Einsatzkommando Finnland was a German
paramilitary
A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...
unit active in
northern Finland and
northern Norway
Northern Norway ( nb, Nord-Norge, , nn, Nord-Noreg; se, Davvi-Norga) is a geographical Regions of Norway, region of Norway, consisting of the two northernmost counties Nordland and Troms og Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainlan ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, while Finland was fighting against the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
with the support of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. The official name of the unit was ''Einsatzkommando der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD beim AOK Norwegen, Befehlsstelle Finnland'', but it was often referred to as Einsatzkommando Finnland.
The existence of Einsatzkommando Finnland, until then unknown, was revealed in a 2008 doctoral dissertation by Oula Silvennoinen. The unit was subordinated to
Reichssicherheitshauptamt
The Reich Security Main Office (german: Reichssicherheitshauptamt or RSHA) was an organization under Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacity as ''Chef der Deutschen Polizei'' (Chief of German Police) and ''Reichsführer-SS'', the head of the Nazi ...
, and Finnish
security police
Security police officers are employed by or for a governmental agency or corporations to provide security service security services to those properties.
Security police protect facilities, properties, personnel, users, visitors and enforce cer ...
Valpo as well as a Finnish military intelligence organization collaborated with it.
Background
It has previously been revealed in several studies, including that of investigative journalist Elina Sana in her book ''Luovutetut. Suomen ihmisluovutukset Gestapolle'' (''"The Extradited. Finland's Extraditions to the Gestapo"''), that during the
Continuation War
The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...
roughly 3,000
POW
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...
s and civilians were extradited to Germany in exchange for
Finno-Ugric
Finno-Ugric ( or ; ''Fenno-Ugric'') or Finno-Ugrian (''Fenno-Ugrian''), is a traditional grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except the Samoyedic languages. Its formerly commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is ba ...
Soviet POWs held by Germany. Sana's book led to the ongoing research project at the Finnish National Archives. Most of those extradited joined the
Russian Liberation Army
The Russian Liberation Army; russian: Русская освободительная армия, ', abbreviated as (), also known as the Vlasov army after its commander Andrey Vlasov, was a collaborationist formation, primarily composed of Rus ...
or were recruited to spy behind the Soviet lines, but 520 of them were political officers in the Red Army or otherwise active communists, and although they were presumed killed in German hands, their exact fates had been unknown.
Research
![SS Sturmbannfuhler von Felde signature](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/SS_Sturmbannfuhler_von_Felde_signature.jpg)
According to Silvennoinen's research, before and during the
Continuation War
The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...
Finland handed over about 500 POWs and refugees to Germans operating in Northern Finland and Northern Norway, who probably executed all of them. About 10% of those handed over were Jewish, although their ethnicity seems not to have been the reason for their extradition. Extraditions began in the summer of 1940.
Additionally, a small number of Valpo officials worked as interpreters and interrogators in German POW camps with German Einsatzkommando Finnland officials, and were complicit in the executions of an unknown number of POWs.
Einsatzkommando Finnland operated in two POW camps, Stalag 322 in
Elvenes,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
and Stalag 309 in
Salla
Salla (''Kuolajärvi'' until 1936) ( smn, Kyelijävri) is a municipality of Finland, located in Lapland. The municipality has a population of
() and covers an area of of
which
is water. The population density is
.
The nearby settlement of S ...
, Finland (nowadays Russia). As the German advance into the Soviet Union stalled, the stream of POWs into these camps slowed to a trickle, and Einsatzkommando Finnland was disbanded at the end of 1942.
Silvennoinen is a researcher at the Finnish
National Archives, and his dissertation forms a part of ongoing research on prisoner-of-war deaths in Finland and people handed over to Germany and the Soviet Union by Finnish authorities between 1939 and 1955.
Research on prisoner-of-war deaths and people handed over in Finland 1939–55
Finnish National Archives
See also
* Einsatzgruppen
(, ; also ' task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the im ...
References
External links
Thesis abstract
(Scroll down to the bottom for English version)
Väitös: Valpo syyllistyi sotarikoksiin jatkosodan aikana
''Aamulehti''
Finland deltog i Förintelsen
Dagens Nyheter
''Dagens Nyheter'' (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record.
History and profile
''Da ...
, 2008-09-21
Väitös: Valpo surmasi jatkosodassa saksalaisten rinnalla
''Helsingin Sanomat''
Finland var med på jødeutryddelsen
Aftenposten.no {{in lang, no
Earlier revelations
2004 (Earlier revelations)
Finland's Tarnished Holocaust Record
(Earlier revelations)
Finnish-German seminar examines wartime cooperation between Finnish Valpo and Gestapo
''Helsingin Sanomat''
Einsatzgruppen
Finland in World War II
German expatriates in Finland