The Ripper
11-26-2010, 10:18 AM
Continuation War officer’s diary reveals dark secrets of life at the front
http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135261816218.jpeg
Taavetti Heikkinen is the second from the left in this picture from Osarajärvi in Hyrsylä in August 1941.
By Veli-Pekka Leppänen
The testimonial power of the best diaries lies in immediate and regular entries, which give the reader a feel of authenticity of the situations and experiences. The diary of Taavetti Heikkinen, who served as a supervision officer at the Syväri front in the Continuation War belongs to this small elite. The diary has now been published as a book under the title Rintaman poliisi. Valvontaupseerin päiväkirjat 1941-1944 (“Policeman on the Front. The Diaries of a Supervision Officer, 1941-1944").
The book is stunning as an undoctored piece of evidence that was completely unfiltered by any wartime censors.
Heikkinen wrote about events soon after they happened - events that later were transformed into taboos that were whispered about at most.
These included summary executions of prisoners of war, mass refusals to obey orders, conflicts between active and reserve officers and between officers and enlisted men, bloodcurdling punishments, and concentration camp conditions for Russian civilians in detention.
The most depressing account was that of a senile old Karelian man who was convicted of espionage and executed on Christmas morning in 1941. “There would not be anyone so callous that he would not remember it on every Christmas from now on”, Heikkinen writes after the execution, “although all kinds of things have been seen here already.”
South Savo native Taavetti Heikkinen (1906-1969) was a police officer in his civilian life.
He served as an officer of the supervisory division of Finnish military headquarters, and was responsible for counter-espionage and internal security in the 11th division headed by Colonel Kaarlo A. Heiskanen.
Heiskanen, a recipient of the Mannerheim Cross, who was promoted to the rank of general, was later named Chief of Defence in the 1950s.
Heikkinen’s sensitive and disagreeable tasks included monitoring and reporting on morale, as well as investigating, trying, and sentencing those suspected of counter-propaganda and espionage.
Thanks to his position, he had access to an unusual amount of information and material.
Heikkinen was a supporting member of the right-leaning Academic Karelia Society (AKS), and at the beginning of the war he still harboured dreams of a new border for a "Greater Finland", reaching far to the east of the previous frontier line
Consequently, he cannot be seen as someone who would have wished to colour the events of the war in deliberately negative tones.
Time is what eventually changed his perspective.
He was quite enthusiastic at the beginning.
“The people of Finland do not yet understand what a great celebration is beginning”, he wrote in an entry on June 22nd, 1941, as Finnish troops advanced eastwards in apparently unstoppable fashion..
On August 15th he continued: “We had a deep discussion on the borders of the ‘New Europe’, the leading state, and of Finland’s position in it”.
Four days later he wrote: “Greater Finland demands much of us again.”
However, just three months later, he already had to report on the imposition of numerous sentences for desertion:
“A total of about 200 years of hard labour were handed out to 65 men. This war turned out to be quite miserable.”
Heikkinen says that the men had definitely not been influenced by communist agitators, although two men were sentenced elsewhere for incitement.
When the advance of the front ground to a halt, it fed a sense of disgust, anger, and war-weariness.
In the winter of 1942, Heikkinen complained how difficult it was for him, a morale policeman, to keep himself in positive spirits.
In the spring of 1944 things looked extremely bleak.
“Here I’m supposed to be the guardian of morale for the whole division, even though I can hardly make it from one day through to the next.”
On May 1st, 1944 Heikkinen got a transfer to Mikkeli, near his family and his home.
“I get to leave this mire and these bleak views that make me sorrowful and morose. I will not miss Aunus”, he writes.
He turned down the position of chief of Mannerheim’s bodyguard unit: “I cannot bow down, and I don’t master the ‘left-handed’ language that they cultivate there.”
Heikkinen’s book stands out as a quite exceptional wartime document.
The book reveals much about some very dark events, as well as the overall feeling in the wilderness of Syväri.
Heikkinen wrote entries every day, so that reflection had not diluted the observations that were written down.
The book’s editor, war historian Jarmo Nieminen, has inserted information about the situation at the front, and supplied precise footnotes and biographical details, adding considerable depth to the events portrayed in the diary entries.
Taavetti Heikkinen: Rintaman poliisi. Valvontaupseerin päiväkirjat 1941-1944 (“Policeman on the Front. The Diaries of a Supervision Officer, 1941-1944"), Edited by Jarmo Nieminen. Ajatus, 364 pages, EUR 30,00 (in Finnish)
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 22.11.2010
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Continuation+War+officer%E2%80%99s+diary+reveals+d ark+secrets+of+life+at+the+front/1135261836923
Which "dark" secrets does the book reveal? Does HS and V-P Leppänen think that these incidents and events he portrays as "dark secrets" come as a revelation to anyone acquainted with Finnish war time history? Does he really think that the book tells us something we did not already know? And why is this article in English, about a book that is only in Finnish and most likely will remain that way?
Why is V-P Leppänen and HS trying to portray Finnish war time history as something loaded with "dark secrets" and "unresolved issues" [which are re-revealed and re-resolved several times a year]? Why are these events portrayed as taboos when nothing else has been so talked about during the past few years on the topic of Finnish history?
