Blogissa Arctic anthropology Florian Stammler kertoo Leningradin ympäristöstä ja Karjalasta viime sodan jälkeen karkotetun suomalaissyntyisen väestön kohtalosta pohjoisessa Siperiassa.
There they had to fish without any equipment and even footwear, so they stood barefoot in the icy water. As they did not have reindeer skins or other warm clothes, eye-witnesses tell they even put newspaper around their feet for protection against the cold. Their daily foot ration was one fish per family, which definitely was not enough. The local people were instructed by the NKVD guards not to help or give anything to the convicts, called “spetspereselentsy” (special resettlers).
Samalle alueelle sijoitettiin liettualaisia, joiden muistoksi on pystytetty monumentti, jossa mainitaan myös suomalaiset. Muistomerkin sivuilla on tekstit liettuaksi, venäjäksi ja Sakhaksi. Tilaa olisi suomelle, jos löytyisi joku joka näitä ihmiskohtaloita haluaisi sellaisella kunnioittaa.
Vasili Ivanovich Burtsev, a hobby historian who built a small museum in Bykov, wrote a touching letter to whom it may concern in Finland to raise awareness of this heritage. Especially, the graveyard with resettlers’ graves falls victim to coastal erosion, and the remains are gradually washed way. Burtsev also collected an impressive list of Finnish persons who were working in the fish factories of the area in the 1940s. If any Finnish person is interested in this, please contact me and I will help with further information.
