Finland: Forgotten children of German soldiers | Focus on Europe
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- čas přidán 12. 08. 2015
- In Finland during WWII, German soldiers fathered many children with local women. After the war, the mothers were frequently ostracized and their children demonized as bastards. Only recently have mothers and children started to break their silence.
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I've heard of stories like this and I thought it only happened in France and Norway.
Frederick-Nrunk Kamara those were occupied countries, Finland was a co-belligerent.
"only in France and Norway" yes yes, your country is very special and anything that happened there has never occurred elsewhere... Ugh, European ignorance.
whether you like htem or not, fact is germany helped Finland get its independence and also helped to keep it.
The Germans must have felt especially betrayed by Finland, when Finland was forced by Stalin to declare war on Germany. After all they were comrades in arms against a common and terrible enemy, and without German arms and assistance Finland could not have achieved the spectacular victory at Tali-Ihantala which saved the nation from communist occupation. The Lappland War actually saw little fighting, Germans and Finns were loathe to fight one another so the German withdrawal and Finnish advance were coordinated. The real criminals were the Soviet Union, and the Western Allies who abandoned Finland just as they did Estonia, the other Baltic States, Poland, and Eastern Europe to communism. Finland was exhausted after the Continuation War, and forced to accept harsh peace terms.
People tend to forget that Germany did not sell Finland to the Soviet Union, but gave it for free (read; the protocols of Molotov-Ribbentrop pact). German troops did not have the slightest intention of leaving Finland anymore once they got in, just like Soviet troops in eastern Europe once they "helped against the Nazis". Finland achieved its goals in 1941 and was ready to make a peace with the Soviet Union, Germany blackmailed Finland by threating to cease supply of grain to Finland if Finland was to leave the war. This was finally possible in 1944 when US offered to supply Finland with grain.
tyler higgins . Germany was a convenient allie for Finland much like the Soviet Union was to the Western Allies. There was no love between Finland and Germany. Finland engaged and tied up Soviet Troops that could have been in the field facing German troops and Germany supplied weapons and tech support to Finland.
Finland did what it had to do to remain it`s own independent country.
Had Finland not done a pact with Germany back then, i'm pretty sure Finland would've been a undeveloped communist shithole until 1991, just like some other certain countries.
GAME-CALIBER. I must concur. It was a Soviet Union land grab, and a dress rehearsal for the German invasion they feared was coming.
That is true enough, although the 1939 Pact was forced on Germany because of the warmongering of England and Poland. Also Finland had very little choice in the matter but to accept Stalins terms and conditions, they were exhausted after their defensive victories in 1944. The Lappland War was more a German retreat followed by a lagging Finnish advance (which infuriated Stalin, the Finns often did that). Both sides were loathe to fight one another, they had great respect for each other after four years of fighting side by side against a common and terrible foe. And if Hitler had been of the same caliber as Mannerheim, Leningrad and Moscow both would have probably been taken by the German Army by Fall 1941. Hitler chose to besiege rather than take Leningrad, the Finns knew if they attacked Leningrad it would never be forgiven by the Russians. It was also clear to the Finns by the fall of Stalingrad that Germany was losing, who can condemn their for refusing to heap their nation on the same funeral pyre that Hitler insisted for Germany?
At least they were not treated as badly as the Norwegian Lebensborn children.
"Mitäs perkele kuuluu?" :D
One can understand the derision by some Finns, especially children; it is in thier nature. The children of Finnish Women and German soldiers were completely innocent. Hopefully they did not shear the heads of women who loved German soldiers.
No sheared heads in Finland after the WW2. Finland was never occupied by Germans (or Soviets) so the situation was different from Norway or France. A German father was a taboo, something not a talk about but the public reaction was not as harsh as in Norway for an example.
The children born of these dreadful unions are innocent and their lives must have been blighted. As for the excuse that one can understand the derision shown by Finnish children towards Lebensborn children, it is inexcusable. Those mocking the lebensborn children should be glad that they were not born Lebensborn themselves. We bully other people for being who they are, but we could easily have been them.
@@daisychain3007 well said.
@@daisychain3007 It is the women who are guilty. When their men where trying to protect them, these women were dropping their skirts for the enemy. Shameful.
@@prashanthb6521 Learn history before making ignorant accusations. The Germans were NOT the enemy until the last seven months of WW2. The vast majority of the relationships between Finnish women and German soldiers occurred when Finland and Germany were allies.
His father looks so much like my husband (also german), its crazy 😳
For how long was your husband gone to Finland ?
@@prashanthb6521 What is the point of your idiotic, totally irrelevant question?
Mannerheim prevented the Finnish troops from advancing, even if they had easily reached St. Petersburg. The Finnish troops had already progressed to Petrozavodsk ... Mannerheim did not want to join the German-Russian war
When you think about the chancing politics and situations, Finland might be the one country that actually managed the best through the war, amazing political and strategical feat.
