunisten, 252–3.

30 Flieg’s assessment of Larsson’s character, 20 March 1935, RGASPI, f. 495, op. 275, d. 387, l. 19.

31 Handwritten note to Abramov-Mirov on behalf of Wallenius, 29 November 1935, RGASPI, f. 495, op. 275, d. 387, l. 16; Handwritten note to Abramov-Mirov, 11 December 1935, RGASPI, f. 495, op. 275, d. 387, l. 16.

32 Møller highlights similar uncertainties when discussing Ellen Schou and Adam Egede-Nissen’s departure from the Soviet Union during the height of the Great Terror. See Møller, Ellen og Adam, 310–22.

33 Rosenfeldt, ‘Special’ World, 237–42, 358; Huber, ‘Structure of the Moscow Apparatus’, 52.

34 Rosenfeldt, Verdensrevolutions generalstab, 252–74; Rosenfeldt, ‘Special’ World, vol. 2, 297.

35 Weber and Herbst, Deutsche Kommunisten, 252–3.

36 Agrell, Stockholm som spioncentral; Agrell, ‘Sweden and the Dilemmas’, 637; Skjeseth, Nordens Casablanca, 109–24.

37 Larsson mentions both publications in his letter to VOKS, 30 October 1939, Gosudarstvennyy arkhiv Rossiyskoy Federatsii, Moscow (GARF), f. R5283, op. 5, d. 875, l. 25.

38 Memo for case 3784/40, 13 June 1944, SA P 663. Larsson had also done translation work for Arbetarkultur and other communist businesses. See Memo for case 3740/40, 2 December 1940, SA P 663. On the position of Kreuger, see McCay, From Information to Intrigue, 227; Nycop, Hög spel i luften, 10–15; Tennant, Vid sidan av kriget, 110, 112.

39 KUNMZ assessment from 21.5.1930, Moscow, RGASPI, f. 529, op. 1, d. 635, l. 8.

40 The role of trade legations is noted in e.g. Rosenfeldt, Verdensrevolutions generalstab, 90; Møller and Rosenfeldt, ‘Koder, kapital og kurerer’, 319. Though the Swedish police later received reports that Larsson was on good terms with Alexandra Kollontay, the Soviet Minister Plenipotentiary in Stockholm, they again remained unaware of his formal role. See Memo for case 3780/40, 18 January 1941, SA P 663.

41 The Danish-born Moltke became a Soviet citizen in 1928. Details on his career are found in his personnel file in the Comintern archives. See Belov’s reference (spravka), 31 August 1943, RGASPI, f. 495, op. 208, d. 332, ll. 44, 44ob; Moltke’s autobiography (confidential), 10 November 1943, RGASPI, f. 495, op. 208, d. 332, l. 38–40. Both documents are published in Jørgensen et al., Datskiye kadry Moskvy v stalinskoye vremya. For a detailed study of Moltke, see Birkedal Riisbro, ‘Georg Laursen’, parts 1–2.

42 Moltke’s reference (spravka, top secret), 25 February 1940, RGASPI, f. 495, op. 275, d. 387, l. 1. At the time when the reference was issued, Larsson was back in the Soviet Union, visiting Moscow and Leningrad as a guest of VOKS. This indicates that the reference was probably commissioned when the Soviet intelligence services were trying to decide what to do with Larsson. On Karlsson, see e.g. Police memos, 6 July 1933, 15 December 1939, 19 February 1940, 24 August 1942, all in SA P 647; Bojerud, ‘Spionen som aldrig funnits’, 63–6, 86–7. On Larsson’s connection with Bildtjänst, see memo for case 306/40, 12 February 1940, SA P 663.

43 Police memo, 1 October 1936, SA P 289 (Liebenthal, Gerhard Friedrich Martin). When Liebenthal was arrested and questioned by the police in Stockholm in February 1941, he described himself as a social democrat, which would have been the smartest story to tell regardless of its accuracy. See Examination records, 11 and 17 February 1941, SA P 289. On the ISH, see Rosenfeldt, ‘Komintern og de hemmelige apparat’, 104; Weiss, ‘Stockholm – Hamburg – Köpenhamn’, 141–4.