Are they upset that Finns still, to this day, see their role in the wars a completely just one, one to be proud of rather than ashamed of? :rolleyes:
http://www.hs.fi/kuvat/iso_webkuva/1135261816218.jpeg
Taavetti Heikkinen is the second from the left in this picture from Osarajärvi in Hyrsylä in August 1941.
By Veli-Pekka Leppänen
The testimonial power of the best diaries lies in immediate and regular entries, which give the reader a feel of authenticity of the situations and experiences. The diary of Taavetti Heikkinen, who served as a supervision officer at the Syväri front in the Continuation War belongs to this small elite. The diary has now been published as a book under the title Rintaman poliisi. Valvontaupseerin päiväkirjat 1941-1944 (“Policeman on the Front. The Diaries of a Supervision Officer, 1941-1944").
The book is stunning as an undoctored piece of evidence that was completely unfiltered by any wartime censors.
Heikkinen wrote about events soon after they happened - events that later were transformed into taboos that were whispered about at most.
These included summary executions of prisoners of war, mass refusals to obey orders, conflicts between active and reserve officers and between officers and enlisted men, bloodcurdling punishments, and concentration camp conditions for Russian civilians in detention.
The most depressing account was that of a senile old Karelian man who was convicted of espionage and executed on Christmas morning in 1941. “There would not be anyone so callous that he would not remember it on every Christmas from now on”, Heikkinen writes after the execution, “although all kinds of things have been seen here already.”
South Savo native Taavetti Heikkinen (1906-1969) was a police officer in his civilian life.
He served as an officer of the supervisory division of Finnish military headquarters, and was responsible for counter-espionage and internal security in the 11th division headed by Colonel Kaarlo A. Heiskanen.
Heiskanen, a recipient of the Mannerheim Cross, who was promoted to the rank of general, was later named Chief of Defence in the 1950s.
Heikkinen’s sensitive and disagreeable tasks included monitoring and reporting on morale, as well as investigating, trying, and sentencing those suspected of counter-propaganda and espionage.
Thanks to his position, he had access to an unusual amount of information and material.
Heikkinen was a supporting member of the right-leaning Academic Karelia Society (AKS), and at the beginning of the war he still harboured dreams of a new border for a "Greater Finland", reaching far to the east of the previous frontier line
Consequently, he cannot be seen as someone who would have wished to colour the events of the war in deliberately negative tones.
Time is what eventually changed his perspective.
He was quite enthusiastic at the beginning.
“The people of Finland do not yet understand what a great celebration is beginning”, he wrote in an entry on June 22nd, 1941, as Finnish troops advanced eastwards in apparently unstoppable fashion..
On August 15th he continued: “We had a deep discussion on the borders of the ‘New Europe’, the leading state, and of Finland’s position in it”.
Four days later he wrote: “Greater Finland demands much of us again.”
However, just three months later, he already had to report on the imposition of numerous sentences for desertion:
“A total of about 200 years of hard labour were handed out to 65 men. This war turned out to be quite miserable.”
Heikkinen says that the men had definitely not been influenced by communist agitators, although two men were sentenced elsewhere for incitement.
When the advance of the front ground to a halt, it fed a sense of disgust, anger, and war-weariness.
In the winter of 1942, Heikkinen complained how difficult it was for him, a morale policeman, to keep himself in positive spirits.
In the spring of 1944 things looked extremely bleak.
“Here I’m supposed to be the guardian of morale for the whole division, even though I can hardly make it from one day through to the next.”
On May 1st, 1944 Heikkinen got a transfer to Mikkeli, near his family and his home.
“I get to leave this mire and these bleak views that make me sorrowful and morose. I will not miss Aunus”, he writes.
He turned down the position of chief of Mannerheim’s bodyguard unit: “I cannot bow down, and I don’t master the ‘left-handed’ language that they cultivate there.”
Heikkinen’s book stands out as a quite exceptional wartime document.
The book reveals much about some very dark events, as well as the overall feeling in the wilderness of Syväri.
Heikkinen wrote entries every day, so that reflection had not diluted the observations that were written down.
The book’s editor, war historian Jarmo Nieminen, has inserted information about the situation at the front, and supplied precise footnotes and biographical details, adding considerable depth to the events portrayed in the diary entries.
Taavetti Heikkinen: Rintaman poliisi. Valvontaupseerin päiväkirjat 1941-1944 (“Policeman on the Front. The Diaries of a Supervision Officer, 1941-1944"), Edited by Jarmo Nieminen. Ajatus, 364 pages, EUR 30,00 (in Finnish)
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 22.11.2010
http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Continuation+War+officer%E2%80%99s+diary+reveals+d ark+secrets+of+life+at+the+front/1135261836923
Which "dark" secrets does the book reveal? Does HS and V-P Leppänen think that these incidents and events he portrays as "dark secrets" come as a revelation to anyone acquainted with Finnish war time history? Does he really think that the book tells us something we did not already know? And why is this article in English, about a book that is only in Finnish and most likely will remain that way?
Why is V-P Leppänen and HS trying to portray Finnish war time history as something loaded with "dark secrets" and "unresolved issues" [which are re-revealed and re-resolved several times a year]? Why are these events portrayed as taboos when nothing else has been so talked about during the past few years on the topic of Finnish history?
Are they upset that Finns still, to this day, see their role in the wars a completely just one, one to be proud of rather than ashamed of? :rolleyes: