On the eve of the war, nine information companies were formed in Finland, subordinate to the main headquarters. During World War II, their numbers ranged from eight to twelve; about 150 photographers served on the front line. The photographs they took were supposed to provide footage of real battles, as well as material that would be relevant from the point of view of military history and ethnography.
Some photographs were published in the press, but most of them remained in the closed archives of the photographic department of the main headquarters. Now this legacy is in online archive and is available to the general public.
The Finnish Wartime Photography Archive has published black-and-white and color photographs of both soldiers on the front line and civilians working behind the lines. The photo archive website says:
“You are looking at a unique historical collection of Finnish wartime photographs. The digitized archive contains about 160,000 photographs from the Second World War, covering the period from the autumn of 1939 to the summer of 1945. The photographs depict life at the front, the destruction caused by explosions, the military industry, the evacuation of the inhabitants of Finnish Karelia, as well as events and operations at the front.”
All high-resolution images can be viewed, downloaded, edited and published, indicating the source online archive SA-kuva.
The village of Alakurtti, September 1941.
Soldiers firing back, 1941.
Submarine, city of Hanko, 1943.
Pechenga, 1942.
Venets on fire, July 1942.
Fire and street fighting. Povenets, July 1942.
Vuoksenlaakso, June 1943.
Bofors anti-aircraft gun. Suulajarvi, August 1943.
Aerial surveillance. Lahdenpokhya, July 1942.
Pictured is Olavi Paavolainen. August 1942.
Svir, 1943.
Fishing boats on the steep shore of Lake Onega, August 1942.
A passenger car on a bridge in the eastern part of Syvärill on September 2, 1942.
Karelian village, 1941.
Caring for weapons during a respite, 1944.
Purity in war. Hämekoski, 1941.
Line for milk, 1944.
Train with wounded. Vyborg, October 1939.
An injured 13-year-old boy on his way to the hospital. Vyborg, 1941.
Kitten in Vyborg, 1941.
Lohaniemi, 1941.
Prisoners' lunch. Vyborg, 1942.
Castle tower, Vyborg 1942.
The Soviet-Finnish war is one of the most closed topics in Soviet history. Since the proclamation
After Finland gained independence in December 1917, territorial claims constantly arose between it and the USSR. But they more often became the subject of negotiations. The situation changed at the end of the 30s, when it became clear that the Second World War would soon begin. The USSR demanded that Finland not participate in the war against the USSR and allow the construction of Soviet military bases on Finnish territory. Finland hesitated and played for time.
The situation worsened with the signing of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, according to which Finland belonged to the sphere of interests of the USSR. The Soviet Union began to insist on its terms, although it offered certain territorial concessions in Karelia. But the Finnish government rejected all proposals. Then, on November 30, 1939, the invasion of Soviet troops into Finnish territory began. The offensive was initially unsuccessful.
The onset of winter, the wooded and swampy terrain and the desperate resistance of the Finns interfered. In addition, on the line of the main attack - the Karelian Isthmus - there was a line of field fortifications, which was called the “Mannerheim Line”. Soviet troops were not ready for battles with powerful fortifications and initially retreated. And only in March 1940 they managed to break through this line and capture the city of Vyborg.
The Finnish government, seeing that there was no hope left, entered into negotiations and on March 12 a peace treaty was concluded. According to the results of the war: 26 thousand military personnel died on the Finnish side, 126 thousand on the Soviet side. The USSR received new territories and moved the border away from Leningrad. Finland subsequently sided with Germany. The USSR was expelled from the League of Nations.
Finns with a captured Soviet banner.
On the second day of the war with Finland, the USSR recognizes the government of the Finnish Democratic Republic, led by the Finnish communist Kuusinen. However, later, the USSR sat down at the negotiating table with the Finnish government and this project was curtailed.
Vyacheslav Molotov signs a treaty of mutual assistance and friendship with the Kuusinen government.
