Lotta Sv rd Continuation War Museum Imatra
The Lotta Svärd emblem designed by Eric Wasström in 1921. It includes four heraldic roses and a swastika . The swastika was inspired by the symbol that decorated the first Finnish Defense Forces aircraft , donated by the Swedish Count Eric von Rosen, in 1918.
Lotta Svärd was a voluntary paramilitary organization for women in Finland. Originally formed in 1918, it had a strong adhesion undertaking voluntary social work in the 1920s and 1930s. During World War II, it was mobilized to replace the men called up for the army. He served in hospitals, at air strike points, and in other auxiliary tasks in close cooperation with the army. Women were officially disarmed, except in an anti-aircraft battery in 1944. Aila Virtanen argues that her "responsibility to the nation took on a public masculine and military form, but had a private feminine side, including characteristics like caring, helping and loving. " The organization was suppressed by the government after the war.
Name
The name comes from a poem by Johan Ludvig Runeberg . Part of a large and famous book, The Tales of Ensign Stal , the poem describes a fictional woman named Bruna Svärd. According to the poem, a Finnish military man, soldier Svärd – in Swedish : svärd means a sword – went to fight in the Finnish War and took his wife, Bruna, with him. Soldier Svärd was killed in battle, but his wife remained on the battlefield, taking care of wounded soldiers. The name was created by Marshal Mannerheim in a speech delivered on May 16, 1918.
History
Lotta Svärd uniforms.
During the Finnish Civil War he was associated with the White Guard . After the war, on September 9, 1920, Lotta Svärd was founded as a separate organization. The first organization to use the name Lotta Svärd was that of Riihimäki , founded on November 11, 1918.
B oncas dressed as Lottas.
The organization expanded during the 1920s and included 60,000 members in 1930. In 1944 it included 242,000 volunteers, the largest voluntary organization in the world, while Finland's total population was less than four million.
During the 1920s and 1930s, only Finnish Christian citizens were eligible to join the organization, and two references from people deemed reliable were required. This last requirement was often ignored after the outbreak of the Winter War in 1939. Foreigners could only be accepted with special authorization. However, in 1940, the first Muslim and Jewish members were accepted, and the first without a religious denomination in 1941.
World War II
During the Winter War about 100,000 men whose jobs were taken by the "Lottas" were released for military service. The Lottas worked in hospitals, at air strike points and other auxiliary tasks in conjunction with the armed forces. The Lottas, however, were officially disarmed. The only exception was a voluntary air strike in Helsinki in the summer of 1944, composed of members of the Lotta Svärd. The unit carried rifles for self-protection, making it the only armed female military unit in the Finnish Defense Forces in history.
The great need for manpower led to hurried recruitment and there was often no time to properly train the new Lottas according to the organization's principles. In addition, most of the new recruits were young and inexperienced. This caused some friction between the veterans and the new recruits.
Lotta Svärd suffered relatively minor losses considering the number of women sent to a war zone, in addition to the long duration of the war. During the wars, 291 Lottas died, most of them (140) from contaminated diseases in service. Sixty-six were killed near the battlefront, 47 in air strikes and 34 in accidents. Lottas killed in battle were buried as "war heroines" in the graves of parishes close to their homes.
Despite the most hasty allegations of support and collusion with the Nazi army, there is no clear evidence to support the association between the organization as a whole and German Nazism. This does not exclude possible associations from its members; however, it cannot be said that Lotta Svard as an organization fully supported the Nazi regime. Being within the context of the Second World War, the conflicts between Finland and the USSR are placed within the context of the Winter War and the Continuation War, consequences of the break by Germany of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact through Operation Barbarossa. Some authors understand the conflicts between Finland and the USSR as a separate conflict from World War II.
Post-World War II
When the Continuation War ended, the Soviet Union demanded that all organizations considered paramilitary , fascist or semi-fascist should be banned. Lotta Svärd was one of the groups that was dissolved on November 23, 1944. However, a new organization called Suomen Naisten Huoltosäätiö (Finnish Women's Support Foundation) was started and took over much of the estate and old properties of the now extinct organization. . It still exists under the name of Lotta Svärd Säätiö (Lotta Svärd Foundation).
Since January 4, 1995, women between the ages of 18 and 29 have the right to apply for voluntary service for Finnish military service in the Defense Forces and are free to enter any form of service, which is granted as long as they meet the minimum physical and health conditions.
The Finnish Lotta Svärd has inspired other similar organizations in other countries, and there are still similar organizations in Sweden ( Lottorna ); the same model is also used in Denmark and Norway.
Popular references
A 2005 film ("The Promise") describes the trials and tribulations of Lottas members during World War II.
References
- Thomas W. Zeiler and Daniel M. DuBois, eds.
- Aila Virtanen, "Accountability to the nation – The Finnish Lotta Svärd organization."
- Seija-Leena Nevala-Nurmi, "Girls and Boys in the Finnish Voluntary Defense Movement."
- Anne Ollila, "Women's voluntary associations in Finland during the 1920s and 1930s" Scandinavian Journal of History (1995) 20 # 2 pp: 97-107.
- «Ruotuväki» (in Finnish)
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427914/
Further reading
- Ahlbäck, Anders, and Ville Kivimäki. "Masculinities at war: Finland 1918–1950." STANDARD: Nordic Journal For Masculinity Studies 3.2 (2008): 114-131.
- Nevala-Nurmi, Seija-Leena. "Girls and Boys in the Finnish Voluntary Defense Movement." Ennen & nyt (2006): 3.
- Ollila, Anne. "Women's voluntary associations in Finland during the 1920s and 1930s" Scandinavian Journal of History (1995) 20 # 2 pp: 97-107.
- Olsson, Pia. "To Toil and to Survive: Wartime Memories of Finnish Women," Human Affairs (2002) 12 # 2 pp 127–138; based on memories of Lotta Svärd veterans.
- Virtanen, Aila. "Accountability to the nation – The Finnish Lotta Svärd organization." (2010) online
Text translated by Acervo Lima from Wikipedia.
Source: https://wiki.acervolima.com/lotta-svard/
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