Children of Wartime - comic book (in English)

Teemu Heikkinen: art director, writer, layout Irina Raski: artist, character design Tapio Mömmö: artist, colorist, background artist Juha-Pekka Natunen: original idea, editor Mikko Europaeus: introduction texts Translation: Niina Purhonen This comic book was funded by Europe For Citizens Programme of the European Union

ISBN 978-951-97485-1-1 (PDF) Copyright: Rautjärven kunta, freely distributed

Rautjärvi Municipality Simpeleentie 12 56800 Simpele, Finland Phone: +358 40 581 8040 Lappeenranta University of Technology Skinnarilankatu 34 53850 Lappeenranta, Finland Phone: +358 029 4462111 Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore Institute for Cultural Research and Fine Arts University of Tartu Ülikooli 16 Tartu 51003, Estonia Phone: +372 737 5304

Table of contents

Preface........................................................................................

4

Working in the Middle of a War........................................

The Threat..................................................................................

The Persecutors.......................................................................

Hidden Dangers......................................................................

Strangers in Your Country...................................................

The Face of the War .............................................................

Coming Home.........................................................................

Prisoners among Us..............................................................

Leaving.......................................................................................

5 11 18 25 32 37 42 48 52

Preface This comic was made for educational purposes and has been executed in cooperation between the municipality of Rautjärvi (Finland), Lappeenranta University of Technology (Finland) and the University of Tartu (Estonia) during the years 2015 and 2016. The original idea of educational material about war history was created in Rautjärvi in 2014 when drama tours connected to war history were launched in the area for travellers and other people interested in the topic. During these tours, we noticed that the young people that took part in the tours were especially interested in matters concerning the Second World War. We carried out a questionnaire for the adolescent and found out that, for them, experiencing things themselves was an impressive and interesting way to learn. Because of this discovery, we decided to start developing new kind of educational material which is based on the learner experiencing things connected to the subject. The Second World War was chosen as the theme and children and adolescent were chosen as the point of view.

It was especially important to us that the educational material would be historically accurate, and it would reflect the viewpoint of the people who experienced the Second World War when they were children or adolescent. For this purpose we partnered with the above-mentioned universities which executed the survey in Finland and in Estonia.

The target group consisted of people who were 6 to 18 years old in the beginning of the Second World War. The data of the survey and the war experiences of the children and adolescent formed the base for the educational material.

The last stage was to develop three tools based on experiential learning: the comic, the roleplay and the drama tour. The comic includes those people’s points of view, experiences and stories of the war who took part in the survey, and it has been connected to historically accurate information. The aim of the comic is to tell stories about war from the point of view of the children and the adolescent. It was also especially important to us to bring forth the humane side of the war. The roleplay is designed for the school environment, and it allows the children and the adolescent to learn about the Second World War through experiencing events themselves.

The third tool is the drama tours where experiential learning culminates to interesting stories which are acted and scripted. During the tours, the pupils can take part on the events and experience historical moments in an authentic environment.

The comic and the roleplay are translated into several languages and are distributed for free to anyone who is interested in them. Our aim is to provide an innovative and alternative way of teaching and a method of creating similar material in the future. All the educational tools have been created in a way that they describe war history as objectively as possible and that children and adolescent are able to understand everything.

Hopefully you will have memorable moments with the material!

Juha-Pekka Natunen Rautjärven kunta Project manager

”Working in the Middle of a War” The war time required work contribution from everyone. It was not uncommon that even small children were given tasks that would now be considered dangerous or otherwise inappropriate. Curiosity and interest guided them to the world of the adults. In addition to everyday work, in war time, everything usable was utilised, such as paper, scrap metal, rubber and natural products, and it was also often the children’s task to gather these things.

”The Threat” Living in the shadow of a war created a constant threat. For the civilian population, it was a part of the everyday life to be prepared for bombings.

Routines were developed for it, such as covering light sources and camouflaging. People learned to distinguish the sound of the enemy’s aeroplanes and to act quickly. The anxiety created by the threat of the bombings especially during the night and memories of hiding into the snow or under the trees were imprinted into the children’s minds.

”The Persecutors” The warnings of the adults, old stories of persecution and rumours got often confusingly entangled in a child’s mind. In the borderland, it was difficult to understand things like the persecutors of the Second World War in Finland, saboteurs and the spying soviet desants, because they had not really been seen in action. It was assumed that evil spies were hiding here and there and the aim was to expose them immediately when they were met.

”Hidden Dangers” The war left its marks everywhere in population centres and rural areas, on land, forests and watersides. Especially on summertime, children and pupils were moving around quite freely, wanting to explore their environment. Even after the battles had ceased, the former war zone had hidden dangers: explosives, weapons and mines. War findings were often collected without thinking and playtime became dangerous. Sometimes the end of playtime was unfortunate.

”Strangers in Your Country” In a situation where a country is occupied, enemy soldiers are situated among the population. For example Estonia was occupied as many as three times during the Second World War and ended up being incorporated into the Soviet Union for a long period of time. All of the encounters were still not always hostile.

”The Face of the War” It was not easy to avoid seeing the cruelties of war even if the battles were not near. The fallen soldiers were often gathered right under the children’s eyes and sometimes the adolescent also took part in this work. In wartime, death was not a distant matter. It was a part of the everyday life.

”Coming Home” Fathers and other male relatives were in the war for years and it could not help but leave its marks on the families. For some children it became normal that father was somewhere far away and the relationship between them could end up being distant. This is why it was, especially at first, confusing for children when fathers returned from war. This memory stayed with the children for the rest of their life and was something they remembered even in old age.

”Prisoners among Us” One of the consequences of war was that prisoners of war were present in the villages. The prisoners, soldiers and civilians were accommodated in regular houses and farms but also in prison camps. The children often helped to take care of the prisoners, helped during mealtimes and were sometimes even guarding them. Despite the unusual conditions and the setting, people were understanding towards each other and even friendly relationships were formed. Even in the middle of a war, people are people.

”Leaving” One of the most difficult changes for many people was leaving their home to escape the war. In Finland, the state arranged a new place of residence for the people who were evacuated. It could be very far from home. People had to give up a lot in search of a new life. Plenty of evacuees’ memories have been recorded, especially from people who left Karelia. On the other hand, in Estonia, the conquerors’ drove people away all the way to Siberia.