Germans and the destruction of Lapland

[Willi Heydrich]

A lot has been discussed about the behaviour of German troops in the Lapland War in Finland after the armstice between Finland and Soviet Union in September 1944. There has been a universal concensus that the Germans burnt their way through Lapland as they retreated towards Norway. But is the thruth that black & white? Because the local population had been evacuated, there were no witnesses save the Germans, whose testimonies have been downplayed in post-war Finland. In ordering the 200 000-odd Germans to withdraw from Finland in only two weeks, Stalin tried and achieved a break-up in the relations of the former brothers-in-arms and created a feeling of bitterness that still persists in the minds of many Finns.

After the armstice, the German understanding was that the Soviets would soon occupy Finland. Therefore it was only natural to deny the enemy all shelter and food which was achieved with scorched earth policies. Surely there were some operations that were purely vindictive in nature as the Germans naturally felt betrayed by the Finns. With the village of Muonio it was a matter of pure revenge that was triggered by a Finnish attack on a German hospital train. Johann Voss from the 6th SS Gebirgsjäger division recalls in his book "Black Edelweiss" how the German officers nailed their Finnish decorations on the Muonio village sign and wrote above "Das war...Muonio" and then promptly burned the village down. On the other hand, Kuusamo was left intact and the SS-Jägers even hid the church bells from the Russians. The bells were dug up in 1955 in the presence of Standartenführer Schreiber who had the hiding place marked in his maps.

Maybe the most talked about incident is the fate of Rovaniemi, Lappland´s biggest town. The overall commander of German forces in Finland, Generaloberst Rendulic had issued orders that the stone government buildings were to be blown up. Yet this doesn´t explain why the whole town went up in flames. In the central role is an ammo train that stood at the station. At some point this train exploded resulting in casualties and starting fires in the mostly wooden town. Why the train blew up? There have been vague suggestions of Russian air attacks and Finnish commando raids but the Germans themselves blame the burning of firewood at the station or a stove that fell and ignited some hay in the carriages. Either way, the incident has never been fully explained, but the most probable reason for the explosion is an accident. According to Niilo Lappalainen, who was with the 6th SS, writes in his book "Vaarallisilla Teillä" that the town was burning before the train blew up. Perhaps the demolition of the stone houses had started the fire? Anyway, Lappalainen states that Schreiber had ordered the establishment of a "fire-alley" to prevent further burning and soldiers were busy trying to extinguish the fires. Soon the pursuing Finns were on the other side of the Kemijoki and started firing at the Germans which further added to the mayhem. After the Kemijoki bridges were blown and the 6th were able to retreat Rovaniemi was in ruins. The Soviet propagandists who were with the Finnish troops were only eager to invite journalists at the scene to witness the "barbarity" of the Germans. The Germans deny the wholesale destruction of Rovaniemi to this day but their protests have been in vain. Not least because the last troops to leave Rovaniemi were members of the "notorious" Waffen-SS.

[Franz repper]

Yes the Germans left Kuusamo intact But it was burnt by the Russians when they left ! Saying that was on my way up north in the truck one day stopped at a service station were some Germans were parked having lunch.When they left the other truck drivers called out "Dont forget your matches"

[Willi Heydrich]

Welcome to the forum, Ingo!

[Franz repper]

Ha you would know sir as thats were the brown gold comes from