Standing behind him (from left to right): A.A. Zhdanov, K.E. Voroshilov, I.V. Stalin, O.V. Kuusinen (head of the puppet government of the Finnish Democratic Republic).
Hero of the Soviet Union Lieutenant M.I. Sipovich and captain Korovin at a captured Finnish bunker.
Soviet soldiers inspect the observation cap of a captured Finnish bunker.
A Soviet officer examines Finnish handcuffs found in Vyborg Castle.
Soviet soldiers are preparing a Maxim machine gun for anti-aircraft fire.
A house burning after a bombing in the Finnish city of Turku.
A Soviet sentry next to a Soviet quad anti-aircraft machine gun mount based on the Maxim machine gun.
Soviet soldiers dig up a Finnish border post near the Mainila border post.
Soviet military dog breeders of a separate communications battalion with communication dogs.
Soviet border guards inspect captured Finnish weapons.
A Finnish soldier next to a downed Soviet fighter I-15 bis.
Formation of soldiers and commanders of the 123rd Infantry Division on the march after the fighting on the Karelian Isthmus.
Finnish soldiers in the trenches near Suomussalmi during the Winter War.
Prisoners of the Red Army captured by the Finns in the winter of 1940.
Finnish soldiers in the forest try to disperse after noticing the approach of Soviet aircraft.
A frozen Red Army soldier of the 44th Infantry Division.
Red Army soldiers of the 44th Infantry Division frozen in a trench.
A Soviet wounded man lies on a plastering table made from improvised materials.
Finnish fire brigade during training in Helsinki.
Three Corners Park in Helsinki with open gaps dug to provide shelter for the population in the event of an air raid.
Blood transfusion before surgery in a Soviet military hospital.
Finnish women sew winter camouflage coats at a factory/
A Finnish soldier walks past a broken Soviet tank column/
A Finnish soldier fires from a Lahti-Saloranta M-26 light machine gun/
Residents of Leningrad welcome tankers of the 20th Tank Brigade on T-28 tanks returning from the Karelian Isthmus/
Finnish soldier with a Lahti-Saloranta M-26 machine gun/
Finnish soldiers with a Maxim M/32-33 machine gun in the forest.
Finnish crew of the Maxim anti-aircraft machine gun.
Finnish Vickers tanks knocked out near Pero station.
Finnish soldiers at the 152-mm Kane gun.
Finnish civilians who fled their homes during the Winter War.
A broken column of the Soviet 44th Division.
Soviet SB-2 bombers over Helsinki.
Three Finnish skiers on the march.
Two Soviet soldiers with a Maxim machine gun in the forest on the Mannerheim Line.
A burning house in the Finnish city of Vaasa after a Soviet air raid.
View of a Helsinki street after a Soviet air raid.
A house in the center of Helsinki, damaged after a Soviet air raid.
Finnish soldiers raise the frozen body of a Soviet officer.
A Finnish soldier looks at the captured Red Army soldiers changing clothes.
A Soviet prisoner captured by the Finns sits on a box.
Captured Red Army soldiers enter the house under the escort of Finnish soldiers.
Finnish soldiers carry a wounded comrade on a dog sled.
Finnish orderlies carry a stretcher with a wounded man near a field hospital tent.
Finnish doctors load a stretcher with a wounded person into an ambulance bus manufactured by AUTOKORI OY.
Finnish skiers with reindeer and drags at a rest during the retreat.
Finnish soldiers dismantle captured Soviet military equipment.
Sandbags cover the windows of a house on Sofiankatu Street in Helsinki.
T-28 tanks of the 20th heavy tank brigade before entering a combat operation.
Soviet T-28 tank, destroyed on the Karelian Isthmus near height 65.5.
Finnish tankman next to a captured Soviet T-28 tank.
Residents of Leningrad greet the tankers of the 20th heavy tank brigade.
Soviet officers against the backdrop of Vyborg Castle.
A Finnish air defense soldier looks at the sky through a rangefinder.
Finnish ski battalion with reindeer and drags.
