Martin Eugen Ekström (6 December 1887 – 28 December 1954) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

r who became the leader of the

National Socialist Bloc National Socialist Bloc (in Swedish: ''Nationalsocialistiska Blocket'') was a Swedish National Socialist political party formed in the end of 1933 by the merger of '' Nationalsocialistiska Samlingspartiet'', '' Nationalsocialistiska Förbundet'' ...

, an

umbrella organization An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...

for various

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

and

National Socialist Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

groups. Ekström was born in By,

Avesta Municipality Avesta Municipality (''Avesta kommun'') is one of 290 municipalities of Sweden. It is in Dalarna County, in the central part of the country, and its seat is in the town of Avesta. The municipality in its present size was created in 1967 when the ...

. During the 1918

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper ''Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil W ...

, he led the Vasa Regiment which was responsible of the

Vyborg massacre The Vyborg massacre was the killing of approximately 360 to 420 Russians in the town of Vyborg during the Finnish Civil War in April–May 1918. The massacre took place during and after the Battle of Vyborg as the White Guards captured the town ...

Lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Ekström led the 3rd Battlegroup Tendens.se. of the

Swedish Volunteer Corps The Swedish Volunteer Corps ( sv, Svenska frivilligkåren) during the Winter War numbered 9,640 officers and men. Sweden was officially non-belligerent during the war, so the Corps was used by Finland. The Swedish volunteers were in the front l ...

in the

Finnish Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

. He died in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, aged 67.

Career

Ekström was born in By,

Kopparberg County Dalarna County ( sv, Dalarnas län) is a county or '' län'' in central Sweden (Svealand). It borders on the counties of Uppsala, Jämtland, Gävleborg, Västmanland, Örebro and Värmland. It also borders on the Norwegian counties of Hedmark ...

, the son of Anders Gustav Ekström and his wife Johanna Mathilda (née Eriksson). He graduated from the Artillery School in 1916 and completed the German officers examination in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

in 1916. Ekström was military Instructor of the

Persian Gendarmerie The Iranian Gendarmerie, also called the Government Gendarmerie ( fa, ژاندارمری دولتی, Žāndārmirī-ye Daulatī), was the first rural police force, and subsequent modern highway patrol, in Iran. A paramilitary force, it also playe ...

from 1911 to 1915 and was chief of staff of

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

White Guard District. He participated in the

, the

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence ( et, Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westwa ...

and the

Lithuanian Wars of Independence The Lithuanian Wars of Independence, also known as the Freedom Struggles ( lt, Laisvės kovos), refer to three wars Lithuania fought defending its independence at the end of World War I: with Bolshevik forces (December 1918 – August 1919), Berm ...

. Ekström was the leader of the

from 1934 and editor och ''Riksposten'' from 1934. Known for events in the

Personal life

In 1920 he married Gladys Kurtén (born 1896), the daughter of Karl Henrik Kurtén and Florence Emma Elliott.

References

Sources

External links

Ekström, Martin Eugen (06.12.1887)
in

with photo. *
Swedish Fascism - Why Bother?
by Lena Berggren {{DEFAULTSORT:Ekstrom, Martin Eugen 1887 births 1954 deaths People from Avesta Municipality Swedish politicians Swedish Army officers Volunteers in the Winter War Prussian Army personnel Estonian military personnel Finnish Army personnel Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 2nd class People of the Finnish Civil War (White side) Iranian Gendarmerie personnel

Career

Personal life

References

Sources

Further reading

External links