{"id":934,"date":"2020-08-20T22:10:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-20T20:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.janfurstenborg.fi\/?p=934"},"modified":"2020-09-18T22:26:30","modified_gmt":"2020-09-18T20:26:30","slug":"front-museum-brings-back-the-1940s-and-the-soviet-naval-base-in-hanko-hango-just-100-kms-from-helsinki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.janfurstenborg.fi\/?p=934","title":{"rendered":"SMALL MUSEUM TELLS THE STORY OF LESS KNOWN FRONT JUST 100 KMS FROM HELSINKI, WHEN THE SOVIET UNION ATTACKED FINLAND IN THE 1940’s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
A super interesting day arriving at the old frontier between Finland and the USSR. And close it was, only an hour and a half drive west from Helsinki, the country\u2019s capital. We were met at the border by a high ranking Finnish officer – Captain Marine \u2013 or Colonel \u2013 Eva\u2019s cousin J\u00f6rgen Engroos. With us was also another cousin, Marina, and her husband G\u00fcnter.<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Of course this border emerged – and was forced to go away – already in the early 1940s. It came when the Soviets demanded to \u2018rent\u2019 the coastal town and area of Hanko (Hang\u00f6) as a naval base. It disappeared when the occupation forces were pushed out less than a half year later.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Border
<\/em><\/a> Border posts at the Hanko-Hang\u00f6 peninsula from the early 1940’s when the Soviet Union had a ’forced’ naval base in this southernmost part of Finland.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
The border warning poster on the Finnish side. It was definitely not good for your health to cross this line…<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
The hill of death. Just next to the border with the Soviet naval base, this was a hill where many Finnish soldiers and Swedish volunteers lost their lives to enemy fire.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
Now there is a great frontline museum and J\u00f6rgen Engroos who retired from active service early this year is its head. Here one can understand why the people of Finland are hugely supportive of having a strong popular defense force based on and defending our democratic values.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
The background to the whole story is well described on the Finnish Government web pages:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
”The war began when the Soviet Union invaded Finland without declaring war on 30 November 1939. The war ended on 13 March 1940, after 105 days of hostilities.”<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Finland paid a high price for defending its independence. More than 25,000 Finns died in the war effort and about 44,000 were wounded. Civilian casualties numbered over 1,000. Soviet losses in the war were many times higher. Finland preserved its independence, but had to cede 11% of its territory to the Soviet Union. As a result, some 430,000 Finns, or 12% of the population, lost their homes and had to be resettled elsewhere in Finland.”<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Today, there is a small but expanding private locally created museum, exactly where the border between Finland and the Soviets was drawn. It came about through a lot of volunteer work, supported by companies and foundations, most representing our Swedish-speaking minority.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/a>
A ’korsu’ was dug down in the ground as a ’home’ and shelter for the soldiers defending the Hanko peninsula. The roof was fortified with thick wooden poles, often in many layers, and ground. This is modeled after an original one that was situated where the frontline museum now is.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Inside<\/a>
Inside the frontline museum its director J\u00f6rgen gave us the story about the Hanko front, and much more. The Finnish defense effort went also far out into the surrounding archipelago of small islands, and some of the most vicious battles were fought there, even man against man. The Finnish soldiers were often Swedisk-speaking boys from fisherman cottages or smallholder farms from the region itself and knew the waters very well.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"The
<\/em><\/a> The frontline museum is well set up and one can see the effort that has gone into it. Absolutely worth a visit if you are in Finland.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"It<\/a>
It is healthy for us Finns to remember the days when children from this war torn country had to be sent to safe conditions in Sweden and Denmark. With all problems it caused, a lot of children’s lives were saved. Today, the genuine refugees are in the same need of shelter, a thing that we should not forget.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
And yes, the place in its forest settings is highly interesting for us Finns. It is also an important place for our neighbours in Sweden as many Swedish volunteers came to help defend our country against the offensive dreams of Stalin and his Red Army. Visiting the place one can concretely sense how devastating war can be both in general and especially for individuals. This is and should be its main message.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
The museum \u2013 and the old border \u2013 is just outside the still important port and town of Hanko (Hang\u00f6).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"There<\/a>
There is a large collection of weaponry as well, part of which was old already during the war effort in the 40’s. Still, Finland survived as an independent country and was never occupied by anyone.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Sea<\/a>
Sea mines were an important part of the warfare in those days, and still are. The Gulf of Finland was full of them and it took years and years to clean it up. There were Soviet mines, German mines and Finnish mines at least, and still one or two can reappear. They have rusted and filled by water so there is no risk for explosions we were told, but explosives can still lie there in the depths. One of those diving and disarming them was J\u00f6rgen Engroos.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
