Talk:History of the Jews in Finland

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[edit] Protection

Could someone please explain why this page is semi-protected? There is no history of vandalism here. --JJay 00:04, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

Someone kept changing the external links to read "Jewry in Finland," which violates Wikipedia:No personal attacks.--Gephart 16:17, 24 July 2006 (UTC)
  • Jewry is a standard term for the jewish community [1]. Please try to be better informed before accusing others of "personal attacks". --JJay 17:54, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Copyright violation

The original version of this page, created by Freddieandthedreamers was copied and pasted straight from http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=26476

Here is the current version of the wikipedia article, with the copyvio text in bold:


The History of the Jews in Finland began when the Jews first settled in the Kingdom of Sweden-Finland in the 18th century, during the tolerant reign of King Gustavus III. They were allowed to reside in a few towns in Swedish parts of the kingdom, such as Marstrand, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Norrköping and Karlskrona, but not in the Finnish part. The ancestors of the Jews of Finland came to Finnish towns, which were then under Russian rule, at the end of the 18th century. The first Jew said to have settled on Finnish soil was Jacob Weikam, later Veikkanen, in 1782, in the town of Hamina which was by then already under Russian rule. During the period of Finnish autonomy (1809-1917) more Russian Jews established themselves in Finland as tradesmen and craftsmen. As Jews were in principle prohibited from dwelling in Finland, almost all these Jews were retired soldiers from the Imperial Russian army. Being cantonists, forced into the Russian army in childhood, they were required to serve at least 25 years. After their term expired, they had, however, the right to remain in Finland regardless of Finnish ban on Jewish settlement, a right forcefully defended by the Russian military authorities. It was only after Finland became independent that Jews were granted full rights as Finnish citizens. That was in 1918, when they were given the right to obtain Finnish citizenship.


During the Continuation War (1941-1944), in which Finland fought alongside Nazi Germany, Finnish Jews were not persecuted, and even among extremists of the Finnish Right they were tolerated, as many leaders of the movement came from the clergy. Many Finnish Jews fought in the War alongside the German Army. The field synagogue operated by the Finnish army was probably a unique phenomenon in Europe. (See external links for more information). Approximately five hundred Jewish refugees arrived in Finland, though about three hundred and fifty moved on to other countries. About forty of the remaining Jewish refugees were sent for work service in Salla in Lapland in March 1942. The work and conditions were difficult (they were made to work until their fingers bled and did not have clothing sufficient for the very cold conditions) and they were exposed to German troops. The refugees were moved to Kemijärvi in June and eventually to Suursaari island in the Gulf of Finland. It was believed that here they would not be able to have easy contact with influential Finnish Jews. In November 1942, eight foreign Jewish refugees were handed over to Nazi Germany[1], a fact for which Finnish prime minister Paavo Lipponen issued an official apology in 2000.[2]


Approximately 2600-2800 prisoners of war were exchanged for 2100 Finnish prisoners of war with Germany. About 2000 of them joined the Wehrmacht, but among the rest there were about 500 political officers or politically dangerous persons, who most likely perished in concentration camps. Based on the a list of names, there were about 70 Jews among the extradited, though they were not extradited based on religion.


The number of Jews in Finland in 2006 is approximately 1,300. The Jews in Finland are best regarded as a religious minority and cultural minority, because ethnically and linguistically they are a heterogeneous group. The Jews are well integrated into Finnish society and are represented in nearly all sectors of it. Their educational level is high. The Jews, in common with Finland's other traditional minorities, as well as immigrant groups, are represented on the Advisory Board for Ethnic Relations (ETNO). In contrast to some other countries, such as Germany and Hungary, the Jews of Finland have had no objection to being considered a national minority. There are two synagogues, in Helsinki and in Turku as well as a local Chabad Lubavitch Rabbi based in Helsinki.

I am going to remove the copy-and-pasted sections and try to replace them with text covering the same time periods. Justinep 23:10, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Potentially useful sources of material

National Minorities of Finland, Jewry in Finland] as previously plagiarised)

  • Vignettes from Finland: Or Twelve Months in Strawberry Land, pages 68 and 69 (available in the 'search inside' preview on Amazon.com)

Requiring access to academic journal websites:

  • RINTALA, MARVIN, Extremism in Interwar Finland, East European Quarterly, 2:1 (1968:Mar.) p.45
  • Cohen, William B., Finland and the Holocaust, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 9:1 (1995:Spring) p.70

Justinep 20:09, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Progress updates and comments on replacing the copyvio text

Pre-independence section

The plagiarised article stated that Jews could settle in Marstrand, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Norrköping and Karlskrona (prior to Finnish Independence) but other online sources - [2] and [3] specify that Jews could only settle in three places. Unfortunately these are not named. I am unable to verify whether or not the original author named these five towns as examples of towns in Swedish territory, or named them as places Jews could settle. For this reason I am diluting the original statement. Perhaps a future editor can add more detail. Right now all I am trying to do is leave something reasonable behind when I remove as much copyright violating text as possible. Justinep 23:36, 9 September 2007 (UTC)