A Swedish volunteer in position during the Soviet-Finnish War.
Crew of a Soviet 122 mm howitzer in position during the Winter War.
A messenger on a motorcycle conveys a message to the crew of a Soviet armored car BA-10.
Pilots Heroes of the Soviet Union - Ivan Pyatykhin, Alexander Letuchy and Alexander Kostylev.
The topic of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1939-1940 has now become a fairly popular topic of discussion in Russia. Many call it a disgrace to the Soviet army - in 105 days, from November 30, 1939 to March 13, 1940, the sides lost more than 150 thousand people in killed alone. The Russians won the war, and 430 thousand Finns were forced to leave their homes and return to their historical homeland.
In Soviet textbooks we were assured that the armed conflict was started by the “Finnish military.” On November 26, near the town of Mainila, there was an artillery attack on Soviet troops stationed near the Finnish border, as a result of which 4 soldiers were killed and 10 were wounded.
The Finns proposed creating a joint commission to investigate the incident, which the Soviet side refused and stated that it no longer considered itself bound by the Soviet-Finnish non-aggression pact. Was the shooting staged?
“I got acquainted with documents that had recently been classified,” says military historian Miroslav Morozov. — In the divisional combat log, the pages with entries about artillery shelling have a noticeably later origin.
There are no reports to the division headquarters, the names of the victims are not indicated, it is unknown to which hospital the wounded were sent... Apparently, at that time the Soviet leadership did not really care about the credibility of the reason for starting the war.”
Since Finland declared independence in December 1917, territorial claims have constantly arisen between it and the USSR. But they more often became the subject of negotiations. The situation changed at the end of the 30s, when it became clear that the Second World War would soon begin. The USSR demanded that Finland not participate in the war against the USSR and allow the construction of Soviet military bases on Finnish territory. Finland hesitated and played for time.
The situation worsened with the signing of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, according to which Finland belonged to the sphere of interests of the USSR. The Soviet Union began to insist on its terms, although it offered certain territorial concessions in Karelia. But the Finnish government rejected all proposals. Then, on November 30, 1939, the invasion of Soviet troops into Finnish territory began.
In January frosts hit -30 degrees. Soldiers surrounded by Finns were forbidden to leave heavy weapons and equipment to the enemy. However, seeing the inevitability of the death of the division, Vinogradov gave the order to leave the encirclement.
Of almost 7,500 people, 1,500 returned to their own. The division commander, regimental commissar and chief of staff were shot. And the 18th Rifle Division, which found itself in the same conditions, remained in place and was completely destroyed north of Lake Ladoga.
But the Soviet troops suffered the heaviest losses in battles on the main direction - the Karelian Isthmus. The 140-kilometer Mannerheim defensive line covering it on the main defensive line consisted of 210 long-term and 546 wood-earth firing points. It was possible to break through it and capture the city of Vyborg only during the third assault, which began on February 11, 1940.
The Finnish government, seeing that there was no hope left, entered into negotiations and on March 12 a peace treaty was concluded. The fighting is over. Having won a dubious victory over Finland, the Red Army began to prepare for war with a much larger predator - Nazi Germany. The story allowed 1 year, 3 months and 10 days to prepare.
According to the results of the war: 26 thousand military personnel died on the Finnish side, 126 thousand on the Soviet side. The USSR received new territories and moved the border away from Leningrad. Finland subsequently sided with Germany. And the USSR was excluded from the League of Nations.
A few facts from the history of the Soviet-Finnish war
1. The Soviet-Finnish war of 1939/1940 was not the first armed conflict between the two states. In 1918-1920, and then in 1921-1922, the so-called first and second Soviet-Finnish wars were fought, during which the Finnish authorities, dreaming of a “Great Finland,” tried to seize the territory of Eastern Karelia.
The wars themselves became a continuation of the bloody Civil War that raged in Finland in 1918-1919, which ended with the victory of the Finnish “whites” over the Finnish “reds”. As a result of the wars, the RSFSR retained control over Eastern Karelia, but transferred to Finland the polar Pechenga region, as well as the western part of the Rybachy Peninsula and most of the Sredny Peninsula.
