Saw this plaque outside our hotel in Helsinki today. Never thought about Finland & the Holocaust before. Feel free to add more to the thread. I found this article. Non-Finnish speakers (like me) will need to translate it. Puutavarakauppias Elias Kopelowsky haki Suomesta turvaa mutta joutui Auschwitziin – kuolemaan karkotettu juutalaispakolainen sai muistokiven hotelli Tornin eteen Edit. He was actually from Latvia and sought refuge in Finland.
Thanks, Owen, for unearthing this interesting historical item which demonstrates the extent of Hitler's racial policy laid down as early as 1935. Finland had an alliance with Germany during this time. They anticipated that from this policy they would be able to regain the territories taken by the Soviets during the winter war of 1939-1940.In doing so they were at the beg and call of the Hitler regime. Another dimension how Vichy France collaborated with the German occupying power to first deport large numbers of Jewish refugees in France to Auschwitz. Vichy's motivation was somewhat different, being a policy of collaboration to achieve equal partnership with Hitler's New Order.
I had no idea that Finland deported anyone to the concentration camps. How terribly sad (as is the murder of every victim of all the holocausts perpetrated by the Nazis.) I wonder if the Finnish government were pressured (akin to the Hungarians, although the ‘pressure’ there was rather more like an occupation), or voluntarily gave them up?
Further to my last, I found this, with some background on Finland’s treatment of refugee Jews and how the eight came to be handed over to the Gestapo (in Tallinn). https://www.lubavitch.fi/templates/articlecco_cdo/aid/392616/jewish/Jewish-Refugees.htm
Behind the link there is an article in Finnish but probably by using a translator one gets an idea on what happened and some background info Suomen juutalaisluovutukset – Wikipedia
