Lotta Svärd
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lotta Svärd was a Finnish voluntary auxiliary organisation for women. During the Finnish Civil War it was associated with the Suojeluskunta. After the war Lotta Svärd was founded as a separate organisation on September 9, 1920. The name comes from a poem by Johan Ludvig Runeberg. Part of a large and famous book, The Tales of Ensign Stål, the poem described a fictional woman named Lotta Svärd. According to the poem, a Finnish soldier, private Svärd, went to fight in the Finnish War and took his wife, Lotta, along with him. Private Svärd was killed in a battle, but his wife remained on the battlefield, taking care of wounded soldiers. The name was first brought up by marshal Mannerheim in a speech held on May 16, 1918. The first known organization to use the name Lotta Svärd was the Lotta Svärd of Riihimäki, founded in November 11, 1918.
The organisation expanded during the 1920s and it included 60 000 members in 1930. By 1944 it included 242 000 volunteers, the largest voluntary auxiliary organisation in the world, while the total population of Finland was less than four million. During the war some 100 000 men whose jobs were taken over by "Lottas", were freed for military service. The Lottas worked in hospitals, at air-raid warning posts and other auxiliary tasks in the armed forces. The Lottas, however, were officially unarmed. The only exception was a voluntary anti-aircraft unit in Helsinki in the summer of 1944, where they operated the AA guns. In practice, they did often carry light weapons for self-protection, although officially this was forbidden, as they were forbidden to make a military salute.
When the Continuation War ended the Soviet Union demanded that all organisations considered by them to be fascist and semi-fascist were to be banned. The Lotta Svärd organisation was one of the organisations which the Soviet Union demanded to be disbanded. This happened November 23, 1944. A new organisation called Suomen Naisten Huoltosäätiö (Support Foundation of Finnish Women) was however started which took over much of the old property. This organisation still exists to this day by the name of Lotta Svärd Säätiö (Lotta Svärd Foundation).
The Finnish Lotta Svärd organisation has inspired similar organisations in other countries and there is still a Lotta Svärd organisation in Sweden (Lottorna), the same model is also used in Denmark and Norway.
A 2005 film Lupaus (promise) describes the trials and tribulations of a number of Finnish Lottas during the Second World War.
