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For a historian, the Second World War and Germany’s genocide of European peoples are the gift — also in the German sense — that keeps on giving. There seems to be no end to stories one can tell.
Some of those stories are more bizarre than others. Like how Finland’s Jews ended up fighting, on occasion side-by-side, with Germans against the Soviet Union. Not in secret, but openly. In some ways, even proudly.
Oula Silvennoinen, a leading Finnish researcher in Holocaust studies and fascism, explains that history as well as the moral and political cognitive dissonance it fomented — for Finns, Germans, and Jews.
This small corner of Holocaust history has implications for our understanding of it, the role antisemitism plays in European memory politics, and our current era of resurgent nationalism and right-wing populism, which has produced its own share of unlikely bedfellows.
If you like this conversation, you may also be interested in The Bupkes’ other recent Finland-adjacent coverage:
Ruining it for the rest of us
Editor’s note: Some sad news from our Nordic neighbors. After years of painful debate, Finland has decided to finally phase out the last of its swastikas. Not that there’s anything wrong with them? But, you know, Germany kinda made it impossible to un-see the Na-zi when looking at a swastika.
Music by The Bupkes’ own Chief Goy Liaison Officer, Wiliam Succumbs. Let us know what you think of it!
NB: Transcript and captions are auto-generated, so errors — spelling and otherwise — are to be expected. The interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
