Memorandum
On the results of evacuation of the Finnish citizens
from the territory occupied by the Red Army around Suojärvi
February 20th, 1940
Evacuation of the population from this territory was started by the army special detachment in February 5th 1940 beginning with the Hautavaara village and followed as described below. The organization of the evacuation of the said village was rather poor. For example, the sectors commanders did not know their territory, the lists of the evacuated was not checked and, as a result, the population was informed about the evacuation only from beginning of 11.00 and the embarkation of the belongings and population was finished only at about 20.00. The above mentioned shortcoming was basically eliminated in the following operations.
On the territory of this district there was evacuated the population of the following settlements:
- Hyrsylä – 494 persons
- Ignoila – 183 persons
- Huttula – 45 persons
- Naistenjärvi and Torasjoki – 132 persons
- Hautavaara – 223 persons
- Moisionvaara – 364 persons
- Vegarus – 104 persons
- Rautavaara, Kaitajärvi, Välikylä and Heinäselkä – 125 persons
- Omossi (Savihauta farm-stead), Suuriselkä, Verkojärvi, Kuinuniemi – 98 persons
In total there were evacuated 1768 persons, of them 3 children (from Hautavaara and Moisionvaara) died on the way. The information about the settlements is included.
During the evacuation the representatives of the People's government helped the children needed with the footwear and clothing. For example, in the Ignoila village there were used 748 marks for 11 pairs of the children felt boots, 20 pairs of warm stockings, 11 woolen jerseys. Also there were given out the footwear for all village schoolchildren. In the Hautavaara village there were given out 28 pairs of the children felt boots and 30 pairs of warm stockings. From Hautavaara village just after the evacuation there were sent two lorries with warm cloths, flour and meat. In some settlements (Hyrsylä, Suuriselkä, Omossi, Hautavaara and Ignoila) as the result of the reminding of the representatives of the People's government the people themselves gave warm footwear and clothing to the poor children and grown-ups.
The attitude of the evacuated peoples was in absolute majority fair. It can be approved by the following example: In February 11th in the Hyrsylä village 494 persons were concentrated in a single place during 6 hours, despise of the fact, that farmsteads stay apart from the main village up to 8 kilometers. But the embarkation was postponed for 5 hours because of the lack of transport. Some people after being informed of evacuation told that they would not move anywhere (in Nilosaari, Hautavaara and Ignoila), but at the second visit their belongings were already packed up. In the Ignoila village one old woman began to cry, leaving the home. On the question of the representative of the People's government she said that she is ashamed to go to the Soviet Union, as she "run here in 1919 from Veshkelitsa village".
During the evacuation all comrades, sent by the Karelian Party Committee (Kiuru, Gordeev, Virolainen, Belyaev, Kononov, Kalinin, Fedorov) took active part. They helped greatly during the evacuation and passing the cattle to the Red Army.
During the evacuation there was the following number of cattle, passed to the Red Army units: horses – 98, including 5 foals, other cattle – 1060, of them cows – 948, heifers – 54, calves – 58, pigs – 3, sheep – 160, hens – 74. The cattle were passed to the Red Army units and to the construction unit N 100 and the number was counted together with their representatives. Alongside with the normal proceedings, some Red Army units were too slow in accepting the cattle in the villages Ignoila and Moisionvaara. In the latter in February 18th 1940 there were still left about 70 head of cattle, that means that the cattle became exhausted.
For all the cattle passed there are appropriate documents signed by the red Army representatives.
During the evacuation the inhabitants themselves gathered left belongings to the one cold location that was locked, nailed up and applied paper seal. But during the check of the safety of the left property in February 13, 14 and 15 it was found that in some settlements in which there were no military units, the locks were taken off and the things were scattered around. There also were occasions of pillage among some Red Army soldiers.
The representatives of the People's government found in the left settlements 650 sacks of the rye flour to be sent to the places of settlement of the evacuated people.
There is much corn of spring crops – rye, barley and wheat. During the evacuation the inhabitants took along up to 3 sacks of flour. Some having large families took along up to 10 sacks of flour.
The oats and hay were taken for the army needs.
In the Nilosaari village there was found a tannery, where there were found about 110 skins and many skins are in tan-vats.
In the nearest time the team of the representatives of the People's government plans the following activity:
- To gather all the items, left by the evacuated in the living hoses, into closures, seal them ant periodically check their safe keeping by visiting the settlements.
- There are about 2000 pieces of hides on the said territory. There is an immediate need to send here a representative of "Zagotkozh" for collecting and transfer hides to Petrozavodsk.
The brigade leader of the representatives of the People's government of Finland
Karpov
Central state archive of the Republic of Karelia. Original.
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