44 See ‘Annette’ memos, e.g. 23 February, 13 April, 7 May and 8 September 1940, SA sakakt XII:77, (Annettes lista); Police memo and examination record, 17 February 1941, SA P 289. Liebenthal was interned for several months from March 1941 onwards on the basis of his extensive dealings with the British, but he was allowed to stay in Sweden, and he remained a somewhat public figure in Stockholm until his death on May Day 1954. Shortly after the war, Åhlen & Åkerlund and Fants published his books on war-time espionage and the Nuremberg trials. Liebenthal did not discuss his own role in these books. See the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) to Stockholm police (copy), 25 February 1942, SA P 289. On the SOE and Sweden, see Tennant, Vid sidan av kriget, 151–72; Cruickshank, SOE in Scandinavia, 2, 48; McKay, From Information to Intrigue, 64. On Lannby, see Thunberg, Karin Lannby; Pryser, Tyske hemmelige tjenester i Norden, 136–9; Roth, Hitlers Brückenkopf in Schweden, 319–21.

45 Memos for case 3780/40, 21, 22 and 28 January 1941, SA P 663; Summary on Leopold Gawatin, case 4564/40, 2 January 1943; Examination record, 13 December 1944; both from SA P 979 (Gawatin, Leopold). Gawatin was also noted as having had a ‘phony marriage’ with Rica Ortman, a Moscow-based German woman who was arrested in the Soviet Union for ‘conspiracy, treachery and Trotskyism’ in 1936 or 1938. See also Police memo, 14 December 1942, SA P 979.

46 Larsson’s correspondence with VOKS, April 1939–January 1940, GARF, f. R5283, op. 5, d. 875, l. 12–32.

47 Larsson to VOKS, 2 January 1940, GARF, f. R5283, op. 5, d. 875, l. 12.; Kamenkovich’s memo, 20 February 1940, GARF, f. R5283, op. 5, d. 875, l. 8.

48 Memo for case 306/40, 14 February 1940, SA P 663; Kamenkovich’s memo, 20 February 1940, GARF, f. R5283, op. 5, d. 875, l. 8.

49 Volkov’s memo (zapis), 26 February 1940, GARF, f. R5283, op. 5, d. 875, l. 5–7.

50 Kamenkovich’s memo, 20 February 1940, GARF, f. R5283, op. 5, d. 875, l. 8

51 Zysman’s reference, 2 November 1939, RGASPI, f. 495, op. 275, d. 387, l. 6.

52 Moltke’s reference, 25 February 1940, RGASPI, f. 495, op. 275, d. 387, l. 1.

53 For more on VOKS and the Great Terror, see David-Fox, Showcasing the Great Experiment, 300–4. For more on Kheifets, see Laamanen, ‘VOKS, Cultural Diplomacy and the Shadow of the Lubianka’, 1034.

54 Rosenfeldt, Verdensrevolutions generalstab, 73–4.

55 Kheifets’ diary entry, 20 February 1940, GARF, f. R5283, op. 5, d. 875, l. 10. In May 1937, the Swedish Communist Party had sent Wagner to Moscow, where he worked as a translator for the party newspaper Ny Dag. Maj Ingrid Wagner (née Olsson) was also known as ‘vackra Maj’, the announcer of Swedish-language radio programming sent from Moscow. Summary on Bertil Wagner, undated; Extract from case 608/40, 28 February 1940; Memo for case 3847/40, undated; Extract from Personnel file P 78, 11 August 1940; Summary of P 811 (Wagner, Maj Ingrid), 15 January 1948; all from SA P 810 (Wagner, Bertil Karl Otto); Statement on Bertil Wagner, 9 June 1951, RGASPI, f. 495, op. 275, d. 602, l. 9; Møller and Rosenfeldt, ‘Koder, kapital og kurerer’, 306–9.