2. At the end of the wars of the 1920s, relations between the USSR and Finland were not friendly, but did not reach the point of outright confrontation. In 1932, the Soviet Union and Finland entered into a non-aggression pact, which was later extended until 1945, but was unilaterally broken by the USSR in the fall of 1939.
3. In 1938-1939, the Soviet government conducted secret negotiations with the Finnish side on the exchange of territories. In the context of the impending world war, the Soviet Union intended to move the state border away from Leningrad, since it was only 18 kilometers from the city. In exchange, Finland was offered territories in Eastern Karelia, significantly larger in area. The negotiations, however, were unsuccessful.
4. The immediate cause of the war was the so-called “Maynila Incident”: on November 26, 1939, on a section of the border near the village of Maynila, a group of Soviet military personnel was fired upon by artillery. Seven gun shots were fired, as a result of which three privates and one junior commander were killed, seven privates and two command personnel were wounded.
Modern historians still debate whether the Maynila shelling was a provocation by the Soviet Union or not. One way or another, two days later the USSR denounced the non-aggression pact, and on November 30 began military operations against Finland.
5. On December 1, 1939, the Soviet Union announced the creation of an alternative “People's Government” of Finland in the village of Terijoki, led by communist Otto Kuusinen. The next day, the USSR concluded a Treaty of Mutual Assistance and Friendship with the Kuusinen government, which was recognized as the only legitimate government in Finland.
At the same time, the process of forming the Finnish People's Army from Finns and Karelians was underway. However, by the end of January 1940, the position of the USSR was revised - the Kuusinen government was no longer mentioned, and all negotiations were conducted with the official authorities in Helsinki.
6. The main obstacle to the offensive of the Soviet troops was the “Mannerheim Line” - named after the Finnish military leader and politician, the defense line between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga, consisting of multi-level concrete fortifications equipped with heavy weapons.
Initially, the Soviet troops, who did not have the means to destroy such a line of defense, suffered heavy losses during numerous frontal attacks on the fortifications.
7. Finland was simultaneously provided with military assistance by both Nazi Germany and its opponents - England and France. But while Germany was limited to unofficial military supplies, the Anglo-French forces were considering plans for military intervention against the Soviet Union. However, these plans were never implemented due to fears that the USSR in such a case might take part in the Second World War on the side of Nazi Germany.
8. By the beginning of March 1940, Soviet troops managed to break through the “Mannerheim Line,” which created the threat of the complete defeat of Finland. Under these conditions, without waiting for the Anglo-French intervention against the USSR, the Finnish government entered into peace negotiations with the Soviet Union. A peace treaty was concluded in Moscow on March 12, 1940, and the fighting ended on March 13 with the capture of Vyborg by the Red Army.
9. In accordance with the Moscow Treaty, the Soviet-Finnish border was moved away from Leningrad from 18 to 150 km. According to many historians, it was this fact that largely helped to avoid the capture of the city by the Nazis during the Great Patriotic War.
In total, the territorial acquisitions of the USSR following the results of the Soviet-Finnish war amounted to 40 thousand sq. km. Data on the human losses of the parties to the conflict to this day remain contradictory: the Red Army lost from 125 to 170 thousand people killed and missing, the Finnish army - from 26 to 95 thousand people.
10. The famous Soviet poet Alexander Tvardovsky wrote the poem “Two Lines” in 1943, which became perhaps the most vivid artistic reminder of the Soviet-Finnish war:
From a shabby notebook
Two lines about a boy fighter,
What happened in the forties
Killed on ice in Finland.
It lay somehow awkwardly
Childishly small body.
The frost pressed the overcoat to the ice,
The hat flew far away.
It seemed that the boy was not lying down,
And he was still running
Yes, he held the ice behind the floor...
