Uusi reportteri
Vapaassa Sanassa aloittanut Vesa Lahtinen lupaa juttuja, joihin on helppo ottaa kantaa.

Kolumnit
Vapaassa Sanassa julkaistuja toimittajien kolumneja. Keväällä 2009 kolumneja on kirjoittanut Aku Karjalainen.

Toronto uudelle?
Mitä kaupungin perinteinen suomalaiskenttä voi tarjota tulokkaalle? Kaupungin "vanhat suomalaiset" varmasti yllättävät nykysuomalaisen, mutta kokemus voi olla kiinnostavakin.

Meille töihin?
Vapaa Sana ottaa vastaan Suomesta Centre for International Mobilityn kautta harjoittelijoita. Monikulttuurinen Toronto ja sen mediakenttä ovat todennäköisesti mielenkiintoinen kokemus. Muuhun palkkaamiseen VS:llä ei ole taloudellisia mahdollisuuksia. Hakemukset hoitaa CIMO Helsingissä. Lue tästä mitä Vapaa Sana edellyttää.

Mikä ihmeen Vapaa Sana?

Vapaa Sana on riippumaton viikkosanomalehti, joka ilmestyy kerran viikossa Torontossa. Lehden nimi periytyy 1930-luvulta.

Nimi johtaa joskus lehteä tuntemattoman pitämään Vapaata Sanaa ns hengellisenä lehtenä. Sitä se ei kuitenkaan ole.

Näillä sivuilla tarjoamme poimintoja sisällöstä, emme koko aineistoa. Vapaa Sana on tilauspohjainen lehti. Vuosikerta maksaa Kanadassa 100 dollaria ja GST-veron, nopeammin kirjepostina 150 dollaria.Tilaukset numeroon 1(416) 321 0808, klo 10-13 Toronton aikaa arkisin.

Yhtiömme

Kustannusyhtiö Vapaa Sana Press julkaisee viikkosanomalehtiä Vapaa Sana (Toronto) ja Canadan Sanomat (Thunder Bay). Yhtiön internetsivustot ovat www.vapaasana.com, www.canadansanomat.com ja www.finnishcanadian.com.

Yhtiön omistajapohja käsittää toistakymmentätuhatta kanadansuomalaista.

Kyselyjen johdosta ilmoitamme, että internetosoite vapaasana.net ei liity tämän kustannusyhtiön toimintaan.

Historiamme

Kesällä 2008 ilmestyi Lauri Toiviasen kirja Vapaan Sanan vaiheista. Tämän linkin takana voitte lukea myös VS:n 75-vuotisjuhlanumeron reportaaseja ja haastatteluja.

