Finnish Evangelicals love Israel

When the Nazis came to Finland and told them that they came to help them solve the Jewish problem the answer was “We don’t have a Jewish problem!
Finland saved their Jews, and now they stand up for Israel. See below


July 23, 2010 | 20 Comments »
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  1. email rec’d

    Dear Mr.Belman,

    There is an email going around about Finland, Finnish Jews and Gustav Mannerheim that is troubling for many a good reason. I don’t know whether you or someone else forwarded that email to you and then you decided to pass it on ahead, but there needs to be some light shed on what you have been promulgating. I received your mail from Prof.Barry Rubin who thought it would be of interest to me, and he was right, it did. Please don’t take this email wrongly, many people have misguided notions about Finland during that period in time, I just want to set things right, or at best, give you my two cents worth. Do with it as you like.

    Your email states that:

    [The situation in Finland was a lot more complex. Jewish men served in the Finnish Army in the war against the Soviets alongside the German troops stationed in parts of Finland {South East and North East}. Marshall Carl Mannerheim a white Russian cavalry general was the Commander in Chief of the Finnish Army and as a Russian he hated the Germans with passion and thus objected to any German request in principle but not because of any feeling of pity for the Jews. Mannerheim, for example, stopped the Finnish Army from approaching the Murmansk-to-Leningrad railway line for critical Allied supplies to save the Russians from defeat because crossing these red lines would have never been forgiven to Finland.]

    While it is entirely true that Mannerheim had a deep dislike/disgust for the Nazis, he did not hate the Germans, who had earlier trained divisions of Finnish soldiers towards the end of the Czarist period when Finland was still a Duchy to the Czarist state. These soldiers were crucial for the White army in fighting the Reds during Finland’s own civil war. During the Winter War and the Continuing War, Finnish Jewish soldiers knew of Mannerheim’s philosemitic character, having been allowed to build a one of its kind, field synagogue, with his blessing. I happen to know the offspring of the men who founded that field synagogue, and they all hold Mannerheim with highest regard.

    The Finns refused German policies and tactics that didn’t mesh with their own plans for self survival. The Finns were co-belligerents with the Nazis, due to the Soviets’ war of occupation for all of Finland, something that the German Nazis approved of, until they saw how the Finns held off the Soviets during the Winter War and saw a potential ally. Mannerheim understood this, hence the deep distrust for the Nazis and the protection of Finnish Jews.

    Your email also states the following:

    [In general the sentiment towards the Jews in Finland before and during the World War II was quite hostile. Jews interned from Austria in Finland were handed over to Germany and were sent to Auschwitz but not the Jews that had Finnish citizenship. Towards 1944 there were plans to arrest and court martial Mannerheim with subsequent deportation of all Jews to Auschwitz next to certain.]

    While it’s true that foreign Jews were handed over to the Nazis, (and later apologized for) this reflects the one hand not knowing what the other was hand was doing: SUPO, the Finnish state police at the time had some Nazi sympathizers in its ranks, but that doesn’t reflect on the Finnish government The State police had a larger say in the handling of immigration affairs, and these Jews handed over fell prey to a small cabal of men who were in fact Nazis themselves. The government was never sympathetic to Nazi ideals, but due to the wars at hand, self preservation had theír attention more than individuals. Sad but true.

    The Soviet show trials dared at one time to prosecute Mannerhiem, but quickly changed its mind, choosing to center its attention of the PM, Risto Ryti, who was forced to sign an arms agreement with the Nazis in exchange for his political support for the Nazis, all done for the sake of huge weapons shipments that proved crucial during the latter stages of teh Continuing War, when the Soviets made a last final push through Ihantala located in the Isthmus. My father-in-law was badly wounded during that fight.

