HEN I returned to

W Finland from Cariada

in the summer of

1939, the reactionaries

supporters of Mannerheim,
followers of Tanner among
the ‘Social Democrats, men
who preferred to sell their coun-
rather
than cooperate with the Soviet
Union—were - already preparing

try to Nazi Germany

for war. The newspapers and
periodicals, like the few recent
Canadian newspapers and mag-
azines I have seen, were filled
with vicious propaganda, smear-
ing the Communists and whip-
ping up the hatred and fear of
the Soviet Union so necessary
to their purpose.

Unhappily for the people of
Finland, who have paid a ter-
rific price in blood and tears for
allowing themselves to be de
ceived, the campaign was suc-
cessful. The voices of the Com-
munists and ®otner left-wingers
who called for a policy of peace
and cooperation with the Soviet
Union, were lost in the clamor
for war. The Communist Farty
had been driven deep under-
ground by the terror directed
against it and Abo was the only
Place where I could find any
sign of Communist activity.

At first, I could not under.

stand what seemed to me to be
@ complete lack of organized
opposition to a policy that had
threatened the people with dis-
aster, but as I began to talk
against the war I could appre-
ciate the difficulties better. The
propaganda campaign had sown
its poison deep and even people
I had once been able to talk to
were convinced that Finland
must fight the Soviet Union.
And when the war came and
the Finnish Army scored initial
victories they were ready to be-
lieve that Finland coulg defeat
the Soviet Union. ‘

WAS sent down to the Kar-
elian Isthmus to dig trenches.
There, in the first days, I had
_ an indication of how completely
the men I was working with
had been deceived by propa-
ganda. One morning 18 Soviet
planes, flying in perfect forma-
tion at a great height, came
over. They were the first Soviet
bombers we had seen and the
men in my gang refused to- be-
lieve that they were Soviet
planes. (The whole world knows
now how well the Russians can
‘fight and what feats of produc-
tion they can: accomplish, but
then — the Russians would rise
‘against their leaders, they were
poorly equipped, their planes
would not fly.)

The men around me stood
staring up at the sky, unwilling
to believe their eyes. Then the
first bomb came whistling down
and we all dived for cover. Even
with trees crashing all around
me I burst out laughing. One of
the workers crouching near me
looked up in amazement and
fear. “What kind of a 80-and-so
are you to laugh at this?” he
shouted at me.

Soon afterwards the Red Army
broke through, over-running the
elaborate system of defenses we
had been working on, and the
war was aver. But our Finnish
reactionaries were not yet de-
feated. Now, their power shak-
en, their hold on the people
weakened, they spoke about a
war of revenge and linked them-
selves still closer with the Nazis
to bring it about.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1947

. BETWEEN the two Wark the”

Communist Party was able. to
work and organize more openly,
but not for long. Soon the pris-
ons were filling with the best
of the Communist leaders, the
militant trade union organizers
and others who used their in-
fluence among the people to

work for peace and cooperation
with the Soviet Union.

I went to work in an automo-
bile repair shop at Jakobstad in
the spring of 1941. It was essen-
tial -~work and therefore I was
not called up during the four
years I was there. I began to
organize the workers and when
they formed their union they
elected me chairman. With the
war dragging on—the main Red
armies were turning back the
German tide in the Ukraine and
Finland had still to feel their
full force—we had to fit our
organizing tactics to a situation
in which the police did not
hesitate to employ any methods
to smash our union.

I was threatened many times,
but after a while some of those
who had threatened me began
to feel the ground turning under
their feet. They were no longer
confident of victory and it seem-
ed wiser to adopt a conciliatory
attitude towards workers who
had succeeded in building a
union in spite of all their threats

and intimidation and who were

now becoming conscious |
their organized strength.

of

Throughout the war I listened
to the Seviet radio and once I
heard Runar Gastrom speaking
in Swedish from Moscow, (Run-
ar Gastrom formerly lived in
Vancouver, where he was well-

known in the Swedish-Finnish

circles.) I would have recog-
nized his voice even if his name
had not been announced. He
called on the Finnish people ‘to
oppose their quisling leaders
who had allied themselves with

the Nazis and twice taken them
into a disastrous ‘war with the
Soviet Union. Runar’s younger
brother parachuted into Fin-
land near Abo, where he was
caught and executed. What has
become of Runar himself,
whether he is still alive, I do
not know. I only heard him
once and he said then that he
was studying natural sciences at
Moscow university.

EN the war ended we were
free to speak again. Now we
had to rebuild, not only our
devastated country but the
people’s organizations. For the
first time since my return I
was able to make contact with
the Communist Party, which
was coming forward openly with
a program reflecting the people’s
real interests.

The old parliament, which had
been sitting for so many years
that it could not even pretend
be representative of the
people, was dissolved ang a new
election was called.

to

The left-wing parties and
groups formed/the Democratic
Federation of the Finnish Peo-
ple, not a political party itself
but a federation of political par-
ties to which both the Com-
munist Party and the Socialist
Unity Party are affiliated.

.Around the Federation the left
opposition within the Social De-
mocratic Party, those who had
broken with Tanner and his
anti-Communist supporters with-
in that party, and other left-
wing elements grouped them-
selves, But the Social Demo-
cratic Party, headed by men

who had aligned themselves
with the Nazis, refused to con-
sider any form of electoral

unity, and as a result left-wing
parties failed to obtain a com-

plete majority in the new parlia-
ment: * 2

© :
I WAS nominated by the Feder-

ation to contest a seat in the
Wasalan Northern Electoral Dis-
trict. I received close on 2,000
votes to the 2,500 votes polled
by the Swedish Social Demo-
crat, and had the vote not been

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — PAGE 10

Ly

The Finnish people
are now. re-building
their war-devastated
industries with the
knowledge that a_
policy of peace and
cooperation with the
Soviet Union will
secure their future.

®

split, 2 left-wing candidate would
have won the seat. However,
the Federation and the Social
Democrats each elected a can-
didate in the Northern Electoral
District? :

The Federation obtained the
largest popular vote in the
country, but elected only 49 can-
didates.. The Social Democrats,
with a smaller popular vote,
won 50 seats and by this ma-
jority of one became the strong-
est party in the new parliament.

In the municipal elections lat-
er, however, the Federation won
a Majority of the seats, easily
leading the Social Democrats. .

. In the seven years since I re- * |
turned to Finland, I have seen
tremendous changes. _

Today, Mannerheim is gone
and a left-wing government is
leading the country towards a
peaceful reconstruction in co- ©
operation with the Soviet Union. ©
The prime minister is a mem-

ber of the Federation and the

minister of the interior is the
chairman of the Communist
Party. The next few years may
be hard, but the future is
bright.