Finnish seniors remember the end of the Winter War 1939-1940

The seniors Centre and Nursing Home (Suomi-Koti) in the Eglinton-Laird area in Leaside remembered the end of the Winter War on March 13, 1940.
It reminded them of a very difficult time 65 years ago. At that time Finland’s population was just four million. These seniors were then children, adolescents or young adults. The war was a harrying experience. Some of them lost spouses, children or other relatives. Many of them lost their homes. Some of them were wounded in the war.
After the war when Europe was in chaos and later in the strains of the cold war, thousands of them immigrated to Canada. Now they can, after a long and industrious life, tell their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren about those indelible memories.
Rumblings of war
These seniors can remember that before war extreme political ideologies reigned over Europe. Some smaller countries had already lost their independence. The idealism of democracy was starving. Finland as a small northern European democracy was caught between these totalitarian powers who were, regard1ess of their political maneuvering, preparing themselves for an unpreventable confrontation that would engulf and inflame the whole of Europe
The Red Army’s undeclared and formidable attack against Finland brought irascible reaction throughout the world. It was an unprecedented outcry against a totalitarian country. Hence the overwhelming moral support for Finland’s stiff resistance to the Red Army’s aggression.
Probably all of Vapaa Sana’s older readers can recall that the war was headline news throughout the world. Our descendents of at least two generations know something about the Winter War. I have also noticed that many of our older Leaside neighbours remember something about this heroic war. The leading news organizations and agencies sent their war correspondents to Helsinki. Some of them were even embedded within the defending troops to keep their readers well informed.
Finland suffers vicious attack
Why and how did this all happen? The Winter War was not just a border skirmish between neighbours. It was a total frontal war involving hundreds of thousands of troops.
The Soviet Red Army crossed the Finnish border at eight locations on the morning of November 30, 1939. It was obvious that the Red Army’s intent was to conquer and occupy the country in a few weeks. The Red Army’s massive onslaught initially involved almost 30 divisions of infantry, hundreds of tanks, very heavy artillery and about 800 aircraft.
It is nowadays a historically known fact that Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union launched WWII together by attacking Poland from the west and the east on September 1, 1939. This attack was agreed on a week earlier in Moscow when Joachim von Ribbentrop and Vjatseslav Molotov signed their infamous non-aggression pact.
Attached to this agreement was a secret sham document that divided eastern Europe into spheres of influence and interest. This gave the Soviet Union predominance to take any political or military action it considered necessary.
This Soviet domain included
eastern Poland, Baltic countries and Finland. Immediately after Nazi Germany’s sanctions, Stalin resumed preparations for military aggression against Finland. Stalin calculated
that the Leningrad Military District was strong enough to overrun and occupy Finland. Stalin was told by the commander of the District, Marshal Kiril Meretskov that more troops were needed. Later it was learned that Marshal Meretskov
was right.
Finns turn tables on Russians
As the war was progressing slowly with heavy casualties the Soviet Union had to re-evaluate the war situation. Consequently, the decision was made to re-organize and to improve the Red Army’s performance. The Red Army’s highest military leaders Marshals Klementi Vorosilov and Semjon Timosenko took over the command of all troops on the Finnish front. About 200,000 new troops, including some elite divisions were brought to the front and fire power was greatly increased. The honour of the invincible Red Army was now at stake. Finland had to be crushed and the set goals achieved regardless of sacrifices.
Thousands of volunteers from more than ten countries came to fight for Finland.Military and other material aid was received from many countries. The Nazi Germany that was an ally of the Soviet Union d
uring the war tried to block the Baltic Sea to prevent this aid from reaching Finland.
The Soviet Union tried to justify this aggression against Finland at the League of Nations in Geneva. However, the Soviet Union was expelled from the organization on December 14, 1939.
The Red Army’s glorious march to Helsinki turned into a road of agony to ordinary soldiers who were not prepared for very harsh and sub-arctic winter circumstances. Their heavy war machinery didn’t function well under –40C conditions.
The Finnish defenders also suffered but were better prepared. The white-clad defenders moved swiftly on skis through fields and forests and surrounded enemy divisions and destroyed them. Finland’s small air force and antiaircraft guns shot down hundreds of enemy bombers when they flew over the country in orderly formations heavily loaded with bombs. About 600 strategic targets, cities, towns and villages were bombed.
Difficult peace negotiated but Finnish freedom retained
As Finnish defenses under the extreme pressure began to crumble, the Allied western countries, especially Great Britain, France and expatriate Poles planned to form a considerable expeditionary force to assist Finland to ward off the attacking enemy. This force planned to reach the Finnish front in March, 1940. Although this plan never materialized it perturbed Stalin who certainly didn’t want war with Allied countries. According to Russian war historians this was one of the reasons for Stalin’s readiness to negotiate peace with Finland.
The peace terms were shocking news for war-ravaged nation. About 12% of Finnish territories were ceded to the Soviet Union, 420,000 Kare1ians lost their homes and needed to be re-sett1ed in Finland. The present Russian Federation still holds these lands in flagrant contravention of the Geneva Convention.
For Finland the war was the struggle for national survival, freedom and democracy. The small Finnish Army lost almost 25,000 men dead and 50,000 wounded. The war was also very costly to the Red Army. When the Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev visited Helsinki he made a comment, “I’d say we lost as many as one million lives.” This appears lso in his memoirs. However, this is one of his famous hyperboles.
Brutal war for both countries
The official Soviet estimates, and war historians from both sides admit that the Red Army lost over 400,000 men dead, wounded or frozen. This was a terrible cost of war for both countries. It was a horrendous consequence of brutal dictatorship and ideological aggression.
Finland survived. The enemy never occupied the country. The Winter War still has the heroic lustre. Presently Finland is a peaceful and progressive democracy, a respected member of European Union and one of the most advanced countries on this turbulent planet.

Ben Järvenpää