    Your email goes on to add:

    [1) Mannerheim in 1919-1920 as the caretaker for the new Republic of Finland was forced by the Allies {Britain and USA} to grant Jews citizenship or be refused grain shipments that were so crucial to Finland after a long and brutal civil war between Whites and Reds causing widespread hunger. So Finland became the last state in Europe to grant its Jews citizenship;]

    This is entirely untrue. From the Helsinki Jewish Community’s own website [1], and I’m I know the people responsible for the uploading and upkeep of that site, states the following:
    “The struggle for equal rights for Jews was taken up in the Finnish Diet in 1872. The press debate on Jewish emancipation that started about that time continued during the 1870s and 1880s. There was not, however, yet to be any change for the better in the status of the Jews in Finland. By the end of the 1880s there were about a thousand Jews resident in Finland. It was not until 1917, when Finland became independent, that the Jews received civil rights. On 22 December 1917, Parliament approved an Act concerning “Mosaic Confessors,” and on 12 January 1918 the Act was promulgated. Under the Act, Jews could for the first time become Finnish nationals, and Jews not possessing Finnish nationality were henceforth in all respects to be treated as foreigners in general.”

    Also, the email wrongly insists: [2) Late 1920s white farmers black shirts sympathetic to Hitler started a march towards Helsinki as part of a coup de tat. President Svihuvud {Swine Head literarily} although extreme far right as an ex Judge would not tolerate any illegality and went to the Finnish Radio to request everybody to go home and everybody went home because everybody knew that Svinhuvud would have slaughtered all of them had they disobeyed his order;]

    Pehr Svinhufvud was appointed Prime Minister prior to the incident your email mentions, yes, at the insistence of the Lappua Movement who were anti-Communist, but it’s unclear to me whether they were indeed national socialists of the Hitlerite persuasion. Itend to agree with the notion that they were arch conservative as was Svinhufvud, but not “far-right”, (Fascist) a euphemism used by the Left for someone who’s a patriot and not a Marxist socialist. He refused to be manhandled by both the Marxists and the Lappua Movement and enforced the law.

    As for the government not forgiving Mannerheim’s treatment of Hitler, this sounds strange. There is an unsubstantiated story of his lighting up his cigar in Hitler’s presence, but nothing more than that. I know all about Abraham Stiller’s (Not Benjamin as the email wrongly stated) interventions with the Government. I translated for retired journalist, Rony Smolar, large chapters of his book, Stiller, for the English speaking market.

    Due to Stiller’s intervention, many in the government became aware what the small cabal of lower ranking officials were doing and planning with heads of SUPO, to get rid of Finland’s Jews. This never came to pass due to information Stiller gave, as well as Himmler’s suitcase (during his stay at the Seurahuone Hotel) having been poured through and copied by a spy, with a list of Jewish names having been found in it. So, the Finnish government knew thanks to these efforts.

    The last parting statement is interesting as well:

    [All in all the Finns were never pro Jewish but rather pro German and anti-Semitic. It was just the good fortune of the Finnish-Soviet war ending mid 1944 that saved the Finnish Jews from deportation to Auschwitz.]

    Most Finns could have cared less, pure and simple. Anti-Semitism is a common shared trait in all of these Nordic states, but Finns still remain less attracted to that disease than most in Scandinavia. Most importantly, it’s wise to understand the general history of the state and war(s) in question. Finland stood to lose whether the Germans or the Soviets won big. However, the only way Jews were to be victimized in mass, was if Finland were ever to lose its sovereignty to either side. Most Finnish Jews knew this, even though there was extreme anxiety in their community due to Finland’s relations with the Nazis and the activities of a cabal of rogue bureaucrats and officials.

  2. With due respect, I studied the Winter War and would have to say the sentiments towards Jews was neutral to good in Finland.
    Here is a website.

    With all due respect If being a third class temp resident is neutral to good? What do you consider worse?

  4. According to my research, Finland and the other nordic countries had a strong affinity for Naziism viewing themselves as fellow aryans. Denmark was very supportive of their Jewish population resulting in few Jewish deaths. However in recent years the neo-nazi movement in Denmark has gained traction.

    I wonder how many Jews the Danes would have saved if they were the black coats and medieval type hats kind of Jews?

    Danes saved the Jews because they considered them first and foremost Danes ( almost all were totally assimilated Jews) and they viewed it as a form of rebellion to the Nazi occupation.