56 Volkov’s memo, 26 February 1940, GARF, f. R5283, op. 5, d. 875, l. 5–7.

57 During the German–Soviet pact period, Moscow tried to direct the communist parties in Denmark (Danmarks Kommunistiske Parti, DKP), Norway (Norges Kommunistiske Parti, NKP), and Sweden (SKP) to strengthen their fight against the ‘imperialist war’ waged by not only Great Britain and France but also their supporters-at-home, the Social Democrats. See Hirdman, Sverges kommunistiska parti 1939–1945, 22–79; Egge and Halvorsen, ‘Kriteriet på en kommunist’, 22; Björlin, ‘För svensk arbetarklass’, 212–3.

58 Memos for case 306/40, 2, 11 and 12 February 1940, SA P 663.

59 Order for mail surveillance, 13 August 1940; mention of telephone surveillance in memo for case 3780/1940, 28 January 1941; both in SA P 663.

60 The total number of arrested people was 1,957, with 505 cases prosecuted. For the statistics, see Flyghed, Außenpolitik und Recht, 316.

61 Gilmour, Sweden, the Swastika and Stalin, 143.

62 See e.g. Agrell, Stockholm som spioncentral; Björkman, Säkerhetstjänstens egen berättelse; Eliasson, Övervakning i försvarets intresse.

63 For more on the Nazi sympathies of former socialists, see e.g. Carlsson, Nazismen i Sverige; Blomqvist, Gåtan Nils Flyg. For a case study of five Norwegian socialists who joined the Nasjonal Samling party, see Sørensen, Fra Marx til Quisling.

64 Memo for case 306/40, 27 April 1940, SA P 663.

65 Memo for case 306/40, 9 May 1940, SA P 663.

66 Memo for case 306/40, 28 April 1940, SA P 663.

67 For a detailed study of the Wollweber League, see Borgersund, Wollweber-organisasjonen i Norge. On examples of Wollweber’s agents moving from Norway to Sweden from April 1940, see e.g. Agrell, Stora sabotageligan, 149–50, 258.

68 On Comintern and the German–Soviet nonaggression pact, see e.g. McDermott and Agnew, Comintern, 191–204; Halvorsen, ‘Scandinavian Communist Parties’, 248–60.

69 Memos for case 3784/40, 15 May and 13 June 1944, SA P 663; ‘Annette’ memos, 15 and 25 October 1943 and Police memo, 11 November 1943, all from SA sakakt XII:77; Pryser, Tyske hemmelige tjenste i Norden, 114.

70 Police memo, 27 march 1944, SA P 663.

71 German Embassy in Stockholm (Below) to Auswärtiges Amt, references in Roth, Hitlers Brückenkopf in Schweden, 288; Memo for case 3780/40, 11 January 1941, SA P 663. The brief mention of Larsson in Roth’s book is the only known reference to him in previous research.

72 Memos for case 3780/40, 14 and 19 December 1940, SA P 663. Larsson himself also changed apartments in the neighbouring Gärdet neighbourhood, from Smedsbackgatan to Rindögatan.

73 Ekberg-Hedqvist joined SNF in December 1935. See Carlsson, Nazismen i Sverige, 126–7; McCay, From Information to Intrigue, 220. Based on information from Liebenthal, Larsson and Ekberg-Hedqvist had at one occasion discussed their common past at ‘some political college’ in Moscow, i.e. apparently KUNMZ. See Examination record, 10 February 1941, SA P 289.

74 Ebner’s wife Märta was also involved, and she was interviewed by the police in early 1941. See Police memo, 26 February 1945; Personnel card on Herbert Ebner; both in SA P 997 (Ebner, Herbert Maria).