Among the great cruel war,
I can’t imagine why,
I feel sorry for that distant fate
Like dead, alone,
It's like I'm lying there
Frozen, small, killed
In that unknown war,
Forgotten, small, lying.
Photos of the “unfamous” war
Hero of the Soviet Union Lieutenant M.I. Sipovich and captain Korovin at a captured Finnish bunker.
Soviet soldiers inspect the observation cap of a captured Finnish bunker.
Soviet soldiers are preparing a Maxim machine gun for anti-aircraft fire.
A house burning after a bombing in the Finnish city of Turku.
A Soviet sentry next to a Soviet quad anti-aircraft machine gun mount based on the Maxim machine gun.
Soviet soldiers dig up a Finnish border post near the Mainila border post.
Soviet military dog breeders of a separate communications battalion with communication dogs.
Soviet border guards inspect captured Finnish weapons.
A Finnish soldier next to a downed Soviet fighter I-15 bis.
Formation of soldiers and commanders of the 123rd Infantry Division on the march after the fighting on the Karelian Isthmus.
Finnish soldiers in the trenches near Suomussalmi during the Winter War.
Prisoners of the Red Army captured by the Finns in the winter of 1940.
Finnish soldiers in the forest try to disperse after noticing the approach of Soviet aircraft.
A frozen Red Army soldier of the 44th Infantry Division.
Red Army soldiers of the 44th Infantry Division frozen in a trench.
A Soviet wounded man lies on a plastering table made from improvised materials.
Three Corners Park in Helsinki with open gaps dug to provide shelter for the population in the event of an air raid.
Blood transfusion before surgery in a Soviet military hospital.
Finnish women sew winter camouflage coats at a factory/
A Finnish soldier walks past a broken Soviet tank column/
A Finnish soldier fires from a Lahti-Saloranta M-26 light machine gun/
Residents of Leningrad welcome tankers of the 20th Tank Brigade on T-28 tanks returning from the Karelian Isthmus/
Finnish soldier with a Lahti-Saloranta M-26 machine gun/
Finnish soldiers with a Maxim M/32-33 machine gun in the forest.
Finnish crew of the Maxim anti-aircraft machine gun.
Finnish Vickers tanks knocked out near Pero station.
Finnish soldiers at the 152-mm Kane gun.
Finnish civilians who fled their homes during the Winter War.
A broken column of the Soviet 44th Division.
Soviet SB-2 bombers over Helsinki.
Three Finnish skiers on the march.
Two Soviet soldiers with a Maxim machine gun in the forest on the Mannerheim Line.
A burning house in the Finnish city of Vaasa after a Soviet air raid.
View of a Helsinki street after a Soviet air raid.
A house in the center of Helsinki, damaged after a Soviet air raid.
Finnish soldiers raise the frozen body of a Soviet officer.
A Finnish soldier looks at the captured Red Army soldiers changing clothes.
A Soviet prisoner captured by the Finns sits on a box.
Captured Red Army soldiers enter the house under the escort of Finnish soldiers.
Finnish soldiers carry a wounded comrade on a dog sled.
Finnish orderlies carry a stretcher with a wounded man near a field hospital tent.
Finnish doctors load a stretcher with a wounded person into an ambulance bus manufactured by AUTOKORI OY.
Finnish skiers with reindeer and drags at a rest during the retreat.
Finnish soldiers dismantle captured Soviet military equipment.
Sandbags cover the windows of a house on Sofiankatu Street in Helsinki.
T-28 tanks of the 20th heavy tank brigade before entering a combat operation.
Soviet T-28 tank, destroyed on the Karelian Isthmus near height 65.5.
Finnish tankman next to a captured Soviet T-28 tank.
Residents of Leningrad greet the tankers of the 20th heavy tank brigade.
Soviet officers against the backdrop of Vyborg Castle.
A Finnish air defense soldier looks at the sky through a rangefinder.
Finnish ski battalion with reindeer and drags.
A Swedish volunteer in position during the Soviet-Finnish War.
