About 150 Jewish refugees have been sent to internment camps in Finland since the outbreak of the Russo-German war, but so far only four of them have been deported, it was reliably learned here today.
According to a well-informed Swedish source, the Finnish police, acting under orders from the German Gestapo, planned to deport some 50 Jews who were interned near Tavastehus. The projected deportations, the Swedish informant confirms, caused a split in the Finnish cabinet, with the majority of the members inclined to allow the Jews to be expelled from the country. However, Field Marshal Mannerheim voted against any deportations at the present time.
As a result of Mannerheim’s action, no new deportations are said to have taken place recently. The belief was expressed here that the problem of the Jewish refugees in Finland may be solved by allowing them to enter Sweden. However, no official confirmation of this report could be secured.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.