Partisan war in Finland ( brutal photos )

[Panzerfaust]

Soviet partisans operated in Finland and in Karelia during the Continuation War from 1941 to 1944. In the beginning of the Finnish occupation 24,000 of the local ethnic Russians (almost half of them) were placed in internment and labor camps and 4,000-7,000 of them died, mostly from hunger during the spring and summer of 1942 due to failed harvest of 1941.Also the segregation in education and medical care between Karelians and Russians created resentment among Russian population. These actions made many local ethnic Russian people to support the partisan attacks.

Approximately 5,000 partisans altogether fought in the region, although the typical strength of the force was 1,500-2,300. Peculiarities of this front were that partisan units were not created inside the occupied territory, their personnel came all around Soviet Union and that they mainly operated from the Soviet side of the front line.

in East Karelia most partisans attacked Finnish military supply and communication targets, but in the Finnish side of the border, almost two thirds of the attacks targeted civilians,31 killing 200 and injuring 50, including children and elderly. On several occasions the partisans executed all civilians, not wanting anyone to witness the atrocities. One such incident was the partisan attack of Lämsänkylä, Kuusamo, that took place on July 18, 1943, in which the partisans attacked a lonely house and killed all of the seven civilians there, including half a year and three year old children, before fleeing.

One main factor why the Partisans operations against the Finns in East Karelia were mostly ineffective was that the Finnish " Long Range Patrol Men " operated behind the Russian front line and managed to destroy Partisan units in their bases and their supply depots. Secondly, the Partisans could not be safe in the forests as in Central Russia because the Finns were used to operating in forests when hunting down the escaping Partisans.