Far-right politics in Finland
[8][9] The far-right groups exercised considerable political power, pressuring the government to outlaw communist parties and newspapers and expel Freemasons from the armed forces.
[14] Especially the criminal justice system was sympathetic to the far-right: According to author Sirpa Kähkönen, fascists were overrepresented among prison officers and sometimes outright controlled certain correctional institutions.
In 1932, the warden of Tammisaari labor camp Kiianlinna, his deputy Torsten Palenius and 50 officers sent greetings to Vihtori Kosola in the local IKL newspaper.
They have recruited Finns to fight in the war in Ukraine and the Russian Imperial Movement has organized military training for Finnish neo-Nazis.
The group had about 40 prominent Finnish authors, including Mika Waltari, Tito Colliander, Jarl Hemmer and Maila Talvio.
The State Police itself was led by also openly pro-Nazi and antisemitic Arno Anthoni and under him it cooperated with the SS, Einsatzkommando Finnland and Sicherheitsdienst.
[57][58] The State Information Service, responsible for propaganda and censorship, also employed the aforementioned right-wing extremists and published pro-German material like Finnlands Lebensraum.
According to authors Juha Pohjonen and Oula Silvennoinen the famous Finnish war hero Captain Lauri Törni was also part of this operation.
[64][65] The Finnish Realm Union included strikingly many representatives of art, culture and science; the most well-known were the sculptor Wäinö Aaltonen, the geologist Väinö Auer, the composer Yrjö Kilpinen, the linguist J. J. Mikkola and the film director Risto Orko.
[65] In addition to the coup plans, the Germans created a Pro-German resistance movement in Finland, recruiting Finnish SS-men and extreme right-wingers.
[69] The organisation is responsible for multiple violent crimes, including attacking anti-racism and gay pride demonstrations and stabbing participants of a left-wing event.
The group also awarded the title of "activist of the year" to a member convicted of torturing a man to death and possessing illegal weapons.
A Finnish corporal who had served in Afghanistan and was a member of both the FRM and National Action was convicted of terror offenses and membership in the proscribed organization while living in Llansilin.
The leader of National Action, Benjamin Raymond, also visited the FRM in Finland and held speeches and was pictured posing with an assault rifle.
[90][91] Finns Party Youth members and leaders also attend "Etnofutur" ethnonationalist conferences in Estonia organized by the Blue Awakening together with the FRM.
The founder of Blue Awakening and current MP for EKRE Ruuben Kaalep has been described as a neo-Nazi and connected to the local proscribed terror group and Atomwaffen affiliate Feuerkrieg Division.
In 1918 during the Civil War the White Guard leader and leading ideologue Martti Pihkala published a book "What kind of Finland we must create?"
Vicar of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and member of the Diet J. W. Wartiainen wrote in 1922 the antisemitic book called "World-historical importance of the Jews as former Godly nation and current mob of Satan".
The publishing company Vasara (their magazines were Tapparamies and Siniristi), Finnish People's Organisation (Herää Suomi, Hakaristi and Hakkorset), the Finnish Labor Front society (Työrintama and Kansallinen työ), the Blue Cross-society (Kustaa Vaasa and Uusi Eurooppa) and the independent magazines För Frihet och Rätt, Fascisti, Kansallinen Sana and Vapaa Suomi "were all very active in their effort to prove that Jews sought world domination".
In the most popular film of 1938, Jääkärin morsian (Jäger's Bride) for instance the main antagonist is a Jewish spy whom the hero assaults while shouting antisemitic abuse.
Prominent early Finnish Holocaust deniers include professor C. A. J. Gadolin, CEO Carl-Gustaf Herlitz, architech Carl O. Nordling and ambassador Teo Snellman.
[123] Prominent modern Finnish Holocaust deniers include the owner of KauppaSuomi newspaper and department store tycoon Juha Kärkkäinen.
However, this characterization is controversial in Finnish society where Schauman is widely idolized; Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen had to defend himself against backlash after describing the act as such.
In 1905-1907 another secret society Karjalan Kansan Mahti (Might of the Karelians) were responsible for multiple murders of Russians and weapon thefts and bank robberies.
[133][134][135] In 1927 a group consisting of Finnish guides and White Russian emigres crossed into the USSR from Finland and bombed Soviet government offices with dozens of casualties.
[139] A group identifying themselves as "fascists from Munkkiniemi" used dynamite and IEDs built from anti-aircraft shells to cause an explosion at the offices of the Vapaa Sana newspaper.
In 1991, Finland received a number of Somali immigrants who became the main target of Finnish skinhead violence in the following years, including four attacks using explosives and a racist murder.
[104] On December 4, 2021, the Finnish police arrested a five-man cell in Kankaanpää on suspicion of planning a terror attack and confiscated numerous firearms including assault rifles and tens of kilos of explosives.
[155] In July 2023 the Finnish police arrested five men in Lahti who possessed assault rifles and adhered to accelerationism and Siege and planned to ignite a race war by attacking the infrastructure, electric grid and railroads.
[29] A man affiliated with the Lahti group is also suspected of plotting a ritual murder and sending a string of letter bombs sent to Social Democrat, Green and Left party offices.