Finnish history during WWII (and before) was ENTIRELY honorable. And admirable. Mannerheim is one of my personal military heroes
Curious statement.
Mannerheim was pretty dum dum
@@traktori2888 Says Abdi
Clever and witty rather than honorable.
Mannerheim was extremely intelligent in guerilla warfare. In the Winter War Finland decimated the much more powerful Soviet army, and they were a tiny army with no tanks. But they couldn't hold out against the massive Soviet numbers without help. Finland's struggles during WWII is worth researching.
I can understand him not wanting to upset his mother but she was being selfish.
Very true.
I guarantee she was r a p e d or lied to. Why didn’t he look for his son?
"Im sorry. You're a hero... but you have to leave."
The Finnish German relationship of WW2 is a complex topic that rarely sees the light of day in the English speaking world. It is easy to say Finland supported the Nazis but the relationship is a whole lot more complex.
The Lapland War is a shame on Finland's record. It was a war they were enthusiastic about.
I would like to think that nazis supported Finland, not the other way around. After all, Finland's goals were to take back the territories that USSR took and nothing more. When Hitler pressured Finns to join the siege of Stalingrad, they refused.
Game-Caliber well it was definitely a case of the Finns for more from this relationship than the Nazis and you're correct about Leningrad.
You are right that there is a unique relationship with Finland and Germany, but to suggest Lapland War is somehow shameful is ridiculous. The context is simple to Finns, make the Germans leave or be destroyed by the Allies & then taken over by Russian Bolshevism (like how they stole Karelia). If you were to say to anyone in Finland today that this is a shame, you would most quickly receive a kick to your ass. Mannerheim made the correct decision, & most citizens had no hard feelings to Germany afterwards. Many then volunteered to fight on the Eastern front also.
SuomiNation a shame is different from shameful. Also having lived in Finland for 5 years now, spoken to numerous Finns, I can say that my ass has remained unkicked. If you honestly felt the need to do such a thing, it would more highlight some issue on your part than mine.
It is a shame in the sense that neither Finland nor Germany wanted to do such actions, they even have secret agreements in place for a 'show' to the Soviets but unfortunately things went the way they did and history is now what it is.
I mistook your use of the word as unfavorable to the history of Finland,(translation can be shit sometimes), but I agree with your previous comment. I think perhaps we are the only ones who understood Germany in the war years. My grandfather fought in those battles & my grandmother was a Lotta Svard nurse, my great grandfather was in Suojeluskunta also, so I know the history well.
we all return to our past.
+amartinjoe pennulla oo ees kuvaa. Ja nimikin on raukkaa.
Kyllä :)
Finland is a good place
Your mother certainly thinks so
@@trishmagenta883 Duh?
Everyone wants to know his/her history.
It’s always the children who pay.
What was the fathers name? Rudolf Emern?
Rudolf Ehmann
The Finns would not have suffered occupation for long. It was not even 30 years since they shook of the Russians in 1917. The krouts should have known better.
Viewers should understand that in all wars, including our modern "surgical" wars - during the chaos and fog of war, displacement, abuses, rapes, internments, collapse of societal infrastructure, etc. Innocent or not-so-innocent women get pregnant - war is chaos. This happens in ALL wars (WW I, WW II, Cambodia, Vietnam, Bosnia, Iraq, and most of all WW II whether in the European or Pacific Theaters. It also involves soldiers of all countries i.e. whether from one side or the other. War is hell.
During my years as Liaison Officer (US Navy) with the French Marine Nationale, I served as interpreter to reunite French children of American soldiers who had impregnated French women during our liberation of France (and Germany) - same took place in England and Italy. The fate of these (for the most part abandoned children) was terrible - regardless who their fathers were.
Ciao, L
Men
watch the movie, THE INNOCENTS about children born of nuns raped in Poland....wonder what happend to those children
By Russians or Germans?
@@stolzerpfalzer768 probably both sadly. For sure the germans did
@@geminiman7791 Not true
Why did the Germans go crazy?😏😏😏😏😏 Why did the Japanese go crazy? The whole thing was a sign of madness. So sad.
🥰
WHO'S WATCHING IN 2019 👍
It's 2017 here.
2020 already
I am. In 2021.
Here 2022
🇫🇮🇺🇸
RN
Men…
they betrayed us and then cried when we reacted to it.......... oooooh noooo how dare we did such things.....
It seems as though they were proud to have killer German soldiers as fathers. I must admit I’m probably missing something in this video
Look at who runs the channel- it’s a German Public Broadcast service.
who knew that the Finishes have fascistic roots.
My Grandpa is one of these children and i like it.
Youre so undeducated about the complexity of these matters
It had nothing to do with fascism and everything to do with natural male/female attraction.