Finland to conduct research into deportation of Jewish refugees during World War II

A group of Finnish scholars has begun research to clarify how and why Finland handed over several Jews to the Germans during World War II, according to a report in the "Jerusalem Post". Jussi Nuorteva, chairman of Finland's National Archives and supervisor of the research team, formally announced the work during a press conference in Jerusalem on Monday. Finland did not deport or surrender to the Nazis any of its Jewish citizens, but it did deport eight Jewish refugees. A number of Jews were are also among those minorities and Soviet prisoners of war who were held by the Finnish or forcefully repatriated by them. Some Jewish Finns fought on the side of the Germans in the war against the Soviet Union. On the other side of the conflict, meanwhile, several of the tens of thousands of Soviet POWs captured by Finland during the war were Jewish. A much publicized book on the POWs, written by Elina Sana and released in Finland in 2003, raised the question of whether the Finnish government knew what the Germans would do to the Jewish prisoners they were handing over. The Finnish government then responded by appointing a respected historian to lead the research on the matter. His report, submitted a year ago, forms the basis for the current team's work.