Around 150 prisoners of war were probably deported to the Germans from the Kokkola prisoner of war hospital in Western Finland during the Continuation War in 1943, the newspaper Keskipohjanmaa reveals.
Records from the war archives indicate that most of the prisoners were handed over during the spring and summer of 1943. In July, 1943, 43 prisoners were transferred from the hospital to Prison Camp 8 located in the then German administrated area of Ivalo in Lapland.
It is suspected the prisoners were either shipped to the Eastern front or to extermination camps. More exact estimates can only be made after patient records and German sources have been examined.
A recent book by researcher Elina Sana, which revealed that Finland deported over 2,800 prisoners of war to the Germans, has received extensive publicity abroad. Her book overturned earlier estimations that only eight people were handed over by Finland to the nazis in World War Two.
Sana's research does not include all camps and hospitals. Accordingly, those deported from Kokkola further increase the overall number of deportees.
History researcher, Professor Heikki Ylikangas has been commissioned by the government to draw up a preliminary report on the controversial deportations. He will present his report at the end of January.
YLE24