Crew of a Soviet 122 mm howitzer in position during the Winter War.
A messenger on a motorcycle conveys a message to the crew of a Soviet armored car BA-10.
Pilots Heroes of the Soviet Union - Ivan Pyatykhin, Alexander Letuchy and Alexander Kostylev.
Finnish propaganda from the Soviet-Finnish War
Finnish propaganda promised a carefree life to the surrendered Red Army soldiers: bread and butter, cigars, vodka and dancing to the accordion. They paid generously for the weapons they brought with them, they made a reservation, they promised to pay: for a revolver - 100 rubles, for a machine gun - 1,500 rubles, and for a cannon - as much as 10,000 rubles.
Red Army units crossing the Finnish border near the village of Hautavaara. The village of Hautavaara was located in the Suoyarvi region and was occupied by units of the Red Army on the first day of the Soviet-Finnish war. Due to the proximity to the border, the Finns did not have time to evacuate all the village residents in advance (at the time of the arrival of the Soviet units, there were more than 220 residents in the village). In the background of the photograph is a column of light artillery tractors T-20 "Komsomolets"
Original caption of the photo: “First prisoner.” This Finnish soldier may not have been the very first, but he really was among the “firsts” - the photo dates from the very first day of hostilities of the Soviet-Finnish war.
Karelian Isthmus, 7th Army operating zone, specific area unknown. The former bandages on the necks of our soldiers are long hoods with laces from the winter camouflage suit set. The fighters took off their white calico robes (robes), but the hoods remained around their necks. Immediately behind the captured Finn is a Soviet officer - this is indicated by an officer's whistle in a case attached to the harness.
Original caption of the photo: “One of the killed White Finns in the Summa-joki region, December 1939.”
Most likely, the photo shows one of the soldiers who died during the Finnish counteroffensive on December 23, 1939. After the first unsuccessful attempts by units of the 7th Soviet Army to break through the Mannerheim Line, the Finnish command planned a counterattack with the aim of encircling units of the 50th Rifle Corps of the 7th th army.
The counteroffensive involved the main forces of the 1st and 4th Infantry Divisions of the 2nd Army Corps of the Finnish Army, as well as the 6th Infantry Division assigned to them from the reserve. The command of the Finnish units was carried out by Lieutenant General Harald Ekvist, commander of the 2nd Corps.
The Finnish counteroffensive began early in the morning of December 23 and ended in complete failure that same day. The main reason for the failure was the mistakes of the Finnish command when planning and conducting a counter-offensive, in terms of overestimating the capabilities of its own troops, a clear underestimation of the combat effectiveness and number of Soviet units, the introduction of units of the 2nd Corps into battle at different times and in small units (mainly with forces from a company to a battalion ), lack of artillery support (to “ensure surprise”), and air supremacy of Soviet aviation. Finnish units, brought into battle piecemeal, with only heavy machine guns as heavy weapons and support, encountered dense battle formations of units of the 50th Rifle Corps and suffered serious losses from Soviet artillery fire. Where the Finns managed to penetrate our defenses shallowly, they were counterattacked by tank crews of the 40th Tank Brigade and the tank battalion of the 90th Infantry Division.
This offensive was costly for parts of the 2nd Army Corps - on this day Finnish losses amounted to 1,328 soldiers and officers, of which 361 were killed, 777 wounded and 190 missing. In Finnish military history, this counter-offensive was called holmo tolvays, which can be translated as “mindlessly banging your head against the wall.”
Judging by the crater on the right side of the photo, the Finnish soldier was killed by a hand grenade or mortar explosion.
Finnish reconnaissance aircraft Fokker C.X shot down by Soviet fighters.
