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Frozen Hell – Prisoners of War in Finland 1941–1942
There were more than a hundred camps and over 3 000 work camps for Soviet Red Army prisoners all over Finland during the Continuation War in 1941–2. A third of the 70 000 Russian prisoners died during this time. The prisoners were used as badly needed work force on railways and roads, in mining and factories.
Frozen Hell – Prisoners of War in Finland 1941–1942 reveals how the concentration camps were designed and how they were run. The film exposes to what extent, in the turmoil of World War II, human dignity was ignored.
The decisions about the prisoners' treatment were made at the very top rungs of the Finnish Defence Forces. The documentary has four main characters at the core of it, all of them influential individuals in the Finnish military, in politics and industry. Through them a story unfolds of how after the civil war the dream of the right-wing ruling class was to wage a war against its arch enemy – the Soviets. Their dream ended in disappointment and heavy losses – those in charge became the perpetrators of some of the most savage war crimes of Finnish history.
All written records about the Finnish camps were destroyed before the end of the War. The film draws from recent research and includes footage and photographs that have not been broadcast before.
Duration: 85 min
Dialogue: Finnish
Age limit: K15
