«КАК УЕТУ ОПЯТЬ ОТСЮДА НА СВОЮ РОДИНУ». РЕПАТРИАЦИЯ В СССР ПЕРЕМЕЩЕННЫХ В ФИНЛЯНДИЮ ИНГЕРМАНЛАНДСКИХ ФИННОВ В 1944–1945 ГГ. (ПО МАТЕРИАЛАМ КОЛЛЕКЦИИ ПИСЕМ ИЗ СОБРАНИЯ ЛЕНИНГРАДСКОГО ОБЛАСТНОГО ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОГО АРХИВА В Г. ВЫБОРГЕ)

Abstract

A valuable material for studying the history of resettlement in Finland and the subsequent repatriation of the Ingrian Finns during the Second World War is provided by sources of personal origin. In the collection of the Leningrad Region State Archive in Vyborg, there is a collection of letters shedding light on the social and living conditions of the displaced Ingrians, their families and friendships, interaction with the authorities and the Finnish people, their moods and reactions to the events taking place at the front and in international politics. These are letters in Russian and in Finnish, as well as in the Ingrian dialect. Most of the documents in the collection refer to the final stage of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1941–1944 and to the period after the conclusion of the armistice, when the possibility of repatriating the Ingrians to the USSR began to be discussed. The most important theme in the letters is homesickness and discussions with relatives of the problem of returning. The documents eloquently testify that many Ingrian settlers were never able to start a new life in Finland, considered it a foreign country for themselves, persistently emphasized national differences with the Finns, connection with Russian culture, and dreamed of returning home.