LIFE MOVING FORWARD: SOVIET KARELIA IN THE LETTERS & MEMOIRS OF FINNISH NORTH AMERICANS SAMIRA S. SARAMO A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN HISTORY YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, CANADA SEPTEMBER 2014 © SAMIRA SARAMO, 2014 Abstract In the first years of the 1930s, some 6500 Finnish Canadians and Finnish Americans moved to Soviet Karelia, motivated by the economic depression and the dream of participating in the building of a Finnish-led workers’ society, with employment, education, and healthcare for all. Their recruitment as “foreign specialists” who would modernize the Karelian economy secured for them preferential access to food, housing, and work postings, but life in Karelia was very different than what the immigrants had previously known. Despite difficulties and a heavy return migration, those who stayed threw themselves into the building of socialism. However, by 1936, the Stalinist regime viewed ethnic minorities and foreigners as threats to the Soviet order, and the Finnish leadership in Karelia was ousted and a violent attack on ethnic Finns and Finnish culture took over the region, shattering the dream of the ‘Red Finn Haven.’ This dissertation examines letters written by Finnish North Americans in Karelia to friends and family remaining in Canada and the United States, as well as memoirs and retrospective letter collections that look back on life in Karelia in the 1930s. These sources, brought together under the umbrella of life writing, are analysed in two ways. They are used to construct a history of the immigrants’ everyday life, with chapters exploring topics such as travel and first impressions, housing, food, health and hygiene, clothing, children’s experiences, formal labour, political participation, celebrations, popular culture, sociability, and repression. The study of everyday life is grounded in the broader context of the immigrants’ North American and Finnish backgrounds and the evolving realities and contestations of Karelian autonomy and life in the Soviet Union. ii Life writing also offers opportunities to analyze the ways that individuals represent their experiences, form group identifications, and have used narratives to work through the emotional aftermath of the Great Terror. An examination of how gender and life cycle impact both experiences and their representations lies at the core of this work. Narrative analysis allows this dissertation to engage with the growing interdisciplinary field of scholarship that considers the form and applications of letters and memoirs. iii Acknowledgements A Doctoral Dissertation is a significant undertaking, but fortunately you do not need to face it alone. I have benefitted immensely from the support and guidance, both scholarly and personal, of so many people, and it is an honour to finally get to thank them formally. It seems fitting to begin with Varpu Lindström, since this whole project began with her. Varpu was an inspiring scholar, supervisor, and friend, who taught me so much about Finns and social history, but also about generosity, cooperation, and kindness. She took to introducing me as the reason she could retire, and I will do my best to live up to what she saw in me. Börje Vähämäki deserves a special mention for his love of Finnish language and culture, his love of Varpu, and his friendship, which I treasure. Though Varpu is not here to see my finished dissertation, I have an incredible supervisory committee that has supported me and positively fostered my thinking and writing every step of the way. Roberto Perin has been a wonderful supervisor and teacher, going above and beyond to become a dear friend and host to my family. Roberto’s vast knowledge of immigration history and interest in culture has allowed me to see the world in new, dynamic, and inter-connected ways. Jane Couchman, Second Reader, kindly pushed me to keep exploring the form and purpose of letters and life- writing, and for that the work is stronger. Her encouragement and enthusiasm for the project has been invaluable. Marcel Martel has been a welcomed late addition to the supervisory committee, and his interest and feedback have been greatly appreciated. My encounter with extraordinary academic support, however, did not begin only at York. At Lakehead University, I was propelled by Ron Harpelle, who encouraged me to do iv something “more Finnish.” Ron was a fantastic MA Advisor, introduced me to Varpu, and provides ongoing support. I often think fondly and gratefully of the teachers who have influenced me from my early education to my time at Trent University, Lakehead University, and York University. They have all played a part in me achieving this milestone. Thanks to Katie Bausch, Andrew Watson, and Ian Mosby, among other colleagues, who provided their feedback and friendship. Through my research about Soviet Karelia, I have met many people who have contributed to this work. Raija Warkentin gave me the research materials she had gathered and for this I can never say kiitos enough. I have gained so much by learning from and working with the partners in the Missing in Karelia Research Project. Special thanks go to Markku Kangaspuro, Evgeny Efremkin, and Alexey Golubev. I have also had help and support from some of the descendants of the Finnish North American life writers. Thank you, Nancy Mattson, Kathy Toivonen, Leonore Heino, and Arthur Koski for sharing your family with me. Thanks also to Laurie Hertzel, who so kindly answered my many questions about her time working with Mayme Sevander. I so enjoyed sharing coffee and pulla with the late Eini Tuomi of Thunder Bay, hearing her childhood memories about the ‘Karelian Fever’ among the Finnish immigrants at Pike Lake, Ontario, and exploring her suitcase of clippings and letters that helped to bring the past to life for me. In the process of learning about the Finns in Karelia, I discovered that my family has played a role, too. My maternal grandfather’s uncle was among the Finnish immigrants, my maternal great-grandfather brought Finnish “border hoppers” to the v Soviet border, and the Närvänen family has deep Finnish-Karelian roots. My family has also played an enormous role in this project in other ways. Thank you to my mother and father, Tiina and Jari Närvänen, who brought me to Canada and have always supported my love of history, and thanks to my sister, Ninja, and brother, Jaan. Thank you to my mother-in-law, Lita Boudreau, for all of the love, meals, and childcare that have helped make this possible. Thank you to my father-in-law, Lyle Nicol, for taking the time to proof-read these chapters for me. Any remaining mistakes are solely my own. Thanks, too, to Vicki, Bret, Kate, Michael, and all of my loving Finnish family. Thank you to our enormous and incredible community of friends in Thunder Bay and elsewhere, for all of your love and like-mindedness. Finally, I dedicate this work to my husband, Luke Nicol, and our children, Azelia and Maeve. Oh the joy of learning the world through the eyes of Azelia and Maeve! Over the course of this project, a lot has changed, including the arrival of these two daughters. Through it all, I have had the peace of knowing that Luke is at my side, helping and cheering me along. It is not easy to live with someone else’s work, but you have done it with love and laughs. I could not have done it without you. Thank you. In memory of the Finnish North Americans who went to Karelia with the dream of building a better world. vi Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgements ...........................................................................................................iv Map of Karelia.................................................................................................................viii Introduction .......................................................................................................................1 1. Road to Utopia: Finnish Communities in North America up to ‘Karelian Fever’.......49 2. The Question of Karjala: The Karelian Background .................................................89 3. “Our comrades are leaving again”: Moving to Soviet Karelia .................................118 4. “... of course not like there”: Karelian Living Conditions as Experienced by Finnish North Americans ...........................................................................................149 5. “The Golden Fund of Karelia”: Childhood in Finnish North American Karelia ......196 6. “Isn’t it a different land this sickle and hammer land?”: Working in Soviet Karelia .............................................................................................................230 7. “All kinds of hustle and bustle”: Social Life, Community Involvement, and Leisure .................................................................................................................265 8. “Karelia is soaked in the blood of innocent people”: Writing about the Great Terror ..........................................................................................................317 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................380 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................395