The Finnish government may initiate new official research into deportations of civilians to both Germany and the Soviet Union during and soon after the Second World War.
Following a government-commisioned review, Professor Heikki Ylikangas filed a proposal with Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen on Friday. Ylikangas called for a thorough study of the fate of civilians deported to Nazi Germany and the USSR, the circumstances surrounding their deportations and the legality of the decisions made.
The proposal suggests at least one, but possibly two separate official research projects.
The government decided to commission Ylikangas to review the issue after the Simon Wiesenthal Center sent President Tarja Halonen a letter requesting a full study of those deported and the punishment of those responsible for it.
The letter followed the autumn publication of a book by researcher Elina Sana. She claims that 3,000 foreign refugees or prisoners of war (many of them Jews) were handed over to Germany during the years 1941 to 1944 - far more than the eight non-Finnish Jews official histories recognize.
YLE24