During World War II some 70,000 Finnish children (Finnish: sotalapset) were evacuated from Finland to Scandinavia, chiefly to Sweden. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Finnish ( or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (92% As of 2006) and by ethnic Finns outside Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. Terminology and usage As a cultural term "Scandinavia" has no official definition and is subject to usage by those who identify with the culture in question as well "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Most were evacuated during the Continuation War to ease the situation for their parents who set out to rebuild their homes in the re-conquered Karelia returning from the evacuation of Finnish Karelia. The Continuation War (Jatkosota Fortsättningskriget Советско-финская война ( 25 June 1941 &ndash 19 September 1944) Historical province of Karelia in Finlandpng|right|150px|thumb|Historical province of Karelia in modern Finland(the borders of modern provinces with pink colour and the modern border of Finland Evacuation of Finnish Karelia was the resettlement of the population of Finnish Karelia and other territories ceded by Finland to the Soviet Union into the remaining The first surge of evacuees arrived, however, during the Winter War when the Finns had reasons to fear a humanitarian catastrophe following the expected Soviet occupation. The Winter War (Talvisota Советско-финляндская война - official Зимняя война - unofficial Vinterkriget began when the The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991
In retrospect, the evacuation has been considered psychologically flawed, as the separations turned out to inflict a far greater damage on the evacuees than the damage suffered by those children who had remained by their parents in Finland. In comparison to Finland's approximately 23,000 military casualties in the Winter War, the 66,000 in the Continuation war, and the total of 2,000 civilian casualties – and the roughly equally many seriously wounded – the war children were, of course, not physically injured, let alone killed. However, their number is of about the same size as that of the war invalids, and many of them feel their sufferings to be ignored.
After the war Finland experienced times of economic hardship, and also substantial insecurity with regard to the Soviet Union's plans for Finland, which resulted in the delay of the return of the children for several years. Ultimately about 20% of the war children stayed with their foster families after the war, who often adopted them, which spared them another traumatic separation. Many more returned to Sweden as adults, when the prolonged post-war hardship in Finland pushed large contingents of unemployed Finns to Sweden's booming economy in the 1950s–60s.
The exact figures remain unknown.
See also
- Spanish War children, children evacuated from the north of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War to Britain, Belgium, the Soviet Union and other European countries. The Second Spanish Republic was the system of government in Spain between April 14 1931, when King Alfonso XIII left the country The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict in Spain that started after an attempted Coup d'état committed by parts of the army against the government of
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