Finnish Children Evacuated to Sweden Faced Hardships

In February 1942, Carita Blomqvist, along with her younger brother Tage and hundreds of other children, left Finland for Sweden as part of a large-scale evacuation during the Winter War. Finland faced wartime shortages, and nearly 5,000 children had already been sent across the Baltic Sea by January 1942, with thousands more to follow.

The children endured crowded conditions aboard the ship Arcturus, where they were housed in the hold and suffered from lice. While Carita and Tage found a welcoming home with two women in Söderköping, Sweden, her sisters experienced hardship in a different foster home.

The evacuation, the largest humanitarian effort of WWII, involved around 70,000 Finnish children between 1939 and 1945. Returning home after four and a half years was difficult, particularly for Tage, who had trouble readjusting and faced bullying. Carita Knappe, now 92, reflects on the complex legacy of the evacuation, acknowledging that while Sweden offered safety for some, others faced challenging experiences.