75 Memos for case 3780/40, 14 and 19 December 1940, SA P 663.

76 Police records of Liebenthal’s interview in Stockholm, 6 February 1941, SA P 663.

77 Memos for case 3780/40, 11 January and 5 February 1941; Examination record of Gerhard Liebenthal, 6 February 1941; all from SA P 663.

78 Klüver to the Kopparberg County Governor, 29 December 1940, SA P 663.

79 Surveillance memos on Larsson, 21, 22 and 28 January 1941, SA P 663.

80 Agrell, Stora sabotageligan, 170–84, 239–50; Borgersund, Wollweber-organisasjonen i Norge, 416–8.

81 Memo for case 3780/40, 18 January 1941, SA P 663; Memo for case 107/41, 18 January 1941, SA P 2493 (Brunius, Tor Patrik Fredrik).

82 Police records of Märta Ebner’s interview in Stockholm, 10 February 1941, SA P 663.

83 Memos for case 3780/40, 6 and 27 March 1941; Police memo, 22 November 1943; both from SA P 663. The November 1943 memo also notes Larsson’s new address, Östermalmsgatan 94.

84 Report from ‘Annette’, 17 December 1943, SA sakakt XII:77; Extract of a report from ‘Annette’, 15 May 1944, SA P 663.

85 Trägårdh to Lönn, 25 May 1948, SA P 663.

86 Kungliga biblioteket, Svenska Dagstidningar: https://tidningar.kb.se/

87 ‘Den röda nazismen 8: Kommunistiska spioner blev skolade i Moskva’, no author information given, Sölvesborgstidningen, 22 May 1948.

88 Police memo, 2 June 1948, SA P 663. The memo also highlights a Polish exile, Fritz (actually Ficzel) Bojmal, who ‘works for the Russians’ and himself had connections to Liebenthal and Gawatin during the war. See memo for case 4524/40, 13 February 1940, SA P 1713 (Bojmal, Ficzel).

89 The Säkerhetstjänstkommissionen reports discuss a few communist insiders turned informants, such as source ‘Toddy’, who, during 1947–1948 identified to the police 25 different ‘Comintern messengers’, ‘Russian agents’, and other Soviet collaborators. See Säkerhetstjänstkommissionen, Övervakningen, 220. The identity of these agents and collaborators is not revealed in the report. When determining the value of identifying individuals by name and contemplating their possible or actual involvement in criminal or controversial activities or role as police informants, I have attempted to follow the example of the Swedish government-appointed Säkerhetstjänstkommissionen project (2002). See Säkerhetstjänstkommissionen, Rikets säkerhet, 91–6.

90 Upon my written request (22 January 2019) for access to the content of Larsson’s State Police personnel file after 31 December 1948, the Swedish National Archives reviewed the case and released (6 February 2019) 15 pages of normally classified documents from the years 1950 and 1951. Based on the released documents, it is likely that, while the police continued Larsson’s surveillance, they withheld from attempts to recruit him as an informant at least until October 1950. However, some of the content of the Larsson file is still classified, and developments after October 1950 are thus impossible to evaluate.

91 See e.g. Larsson, ‘Sovietunionens atomstad ett – Shangri-La’, Aftontidningen, 7 September 1948; Larsson, ‘Krokodil ömsar skinn’, Folket i Bild 23/1953.

92 Pseudonym ‘Pettersson den äldre’, ‘Rött och Rappt’, Arbetartidningen, 9 September 1948.

93 Information obtained from the Cemeteries Administration in Stockholm (Stockholms kyrkogårdsförvaltningen) on 15 November 2016.

94 Farge, Allure of the Archives, 62, 71–3.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Kone Foundation.

Notes on contributors

Ville Laamanen

Ville Laamanen is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Philosophy, Contemporary History and Political Science at the University of Turku. His current research project, funded by the Kone Foundation, focuses on Soviet cultural diplomacy around Scandinavia in 1939–1940. Address: Department of Philosophy, Contemporary History and Political Science, University of Turku, FI-20014 Turku, Finland. [email: [email protected]]