    A paradoxical situation was the experience of Jews in Spain. Franco, despite being fascist and ideologically close to Hitler refused to mistreat both Spanish Jews and those fleeing into Spain from France.Moreover despite masking promises to Hitler, Franco never entered the war.
    currently, Spain is not terribly friendly to Israel

    Nobody in Europe likes the Germans. Purely speculation but Franco had Jewish ancestry annusim which might have accounted for his protecting the Jews? Who knows? In Israel alone we have thousands with the Family name Franco.

  5. Laura says:
    July 23, 2010 at 9:05 pm

    It figures there are always going to be those who always want to put a negative spin on a positive story.

    Don’t let the facts get in your way.

  6. ALL NATIONS SHALL COME TO GOD’S MOUNTAIN TO GLORIFY THE GOD OF ISRAEL.

    Those who curse Israel are cursed.
    Thos who love and pray for Israel are blessed.

    I love every single one of these brave people taking a stand for the Land of Israel.

    May G-d bless every single one of them!

    Awesome demonstration of love for Israel and the jewish people!

  7. The pro-Israel demonstration photos are by Finnish Lutheran-Evangelical believers in the Holy Land and their Messianic movement to save mankind by converting Jews to Christianity.

    Yea!!! That’s it Man! Jews don’t no stinking friends or allies.

    Question to you asshole: Did Christianity come into existence to replace Judaism? Yes or No?

    I mean “Hell’s Bells”, Israel has 60 miles of strategic depth, and only one major metro area. With all that space,in an age of Islamic nut cases with nukes,everything will just be fine.

    60 miles? Check your maps. In any event afew miles here or there won’t make much difference if we are nuked ill it? Now how will these Finnish Lutherans Change the basic equation? Even the pro Israel Jewish Finns because of their religious agenda.

    Just like it was with the Egyptians,Asyrians,Persians,Romans,and Krauts.

    Jews aligned with Assyria, Persia and Egypt. All Betrayed the Jews. The Jews invited the Romans come into the Land to help fight against the Greeks. The Romans stayed and made Judea a Vassal of Rome. We allied with France and at a critical moment France betrayed us. America has always betrayed us and continues to this this day. A few thousand Flag waving Finns does not cause me to forget who they are and what their parents did and didn’t do to my extended family. They may have a religious affinity to the Holy Land but when it comes to the Jews we are eventually meant by them to be a sacrificial lamb. No thanks!

    The “Jesus(see Jewish carpenter/rabbi/trouble maker/nailed by the Sanhedrin/from Nazerath) Freaks” are a hell of a lot more interested in the Blacks of Africa or the Chinese, than they are in converting Jews(Besides,Jews(for better or worse) are doing a reasonable job of conveting themselves,either to Christianity or a Secular Humanist form of Religion(see:liberal/marxist/socialists/earth worship)….I bet your old fashion “Yahweh” is not happy.

    Whew? J if he ever did exist (which I am sure he didn’t) was no rabbi and a Sanhedrin could not have convened on the Sabbath or holiday like Passover. The crime j was accused of was not a capital offense and according to Jewish Law 2 or more witnesses would have to testify to a crime especially a capital offense. In any case at that time the whole Priesthood and Sanhedrin were appointed and subject to Roman diktat.

    In the last ten years Christian sects and denominations has allocated no less than over a billion dollars to convert Jews. Think of all the starving and poor that money could have helped many poor and starving people around the world. That said, they aren’t getting much bang for the buck as most Jews will always reject the pagan narrative of Christianity. You’d have to be pretty stupid to buy that narrative so that lets most Jews out.
    As far as G-d is concerned, Don’t concern yourself over that. We made it this far without your help and some of us will survive when Christianity will be a footnote in future history books. You are all dead meat but have yet to internalize that truth.

    My personal opinion is that if your Christian friends want to support Israel, then go ahead but I for one won’t kiss your collective asses for it. I see no quid pro quo on our part for anyone’s support.

  8. According to my research, Finland and the other nordic countries had a strong affinity for Naziism viewing themselves as fellow aryans. Denmark was very supportive of their Jewish population resulting in few Jewish deaths. However in recent years the neo-nazi movement in Denmark has gained traction.

