The Jewish Community in Finland

Out of the Foxholes Questions
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Hi Indy and Team, I hope you are doing well!

I had a question regarding the Jewish community in Finland, specifically during the Continuation War (but also the Winter and Lapland conflicts to a lesser extent), namely if they were aware of the Holocaust and to what extent? If that is too specific, I would ask more broadly what was going on with Finnish Jews in general. I know that Finland was fairly tolerant to its Jewish population, even hosting Field Synagogues throughout the war for their Jewish soldiers along with a stern policy of not deporting their Jews to the Axis, but I was curious as to how much the Finnish Jews or Finns in general were aware of what was happening to their counterparts south of the Baltic or how they were treated at home.

I imagine at least a little was known given that of the three Finnish Jews (A soldier, a doctor, and a Lotta) awarded the Iron Cross by the Nazis, all refused because of their own anti-Nazi sentiments, but with Finnish soldiers serving in an SS division, how much concrete info came back home?

Thanks.

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Welcome to the community

Here is an article that explains Finlands complex relationship with the Germans and how the Fins viewed the Jews in Finland

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Thanks! The article was certainly worth the read and explained a good deal.

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