The history of the Jews in Finland goes back to the 1700s.
The country is home to some 1,800 Jews, of which 1,400 live in the Greater Helsinki area and 200 in Turku. Most Jews in Finland have Finnish or Swedish as their mother tongue, and many speak Yiddish, German, Russian and Hebrew. There are Jewish congregations in Helsinki and Turku with their own synagogues built in 1906 and 1912. The Wiborg Synagogue built 1910–1911 was destroyed in air bombings during the first day of the Winter War in 30 November 1939. There has been relatively little antisemitism in Finland.
The first Jew said to have settled on Finnish soil was Jacob Weikam, later Veikkanen, in 1782, in the town of Hamina, which was at that point under Russian rule. During that time, most of Finland was included in the Kingdom of Sweden. In Sweden, Jews were allowed to reside in a 3 towns – all of them outside the territory that is now modern-day Finland. In 1809 Finland became part of the Russian Empire, as an autonomous Grand Duchy, but Swedish laws remained in force, meaning Jews were still unable to settle in Finnish territory according to the Judereglementet.
Despite the legal difficulties, during the period of Finnish autonomy (1809–1917) Russian Jews established themselves in Finland as tradesmen and craftsmen. As Jews were in principle prohibited from dwelling in Finland, almost all these Jews were retired soldiers from the Imperial Russian army. Being cantonists, forced into the Russian army in childhood, they were required to serve at least 25 years. After their term expired, they had, however, the right to remain in Finland regardless of the Finnish ban on Jewish settlement, a right forcefully defended by the Russian military authorities. It was only after Finland declared independence in 1917 that Jews were granted full rights as Finnish citizens.
Finland’s involvement in World War II began during the Winter War (30 November 1939 – 13 March 1940), the Soviet Union’s invasion of Finland prior to Operation Barbarossa (launched in June 1941). Finnish Jews were among those made refugees from the ceded territories.
As Finland’s forces had substantial numbers of German forces supporting their operations, the Finnish front had a field synagogue operating in the presence of Nazi troops. Jewish soldiers were granted leave on Saturdays and Jewish holidays. Finnish Jewish soldiers later participated in the Lapland War against Germany.
In November 1942, eight Jewish Austrian refugees (along with 19 other deportees) were deported to Nazi Germany after the head of the Finnish police agreed to turn them over. Seven of the Jews were murdered immediately. When Finnish media reported the news, it caused a national scandal, and ministers resigned in protest. After protests, no more foreign Jewish refugees were deported from Finland.
Approximately 500 Jewish refugees arrived in Finland during World War II, although about 350 moved on to other countries, including about 160 who were transferred to neutral Sweden to save their lives on the direct orders of the commander of the Finnish Army. About 40 of the remaining Jewish refugees were sent to do compulsory labor service in Salla in Lapland in March 1942. The refugees were moved to Kemijärvi in June and eventually to Suursaari Island in the Gulf of Finland. Although Heinrich Himmler twice visited Finland to try to persuade the authorities to hand over the Jewish population, he was unsuccessful.
Jews with Finnish citizenship were protected during the whole period. Late in the war, Germany’s ambassador to Helsinki concluded in a report to Hitler that Finns would not endanger their citizens of Jewish origin in any situation. According to historian Henrik Meinander, this was realistically accepted by Hitler. Three Finnish Jews were offered the Iron Cross for their wartime service.
During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, about 28 Finnish Jews, mostly Finnish Army veterans, fought for the State of Israel. After Israel’s establishment, Finland had a high rate of immigration to Israel, which depleted Finland’s Jewish community. The community was somewhat revitalized when some Soviet Jews immigrated to Finland following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Historically, antisemitic hate crimes have been rare, and the Jewish community is relatively safe. However, there have been some antisemitic crimes reported in the last decade; the most common types include defamation, verbal threats, and damage to property.
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