The Vyborg massacre was the killing of approximately 360 to 420
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
s in the town of
Vyborg
Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus n ...
during the
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 ...
in April–May 1918. The massacre took place during and after the
Battle of Vyborg as the
White Guards captured the town from the
Red Guards
Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...
. At least half of the victims were Russian soldiers and military personnel. The slain were mainly men and young boys: nine out of ten were men fit for military service.
[ Westerlund (2004), p. 162] The White Guards were "cleansing" the city of Red Guards, however, only a small minority of the killed Russian townsfolk were affiliated with the Finnish labour movement.
[ Westerlund (2004), p. 104]
Background
Vyborg was both the second largest town in Finland with 49,000 inhabitants and one of the most diverse. In 1910 Vyborg had minorities of
Swedes (5,000) and
Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
(3,200-4,000),
as well as smaller ethnic groups of
Germans
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
, pop2 = 534,000
, region3 =
, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
, pop4 = ...
,
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
and Islamic
Tatars
The Tatars ()[Tatar]
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different .
Historian Teemu Keskisarja considers a spark that set off the killings was the news that a gang of drunk Red Guards had entered Viborg County Gaol during the Battle of Vyborg and murdered 30 White Guard prisoners.
[ However some Finnish historians think the Whites' goal was not to ]destroy
Destroy may refer to:
* ''Destroy'' (album), a 2004 album by Ektomorf
* Destroy!, a Minneapolis Crust punk band
* '' Destroy!!'', a comic book by Scott McCloud
See also
* Destroyer (disambiguation)
* Destruction (disambiguation)
* Destroy 2 ...
the town's entire Russian population because only men of military age and suspicious elements were targeted. The other ethnicities were only killed because they were simply assumed to be Russians.
Killings
The massacre started on April 28 during the Battle of Vyborg, escalating on the next, final day of the battle. Westerlund notes descriptions by jaegers Nurmio and Grandell of difficulty of identifying the Reds, as they hid amongst the population.[ Westerlund (2004), p. 102] Street combat and sniper skirmishes colored the final day of the battle. The largest mass executions were committed at the Annenkrone fortification on the western side of town and in the yard of Vyborg Castle
Vyborg Castle (russian: Выборгский замок, fi, Viipurin linna, sv, Viborgs slott) is a Swedish-built medieval fortress around which the town of Vyborg (today in Russia) evolved. The castle became the stronghold of the Swedish real ...
, but mainly the killings took place randomly in the streets and yards. Some managed to survive as the Finnish or Swedish residents were hiding them.[
Executions were committed by the ]Vaasa
Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas), and Kajaani
Kajaani (; sv, Kajana) is the most populous town and the capital of the Kainuu Region of Finland. It is located southeast of Lake Oulu (Oulujärvi), which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulu River (Oulujoki). As of , it had a pop ...
regiments, which were parts of the Eastern Army of the White Guards, led by the General Major Ernst Löfström. Vaasa Regiment was led by the Swedish military adventurer Martin Ekström
Martin Eugen Ekström (6 December 1887 – 28 December 1954) was a Swedish military adventurer who became the leader of the National Socialist Bloc, an umbrella organization for various fascist and National Socialist groups. Ekström was born ...
, who later became a leader of the Swedish Nazi organization National Socialist Bloc. Both regiments were filled with men from other parts of Finland but who were not from the Vyborg area. The local White Guards did not directly take part in the killings.
After Mannerheim heard about the massacres on May 2, he ordered an investigation and the punishments of the culprits. The next day on May 3 Rudolf Walden sent the following telegram from Mikkeli to G. A. Finne, the new town commandant: "Take the strongest actions to prevent violence towards innocent Polish, Ukrainians and Russians. Investigate each case."[ Westerlund (2004), p. 155] Even after this, a group of Jägers that had arrived from Germany intended to kill the whole Jewish population of Vyborg but the plan was stopped by the local police chief K. N. Rantakari.
Orders for conducting the executions were mainly given by the officers of the Jäger Movement
The Jäger Movement ( fi, Jääkäriliike sv, Jägarrörelsen) consisted of volunteers from Finland who trained in Germany as Jägers (elite light infantry) during World War I. Supported by Germany to enable the creation of a Finnish sovereign ...
. For example, the Jäger Major Harald Öhquist
Harald Öhquist (1 March 1891, Helsinki – 10 February 1971, Helsinki) was a Finnish Jäger and Lieutenant General during World War II.
Biography
Öhquist joined the Jaeger Movement in 1915 and trained and fought in the Royal Prussian 27th ...
admitted that his company had shot some 150 "Red Ruskies", but did not mention who had given the order. After the war, General Karl Fredrik Wilkama was considered to be responsible for the massacre, but neither he nor anyone else was ever convicted or even charged in a court of law. Wilkama himself described the massacre as a "little accident".[
On May 10 Löfström sent a telegram to headquarters requesting for permission to spread aid, especially monetary, to Russians who had to suffer and who were robbed of personal property. Later on more aid was given. Westerlund says that it's not possible to gauge the full amount from the survived records, but states that the final sum was considerable.][ Westerlund (2004), pp. 157-159]
Victims
Different estimations of the total number slain have taken place over the years. Soikkanen approximated the number at about 200, Tanskanen at 100, Upton at 50+, Russian newspapers noted by Vihavainen at 500-600, Rustanius and Jouni Eerola at 200, and lastly Jaru and Jouni Eerola at 350-550.[ Westerlund (2004), pp. 98-99] Westerlund estimates the number at 360-420. Teemu Keskisarja estimates it at about 400.
37 of the slain were members of other ethnic groups living in Vyborg, including 23 Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
soldiers of the Imperial Russian Army, several Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...
, Estonians
Estonians or Estonian people ( et, eestlased) are a Finnic ethnic group native to Estonia who speak the Estonian language.
The Estonian language is spoken as the first language by the vast majority of Estonians; it is closely related to oth ...
, Jews and Tatars, two Italians
, flag =
, flag_caption = The national flag of Italy
, population =
, regions = Italy 55,551,000
, region1 = Brazil
, pop1 = 25–33 million
, ref1 =
, region2 ...
and one Baltic German
Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...
. At least half of the murdered Russians were affiliated with the army.[ Westerlund (2004), p. 163] It is notable that they did not fight with the Reds, but were mostly unarmed. Only few of the victims had any connections with the Red Guards, most of them even supported the Whites and greeted them as liberators.[
The victims were of all social classes. Most of the killed Russian civilians were workers as well as administrators working for the City of Vyborg, merchants, businessmen or handicraftsmen, also several noblemen were executed. The youngest victims were only 12–13-year-old schoolboys. Two of the murdered teenagers were the 13 and 15-year-old sons of Lieutenant Colonel Georgi Bulatsel who was one of the highest ranked Russian officers fighting for the Reds. He had been executed after the ]Battle of Tampere
The Battle of Tampere was a 1918 Finnish Civil War battle, fought in Tampere, Finland from 15 March to 6 April between the Whites and the Reds. It is the most famous and the heaviest of all the Finnish Civil War battles. Today it is particular ...
on 28 April.[ There had been at least three women amongst the slain Russians.][ Westerlund (2004), p. 121] Not all caught Russian were slain, as there are numerous mentions of spared Russians in the committee records.
Citations
;References
;Bibliography
*{{cite book, last1=Westerlund, first1=Lars, title=Venäläissurmat Suomessa 1914–22: Osa 2.2. Sotatapahtumat 1918–22, chapter=Me odotimme teitä vapauttajina ja te toitte kuolemaa – Viipurin valloituksen yhteydessä teloitetut venäläiset, year=2004, publisher=Prime Minister's Office of Finland, isbn=952-5354-45-8, ref=westerlund
1918 in military history
Massacres in 1918
Finnish Civil War
Ethnic cleansing in Europe
Mass murder in 1918
Massacres of men
Anti-Russian sentiment
History of Vyborg
White terror in the Finnish Civil War
April 1918 events
May 1918 events
Violence against men in Europe
massacres of ethnic groups