    A paradoxical situation was the experience of Jews in Spain. Franco, despite being fascist and ideologically close to Hitler refused to mistreat both Spanish Jews and those fleeing into Spain from France.Moreover despite masking promises to Hitler, Franco never entered the war.
    currently, Spain is not terribly friendly to Israel

  9. Finland has a big page in my black book. Finland was a Nazi ally, a fact nobody can deny. Their government policy has been overtly and extremely anti-Israel, only surpassed by those other Scandinavians of ill-repute – the Swedes and Norwegians. During WW II, They handed over to the Nazis all foreign-born Jews who were summarily slaughtered. This is the true Finland.

    Furthermore, when Israeli sailors boarded the Turkish Armada, the Finnish reaction was this:

    “Finland has summoned the Israeli ambassador to condemn a brutal attack on the Freedom Flotilla carrying aid for the Palestinians under siege in the Gaza Strip.” See:

    http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=128662&sectionid=351020606

    In his book “Kluge”, Gary Marcus attempts to explain why we adopt notions that are in stark contrast to reality. One reason: we would like to think of the world as benign, and interpret the world to fit this aspiration. That is probably the reason why the post describes this EUrotrash entity as “a country to be proud of” (which is true if you are a Jihadist).

    As to the pix, where and when did this demo take place?

    Of course, there is a difference between the Government of Finland and the Evangelical minority that supports Israel. But if we talk about “Finland” then we should keep in mind the view of the government and the majority of the population that elected that government.

    Joseph

  10. The Govt of Finland is supporting Gershon Baskin and his IPCRI group which is constantly complaining about how Israel oppresses the suffering palestinians and we have to give away Jerusalem to them for a Palestinian state. Of course, the settlers in the liberated Jewish lands of Judea and Samaria are the most evil people in the world and must be expelled from their homes to make way for a Judenrein state. That’s what Finland supports

    This post has nothing to do with the Finnish government. No one is under the illusion that the government of Finland supports Israel, but it is good to know that at least some of the people are showing their support and friendship with Israel.

  12. email rec’d

    The Govt of Finland is supporting Gershon Baskin and his IPCRI group which is constantly complaining about how Israel oppresses the suffering palestinians and we have to give away Jerusalem to them for a Palestinian state. Of course, the settlers in the liberated Jewish lands of Judea and Samaria are the most evil people in the world and must be expelled from their homes to make way for a Judenrein state. That’s what Finland supports

  13. The pro-Israel demonstration photos are by Finnish Lutheran-Evangelical believers in the Holy Land and their Messianic movement to save mankind by converting Jews to Christianity.

    Yea!!! That’s it Man! Jews don’t no stinking friends or allies.

    I mean “Hell’s Bells”, Israel has 60 miles of strategic depth, and only one major metro area. With all that space,in an age of Islamic nut cases with nukes,everything will just be fine.

    Just like it was with the Egyptians,Asyrians,Persians,Romans,and Krauts.

    The “Jesus(see Jewish carpenter/rabbi/trouble maker/nailed by the Sanhedrien/from Nazerath) Freaks” are a hell of a lot more interested in the Blacks of Africa or the Chinese, than they are in converting Jews(Besides,Jews(for better or worse) are doing a reasonable job of conveting themselves,either to Christianity or a Secular Humanist form of Religion(see:liberal/marxist/socialists/earth worship)….I bet your old fashion “Yahweh” is not happy.

  14. With all of my love to you Ted, in the precious Name of our Messiah,
    Yeshua, who is going to make us a blessing to Finland. . .

    Dead Jewish pagan man-gods on a stick don’t bless anybody.

    Trust us. We wrote the Book.

  15. Ted I think the message HERE reflects your thinking quite accurately

    1. Sometimes it helps to step back and take a look at the big picture.
    2. Sometimes it’s fun to just do a silly cartoon for a laugh.
    3. Sometimes we get so involved with our cause that we spout our assessment of the situation to anyone who’ll listen.

    Today’s cartoon is an attempt to deal with all three ideas.

    Have a great weekend! Kirchen, Dry Bones

  16. The pro-Israel demonstration photos are by Finnish Lutheran-Evangelical believers in the Holy Land and their Messianic movement to save mankind by converting Jews to Christianity.

