Saksalaisten sotilaiden lapset. Ulkomaalaisten sotilaiden lapset ...

data in the table does not support this expectation. In 1942, the birth rate for
illegitimate children in Lapland and Oulu provinces decreased by 19.5%. However,
it grew by around 27.7% in 1943, by nearly 12.3% in 1944, and by approximately
4.3% in 1945. The total number of illegitimate births remained relatively low,
hardly differing from pre-war statistics. Without a doubt, there are children of
German soldiers in the numbers for the period 1942-1945, but it would seem that
the total numbers are perhaps only in the range of several hundred based on the
data in the table. Between 1942 and 1945, a total of 3,588 illegitimate children
were born in the provinces of Lapland and Oulu, but the majority of them were
clearly fathered by Finnish men, and not German soldiers or other foreign men. It
is true that it is not rare to hear anecdotes of fatherless children looking for men
with the names Siigheil (Sieg Heil) and Faanehooh (Die Fahne Hoch) in German
bases. There is also a story of a church deacon being presented with a recently born
child for baptism with the intended name Ihliipetih (Ich liebe dich).
Another way to investigate the influence of German soldiers on the birth rate in
Northern Finland during the war is to look at the births of illegitimate children in
areas behind the frontlines where a particularly large number of German military
personnel were stationed. See the following table for the relevant data:
Table 3. Illegitimate children in the counties of the provinces of Lapland and
Oulu where a large number of German soldiers were stationed in 1941–45
Lapland Province
Municipality 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945
Petsamo 22 31 30 27 35 43 34
Inari 7 16 11 5 11 13 14
Sodankylä 12 12 14 4 24 24 17
Rovaniemi 73 49 74 64 96 112 54
Kemijärvi 40 19 35 30 26 27 27
Kemi 48 48 25 25 41 37 47
Kemi muni. 9 6 5 7 10 6 10
Tornio 6 6 5 4 5 12 22
Alatornio 16 11 17 14 23 16 23
Salla 36 36 26 22 18 27 23
Total 269 234 242 202 289 317 271
- Change -35 + 8 - 40 + 87 + 28 - 46
102