According to confirmed data, in December 1939 the Finns lost two Fokker C.X aircraft. The first was shot down on December 19 by pilots of the 2nd squadron of the 25th IAP, the second by pilots of the 1st squadron of the same fighter regiment on December 23. However, in the first case, a Finnish plane crashed 20 km south of Vyborg (i.e. on Finnish territory) and Soviet photographers simply could not photograph it in December 1939. But the second Fokker (tail number FK-96) from the 2nd flight of the 12th squadron (2/LLv12) of the 1st Finnish Air Force regiment fell into the forest in the Uusikirkko area (now Polyany) on Soviet territory. Therefore, it is most likely that this is the aircraft in this photograph. Both Finnish pilots (flight commander Lieutenant Salo and gunner-radio operator Sergeant Saloranta) were killed. The plane was shot down by a flight of I-16s (the leader was the commander of the 1st IAE 25th IAP, Captain Kostenko, the wingmen were the squadron military commissar, senior political instructor Zakharov, and the flag navigator, Lieutenant Avdievich).
Original caption of the photo: “Prisoned White Finn.” This is not the only photograph of this prisoner of war. There are two more photographs in which this Finn raises one hand, as if saying hello, and such photographs were often taken by photographers of the propaganda department of the LVO in the Gryazovets NKVD camp, where Finnish prisoners of war were kept. Based on this, we can assume that the photo was taken not in the front line, but in the Gryazovets prisoner of war camp.
An example of Soviet propaganda from the times of the SFV - propaganda letters from a group of Finnish prisoners of war. “Without fear you can surrender to units of the Red Army” is the inscription in the title of the letter, which was signed by 28 Finnish prisoners of war.
In the propaganda department of the headquarters of the LVO (Leningrad Military District), the letter was duplicated and dropped in the form of leaflets from Soviet aircraft over Finnish positions. True, in general, Soviet propaganda to disintegrate the enemy troops was not particularly successful, although there were cases of Finns voluntarily switching to the side of our troops (even to those Soviet units that were surrounded)
A Soviet political instructor talks with a group of captured Finnish soldiers. The picture shows a group of Finnish prisoners of war, filmed in the Gryazovets NKVD camp. Most likely the picture was taken in February-March 1940.
During the Winter War in
The Gryazovets camp held the vast majority of Finnish prisoners of war (according to various sources, from 883 to 1,100 people).
These two photographs are of the corpses of Finnish soldiers who died in the defense of the fortified area of Summa-Hotinen. The fighting in the Summa-Khotinen area was characterized by great ferocity and high losses on both sides. During the retreat, the Finns failed to evacuate from the battlefield the bodies of all their soldiers who died in the February battles. Returning here in 1941, the Finns searched and buried the remains of 204 Finnish soldiers and officers in a mass grave. Karelian Isthmus, zone of action of the 100th and 138th rifle divisions of the 7th Army of the Northwestern Front. In the foreground of the second photo is a steel helmet of the M16 type, made in Germany or Austria. These helmets were used in significant quantities by the Finns during the Winter War
Original photo caption: “Downed Finnish cuckoo sniper.” This means that the Finnish sniper was “knocked down” from the tree. Operational zone of the 7th Army of the Northwestern Front.
The theme of “Finnish cuckoos” is often found in the memoirs of Soviet participants in the Winter War, but modern Finnish and domestic historians do not confirm the use of shooting tactics from trees by Finnish snipers. Indeed, from this photo it is difficult to say that the Finn fell from the tree. The pillar behind it is most likely from a wire fence. And the corpse, judging by its numb legs, may have been moved. Although, there have been recorded cases of Finns shooting from trees. From the memoirs of V.A. Lisina, deputy political instructor of the 14th outpost of the 73rd PO - “...we crossed the border without firing shots and occupied the Finnish cordon. We were given the task of reconnaissance and sabotage work behind enemy lines. We were looking for uncovered “windows”; once we were fired upon; we lay down and hid. Suddenly there was a shot, and another, and another, and the Finn lost his nerve. We examined the pine tree with the shooter and planted the entire disk of “tar” in it. It was visible how branches and snow were flying, and something heavy fell off and hung before reaching the ground. “Hurry up, everyone!” Long red hair came up, an embroidered cap turned out to be a woman. Hanging on a thin silk cord, in the bag were rye biscuits and a flask of milk...”