When peace came after the Winter War in March – or rather truce it turned out – people were forced to leave their homes within ten days, at the demand of the Soviet Union who ’rented’ the area for a naval base. Strategically located, Hanko could close off the Gulf of Finland and thus hinder the entry to the large city and area of Leningrad (St Petersburg). So the Soviet war machine wanted it.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Healthy suspicion about Soviet intentions which proved to be well founded made Finland build a strong defense fortification across this Hanko peninsula a bit back from the new border. Skills and determination combined and it was there in a matters of months. Maps and other unearthed documents show that Stalin\u2019s intention was to attack Helsinki from the \u2018back\u2019, using the huge Hanko naval base. The main front was of course in the east where there still is a 1300 kilometre long border with Russia.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
It is obvious that the fortifications that now can be seen as part of the museum discouraged them from this. If the Soviet troops would eventually have succeeded to break through – which is questionable – the price would have been all too high.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
The defense line across the Hanko-Hang\u00f6 peninsula contained a number of bunkers very carefully placed so they were able to hinder Soviet troops to move against Helsinki, the country’s capital. This bunker has been returned to its original condition by J\u00f6rgen Engroos and local volunteers. Incredibly strong, it could resist any attack known at that time and supported by other similar posts it could also cut the way of any attackers.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"This<\/a>
This is the Finnish coat of arms together with the year that the bunker was built, above its entrance door.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
In these pictures you can see some of the landscape as well as a part of the history from the 1940\u2019s at this Hanko peninsula. In June 1940 the hostilities started again and the Hanko peninsula and the surrounding archipelago became a war zone. Finnish troops together with volunteers from Sweden had dug themselves down where the museum now is. During five months until the Soviets were forced to retreat there were also major losses.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Many died in this landscape. Altogether some 300 Finnish soldiers lost their lives, the Red Army losses we don\u2019t know but probably up to 6,000, some 20 times as many. Together with the mainly Swedish-speaking youth from local fishermen, farmer and worker families almost 1,000 volunteers from Sweden defended Finland on the Hanko front. Of these Swedish volunteers, 26 died and just under 100 were wounded.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
At the end, Finland survived and today the country still has one of the strongest armies in Europe. Conscription based, it is highly supported by the Finns.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
And, good to remember, the defense forces on the Hanko peninsula helped make sure that Helsinki was one of the very few European war capitals during WWII that was never occupied \u2013 the others being London and Moscow.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
So what a day it was as you can see from the pictures as well.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Big thanks to Eva’s cousin J\u00f6rgen Engroos who was a commanding officer at the Finnish defense forces, including this region, until his retirement in January. Could not have a more qualified and engaged guide. And what stories he told us, also from his incredible career as an operative soldier and officer \u2013 on the ground, at sea and under water.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"The<\/a>
The bunkers of this kind were built to house 20 soldiers, This is their residence quarters, restored to what the room looked like 80 years ago. There was even an original record player with music true to the era. A sound play with smoke and light effects helped us understand how it could have been there during these hard years. Months after months made soliers bored so it did happen that they ventured out to the Soviet side with unauthorized patrols.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"There<\/a>
There was one small cannon and a maxim machine gun in this bunker. The machine gun that J\u00f6rgen Engroos showed us was in fact captured from the Soviets after a major successful operation on the eastern front.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n
A super interesting day arriving at the old frontier between Finland and the USSR. And close it was, only an hour and a half drive west from Helsinki, the country\u2019s capital. We were met at the border by a high ranking Finnish officer – Captain Marine \u2013 or Colonel \u2013 Eva\u2019s cousin J\u00f6rgen Engroos. With us was also another cousin, Marina, and her husband G\u00fcnter.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Now there is a great frontline museum and J\u00f6rgen Engroos who retired from active service early this year is its head. Here one can understand why the people of Finland are hugely supportive of having a strong popular defense force based on and defending our democratic values.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
The background to the whole story is well described on the Finnish Government web pages:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
”The war began when the Soviet Union invaded Finland without declaring war on 30 November 1939. The war ended on 13 March 1940, after 105 days of hostilities.”<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Finland paid a high price for defending its independence. More than 25,000 Finns died in the war effort and about 44,000 were wounded. Civilian casualties numbered over 1,000. Soviet losses in the war were many times higher. Finland preserved its independence, but had to cede 11% of its territory to the Soviet Union. As a result, some 430,000 Finns, or 12% of the population, lost their homes and had to be resettled elsewhere in Finland.”<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Today, there is a small but expanding private locally created museum, exactly where the border between Finland and the Soviets was drawn. It came about through a lot of volunteer work, supported by companies and foundations, most representing our Swedish-speaking minority.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
And yes, the place in its forest settings is highly interesting for us Finns. It is also an important place for our neighbours in Sweden as many Swedish volunteers came to help defend our country against the offensive dreams of Stalin and his Red Army. Visiting the place one can concretely sense how devastating war can be both in general and especially for individuals. This is and should be its main message.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
The museum \u2013 and the old border \u2013 is just outside the still important port and town of Hanko (Hang\u00f6).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
When peace came after the Winter War in March – or rather truce it turned out – people were forced to leave their homes within ten days, at the demand of the Soviet Union who ’rented’ the area for a naval base. Strategically located, Hanko could close off the Gulf of Finland and thus hinder the entry to the large city and area of Leningrad (St Petersburg). So the Soviet war machine wanted it.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Healthy suspicion about Soviet intentions which proved to be well founded made Finland build a strong defense fortification across this Hanko peninsula a bit back from the new border. Skills and determination combined and it was there in a matters of months. Maps and other unearthed documents show that Stalin\u2019s intention was to attack Helsinki from the \u2018back\u2019, using the huge Hanko naval base. The main front was of course in the east where there still is a 1300 kilometre long border with Russia.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
It is obvious that the fortifications that now can be seen as part of the museum discouraged them from this. If the Soviet troops would eventually have succeeded to break through – which is questionable – the price would have been all too high.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
In these pictures you can see some of the landscape as well as a part of the history from the 1940\u2019s at this Hanko peninsula. In June 1940 the hostilities started again and the Hanko peninsula and the surrounding archipelago became a war zone. Finnish troops together with volunteers from Sweden had dug themselves down where the museum now is. During five months until the Soviets were forced to retreat there were also major losses.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Many died in this landscape. Altogether some 300 Finnish soldiers lost their lives, the Red Army losses we don\u2019t know but probably up to 6,000, some 20 times as many. Together with the mainly Swedish-speaking youth from local fishermen, farmer and worker families almost 1,000 volunteers from Sweden defended Finland on the Hanko front. Of these Swedish volunteers, 26 died and just under 100 were wounded.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
At the end, Finland survived and today the country still has one of the strongest armies in Europe. Conscription based, it is highly supported by the Finns.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
And, good to remember, the defense forces on the Hanko peninsula helped make sure that Helsinki was one of the very few European war capitals during WWII that was never occupied \u2013 the others being London and Moscow.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
So what a day it was as you can see from the pictures as well.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
Big thanks to Eva’s cousin J\u00f6rgen Engroos who was a commanding officer at the Finnish defense forces, including this region, until his retirement in January. Could not have a more qualified and engaged guide. And what stories he told us, also from his incredible career as an operative soldier and officer \u2013 on the ground, at sea and under water.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A super interesting day arriving at the old frontier between Finland and the USSR. And close it was, only an hour and a half drive west from Helsinki, the country\u2019s capital. We were met at the border by a high ranking Finnish officer – Captain Marine \u2013 or Colonel \u2013 Eva\u2019s cousin J\u00f6rgen Engroos. With … <\/p>\n

Jatka lukemista ”SMALL MUSEUM TELLS THE STORY OF LESS KNOWN FRONT JUST 100 KMS FROM HELSINKI, WHEN THE SOVIET UNION ATTACKED FINLAND IN THE 1940’s”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":949,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,4,47],"tags":[190,193,14,184,64,183,16,195,196,192,191,189,186,187,185,188],"class_list":["post-934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-english","category-pictures-kuvat-bilder","tag-bunker","tag-cannon","tag-finland","tag-frontline","tag-hango","tag-hanko","tag-helsinki","tag-jorgen-engroos","tag-korsu","tag-naval-mine","tag-sea-mine","tag-second-world-war","tag-soviet","tag-union","tag-ussr","tag-ww2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.janfurstenborg.fi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.janfurstenborg.fi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.janfurstenborg.fi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.janfurstenborg.fi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.janfurstenborg.fi\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=934"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.janfurstenborg.fi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":967,"href":"https:\/\/www.janfurstenborg.fi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934\/revisions\/967"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.janfurstenborg.fi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.janfurstenborg.fi\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.janfurstenborg.fi\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.janfurstenborg.fi\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}