Still Under Examination in Yad Vashem Studies, Volume 37:2

Still Under Examination – Coming to Terms with Finland’s Alliance with Nazi Germany

Though Finland fought on the side of the Axis in 1941–1944, Fins have so far enjoyed an unblemished reputation regarding Nazi war crimes and the Holocaust. A recurrent theme in the Finnish public discourse is that Finland fought her own war and had nothing to do with Nazi atrocities. The current article analyzes the background for the formation of such perceptions, closely tied to the postwar position of Finland as a neighbor sharing a border with the then Soviet Union. It also presents an initial analysis of results obtained by recent scholarship and the challenge these pose to the traditional views of historians.