It is undeniable that the Finns climbed trees - I have two photographs taken on the Karelian Isthmus, where a Finnish observer is sitting in a tree, but this is not a sniper. Most likely, the Finns could still use the method of conducting sniper fire from trees, but relatively rarely. Also, Soviet soldiers could mistake Finnish reconnaissance observers and artillery fire spotters for snipers, who quite often used trees to observe the terrain and adjust artillery fire on Soviet troops.
A Finnish 37-mm Bofors anti-tank gun destroyed by a direct hit on the Mannerheim Line. This 37-mm anti-tank gun was developed by the Swedish company Bofors in 1932. It was actively exported before the start of World War II. In the Finnish army it received the designation 37 PstK/36 and after purchasing a license, it was produced in Finland.
Judging by the photo, the Finnish crew received a direct hit from a 45-mm Soviet tank or anti-tank gun.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Vyborg became part of the USSR in 1940 as a result of the Soviet-Finnish war. According to the terms of the Moscow Peace Treaty, most of the Vyborg province of Finland, including Vyborg and the entire Karelian Isthmus, as well as a number of other territories, ceded to the USSR. Finnish units left the city on March 14, 1940. The Finnish population of the city was evacuated to Finland. On March 31, 1940, the USSR Law was adopted on the transfer of most of the territories received from Finland to the Karelo-Finnish SSR. As part of this republic, on July 9, 1940, Vyborg was designated the center of the Vyborg (Viipur) region.
On August 29, 1941, under the pressure of the advancing 4th Army Corps of Finland, units of the Red Army left the city of Vyborg, retreating to Leningrad, having mined a large number of buildings with BEMI radio land mines. Fortunately for the city's architecture, only a few of them managed to explode, while most were cleared of mines.
Three years later, the Finnish army retreated from the Karelian Isthmus, Finnish citizens were again evacuated to the interior of Finland, and on June 20, 1944, units of the Soviet 21st Army of the Leningrad Front entered Vyborg.
3.
Parade in Vyborg in front of the monument to Thorgils Knutsson, he is considered the founder of the city. In the middle is Lieutenant General Lennart Karl Esch. In the helmet on the left is Colonel Aladar Paasonen.
At the end of August 1941, the IV Corps of the Finnish Defense Forces, under the command of Lieutenant General Lennart Esch, surrounded parts of three Soviet rifle divisions (43rd, 115th and 123rd) south of Vyborg. Some of the troops managed to get out of the ring, abandoning heavy equipment, and the rest began to surrender on September 1, 1941. The Finns took 9,325 prisoners. About 7,500 Soviet soldiers died on the battlefields then; the Finns lost about 3,000 people during this operation.
In 1927, construction began on the first hydroelectric power station of the Svir cascade - Nizhnesvirskaya. In 1936, the Nizhnesvirskaya HPP was put into commercial operation with a capacity of 96 MW. During the Great Patriotic War, the dam of the Nizhnesvir hydroelectric station was blown up by retreating Soviet troops. On September 13, 1941, Finnish troops reached the hydroelectric station. There was no time to evacuate the hydroelectric power station equipment, but it was later restored. For more than 2 years, the Nizhnesvirskaya hydroelectric power station was on the front line between Soviet and Finnish troops and was severely destroyed. In 1944, restoration of the station began, ending in 1948.
After the completion of the construction of the Nizhnesvirskaya hydroelectric power station, in 1938, the construction of the Verkhnesvirskaya hydroelectric power station began - the last hydroelectric power station provided for by the GOELRO plan. Construction was carried out by prisoners under the control of the NKVD. By 1941, a foundation pit for the hydroelectric power station building had been dug, and concrete work began. During the war, the territory of the hydroelectric power station was occupied and the pit was flooded. In 1948, construction of the Verkhnesvirskaya hydroelectric station resumed. In 1952 the station was put into commercial operation.
