Huhtiniemi Mass Grave - Background

Background

According to persistent rumours, the Finnish Army held secret courts-martial for deserters in Lappeenranta during the summer of 1944 after the Soviet Fourth strategic offensive in the Continuation War. It is assumed that convicted deserters were then moved to Huhtiniemi, executed by firing squad, and buried in unmarked graves. Because no records of the activities of the Greater Saimaa's regional court martial during the year of 1944 have been found, some believe the records have been deliberately destroyed. According to information attributed to Toivo Tapanainen, the supposed chief judge of the courts, the number of executions was between 500 and 600 The Finnish law was only changed in July 1944, permitting a death penalty for desertion. If the rumour is valid, such tribunal in June 1944 would have technically been illicit and unconstitutional kangaroo court, and any death sentences judicially been outright murders.

While the true purpose of the mass grave(s) is as of yet unverified, the grave site itself has been discovered. In 1971, during plumbing duct installation, a worker found a human skull. According to an article in news paper Etelä-Saimaa, a mass grave was found. At the time, the site was believed to date back to the Finnish Civil War of 1918, even though the site was not investigated in detail. These findings have since been lost. It is assumed the bones have been destroyed.