    The first email reading between the lines lends support for the second email conclusions.

    My conclusions are:

    We are unlike any other people in the world. Jews cannot and will not count on the help, acknowledgement, or recognition of any people, government, or organization in the world.

    We can’t.

    We must only count upon the help, acknowledgment, and recognition of G-d.

    This is the lesson of the the desert.

    This is the lesson of Tisha b’Av.

    This is the lesson of history.

  17. email rec’d

    It is always nice to hear from you. I have not come across the expression “We don’t have a Jewish problem!”.

    The situation in Finland was a lot more complex. Jewish men served in the Finnish Army in the war against the Soviets alongside the German troops stationed in parts of Finland {South East and North East}. Marshall Carl Mannerheim a white Russian cavalry general was the Commander in Chief of the Finnish Army and as a Russian he hated the Germans with passion and thus objected to any German request in principle but not because of any feeling of pity for the Jews. Mannerheim, for example, stopped the Finnish Army from approaching the Murmansk-to-Leningrad railway line for critical Allied supplies to save the Russians from defeat because crossing these red lines would have never been forgiven to Finland. In general the sentiment towards the Jews in Finland before and during the World War II was quite hostile. Jews interned from Austria in Finland were handed over to Germany and were sent to Auschwitz but not the Jews that had Finnish citizenship. Towards 1944 there were plans to arrest and court martial Mannerheim with subsequent deportation of all Jews to Auschwitz next to certain. Three interesting incidents that throw light to the Finnish situation which has a lot of ambiguity:

    1) Mannerheim in 1919-1920 as the caretaker for the new Republic of Finland was forced by the Allies {Britain and USA} to grant Jews citizenship or be refused grain shipments that were so crucial to Finland after a long and brutal civil war between Whites and Reds causing widespread hunger. So Finland became the last state in Europe to grant its Jews citizenship;

    2) Late 1920s white farmers “black shirts” sympathetic to Hitler started a march towards Helsinki as part of a coup de tat. President Svihuvud {Swine Head literarily} although extreme far right as an ex Judge would not tolerate any illegality and went to the Finnish Radio to request “everybody to go home” and everybody went home because everybody knew that Svinhuvud would have slaughtered all of them had they disobeyed his order;

    3) Early 1944 Mannerheim was warned by a Finnish Jewish Community leader Benjamin Stiller that the Finnish Government was preparing to intern all Jews to be deported to Germany. Mannerheim sent Adjutant General Airo as his liaison to the Government to inquire and was told by the Government not to interfere in civilian matters after which Mannerheim sent Airo a second time to remind the Government that he is speaking in the name of the military might. Around the same times preparations were under way to arrest Mannerheim who earlier on had humiliated Adolf Hitler that had flown to Finland to congratulate Mannerheim on his 75th birthday. There is the famous photo where Mannerheim a very tall man in utter disgust extends his hand to Hitler as if Hitler was a cripple with leprosy. The Germans and many in the Finnish Government never forgave Mannerheim for humiliating Adolf Hitler.

    All in all the Finns were never pro Jewish but rather pro German and anti-Semitic. It was just the good fortune of the Finnish-Soviet war ending mid 1944 that saved the Finnish Jews from deportation to Auschwitz.

    The pro-Israel demonstration photos are by Finnish Lutheran-Evangelical believers in the Holy Land and their Messianic movement to save mankind by converting Jews to Christianity.

  19. email rec’d

    Dearly beloved Ted:
    These pictures are wonderful!
    Those dear Finlanders look so beautiful, with their love for
    Israel, waving their Israeli flags. I hope that the Israeli
    foreign office will coceive a plan to make Finland a twin
    nation, and do whatever they can to bless and prosper the
    people of Finland with our expertise in the computer field,
    and agricultural field, and in any other way we can help them
    to excel over the nations of the world. The pictures are marvelous
    Ted. The whole world needs to see that a little nation like this
    has the wisdom to support Israel, and are prospering as a result.
    With all of my love to you Ted, in the precious Name of our Messiah,
    Yeshua, who is going to make us a blessing to Finland. . .
    Jeremiah