The Finnish People's Organisation (Finnish: , SKJ) (Swedish: , FFO) was a bilingual Nazi party founded by Jaeger Captain

Arvi Kalsta Arvi Kalsta (until 1927 Arvid Daniel Grönberg, 14 October 1890 Joensuu – 25 May 1982 Helsinki) Mikko Uola: Kalsta, Arvi (1890 - 1982Kansallisbiografia-verkkojulkaisu (maksullinen) Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura. was a Finnish Jaege ...

. Supporters of the movement were also called Kalstaites after the leader. The inaugural meeting of the organization was held in March 1933 and was attended by about 500 members. SKJ published the magazines ''Herää Suomi'' ('Finland Awake'), ''Hakkorset'' and ''Hakaristi'' ('Swastika', editor Thorvald Oljemark). In addition to its own magazines, the organization had its own publishing house Vasara. The organization wore a brown uniform like the Sturmabteilung of the German Nazi Party, and used the greeting "Finland Awake!" The party received some support among the Swedish-speaking population of

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; sv, Nyland, ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, ...

. The organization received only 2,733 votes in the

1933 Finnish parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Finland between 1 and 3 July 1933.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p606 The Social Democratic Party remained the largest party in Parliament with 78 of the 200 se ...

, with Jaakko Seise receiving almost quarter of the votes. However, at its peak SKJ had 20,000 members. Due to Kalsta moving to

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; sme, Roavvenjárga ; smn, Ruávinjargâ; sms, Ruäʹvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part Per� ...

to run a hotel the party ceased its activities in 1936, but Kalsta resumed his Nazi career in 1940 by founding the

Organisation of National Socialists The Organisation of National Socialists (Finnish: , KSJ) was a Finnish Nazi party operating in 1940–1944. It was founded and led by Arvi Kalsta, and the party was a continuation of Kalsta's earlier party Finnish People's Organisation. The party ...

. File:White Victory Parade.jpg, 15th anniversary of White Victory Parade, SKJ and IKL marching File:SKJ poster.jpg, SKJ poster: "Worker, free yourself from your oppressors!" File:Arvi kalsta skj.jpg, Captain

addressing an SKJ meeting

Sources

*
online version

References

External links

The party program
(in Finnish) Defunct political parties in Finland Nationalist parties in Finland Nazi parties Political parties established in 1933 Nazism in Finland Banned far-right parties Anti-communist organisations in Finland {{Nazi-stub