Saksalaisten sotilaiden lapset. Ulkomaalaisten sotilaiden lapset ...

SUMMARY
Children of German Soldiers in Finland
Research topic and objective. This article presents the results of research conducted
on children born to Finnish women and German soldiers between 1941 and 1946,
the family circumstances and environments in which these children grew up, their
position in Finnish society, and how the children adjusted to the circumstances of
their lives. The following fundamental questions were examined:
- How has this topic been treated earlier in literature, film and research
- Who were the Finnish women who associated with German soldiers and
gave birth to their children
- Who were the German fathers in military service
- What were the lives of the mothers like after they gave birth to illegitimate
children and in postwar Finland
- How were the children born of wartime Finnish-German relationships
cared for and raised
- What kind of life did the children of German soldiers have and what kind
of experiences did they have in Finnish society as a result of their
background
Relevant Archives. This research is mostly based on archival work, although
literary works have also been examined. Two archives in particular have contained
the relevant records. The first is the collection of applications for support payments
made between 1943 and 1945 on behalf of women who gave birth to illegitimate
children as a result of relationships with German soldiers. These applications were
handled by the child protective service of the welfare and population bureau of the
Finnish Ministry of Social Services. There are 188 applications in this collection,
although there are significant gaps of information about the mothers, soldiers, and
children. Although this archive has very extensive administrative information and
can be used, its value is reduced by the extensive gaps in the individual
applications. Data on the unit of the German soldier with whom the mother had a
child is missing, as well as his civilian profession, the mother's profession, and
other information.
The second archive is composed of the information collected by questionnaire by
the Children of Foreign Soldiers in Finland, 1940-48 project of the National
Archives of Finland. A total of 73 children of German soldiers or other close
relatives have completed questionnaires, each with approximately 60 questions.
The material was collected in 2010 and includes some recollections, documents,
wartime notes, photographs, and correspondence between the project and the
respondents. If we suppose that around 700 children of German soldiers were born
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