Red/White Clash Shapes Local History
2, January 2000 William A.J. & Okja Mackie
Dear Editor,
Please consider the following letter for publication in the next issue of the Random Harvest Weekly.
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Jean Alve's historical column, "Sounds in Spencer," should be mandatory reading for all students in our local schools. Her well-researched, informative articles constitute a valuable public service. One of her recent columns on local area Finnish history (RHW, 24 Nov. 99) was particularly interesting to me because it touched upon the way I was raised and experienced life during Spencer's Finnish era.
Jean's description of the Finnish movement to the local area creates a good picture of what the Finns did and the institutions they established. However, some of the more colorful details have been omitted. Using primarily red and white. I will try to paint in some of the missing details on just how the Finnish community interacted with each other and with their newly adopted country.
For a young Finnish-American schoolboy of the 1940s and 1950s, the deep divisions within the local Finnish community were always fascinating and sometimes alarming. One must remember that the old country Finns of this era had, for the most part, left Finland during the Czarist era which ended with Finland's Red-White Civil War of 1918. Although Finland emerged free and independent of Russia, many local Finns strongly believed that Finland should have joined with the Bolshevists and become part of the Soviet Union. Both White and Red Finns brought their beliefs, hopes, and aspirations with them as they joined the local Finnish community.
My grandfather, Jaakko Ahola, was a conscripted veteran of the Czar's Army. One of his neighbors on the Crumtown Road was a veteran of the Finnish Civil War's Red Guards. These two old Finns maintained a neighborly friendship, but were forever at opposite ends of the political spectrum. So it was throughout our Finnish community, White Finns and Red Finns living together, but adhering to totally different beliefs and life styles. The White Finns worshipped in private homes and the two Finnish Lutheran churches, The Red Finns "worshipped" in Van Etten's Rod Hall. In between were a handful of Socialist-minded Finns who deplored the dictatorial methods of the Soviet and Finnish communists.
It is somewhat ironic that the Finnish fall in Van Etten was a former church. It was, in fact, the focus of the most rabid Finnish communist activity in the local area. Propaganda leaflets from the 1940s clearly depict the nature of activities that took place in the Red Hall. Certainly not all of the Finns or Yankees (For me the term "Yankee" still conjures up an image of non-Finn. We were the Finns, non-Finns were Yankees.) who attended activities at the Red Hall were communists or communist sympathizers. Nevertheless, because of our families abhorrence of anything associated with the Red Hall, I can say that I have never set foot in the building.
Even our own family experienced Red-White dissension. Attributable in part to depression-era hardships, one of our immigrant aunts and her husband determined to leave the US for a new life in Soviet Karelia. My mother and another aunt joined other relatives in successfully persuading them not to go, that the Soviet communist "paradise" was not the solution to world-wide economic problems. Most Finnish-Americans that did go to the Soviet Union either disappeared forever, or suffered for the rest of their lives. The handful of Finns that were able to leave Soviet Karelia -- perhaps one or two families from the local area -- never spoke of "paradise" again.
My father, "Iso-Aaro" Mackie, had tried to volunteer for the Finnish Army during Finland's brief 1939-40 Winter War against the Soviet Union. However, the US Neutrality Act had recently been passed and authorities cautioned my father that the government did not want its citizens taking part in any war not directly affecting the US.
Though the Spencer Co-operative Society was supported by a broad spectrum of local Finns, it was largely left-leaning in its political philosophy. Just prior to joining the US Army, my father delivered bread for an Ithaca bakery, his stops included the Spencer
Co-Op. One day while making a delivery he became embroiled in a heated argument with the Co-Op's grocery manager on the evils of the Soviet Union and communism. When my father returned to make his next delivery, he found his company's bread and bread shelves thrown into the parking lot. Fortunately, beginning in the 1950s, management worked to make the Co-Op as apolitical as possible.
Local Finnish communists and sympathizers gained renewed confidence at the end of World War II. In one of the greatest examples of 20th century moral equivalency, the US allied with the Soviet Union and Great Britain, had defeated Nazi Germany. On the other hand, to undo the results of earlier Soviet Winter War aggression, Finland had thrown its lot in with Germany as a co-belligerent against the Soviet Union and barely managed to preserve its freedom and independence. Local Finnish communists became strong supporters of the Progressive Party and Henry Wallace's 1948 campaign for the presidency and closer ties with the Soviet Union. I vividly recall Finnish-American students from Red-Finn families bringing varieties of propaganda to school supporting Henry Wallace and praise for Stalin and the Soviet Union.
Before long, many of the local first generation White and Red Finns began to die off or move to retirement areas in Florida and elsewhere. Second and third generation Finns became less active in Red-White political activities. Ironically, many descendants of the community's most dedicated Finnish communists acquired very conservative political beliefs. Some even went so far as to become active church members.
In the end, some things are abundantly clear. The local Red Finns were absolutely wrong. White Finns were clearly vindicated for speaking out against the outrages of Soviet communism and the aggression waged upon Finland. More importantly, Finland proved that it took the only path available to it in order to survive. Standing up against Soviet aggression ensured that Finland would not go the way of countries that either did not fight or showed little will to defend their own freedom and independence. I number my immigrant Finnish grandparents among the very best Americans I have ever known. Hard won freedom and independence are worth defending and fighting for.
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Attached to this letter are two samples of local Finnish communist propaganda from the early 1940's. You may use them as you consider appropriate. I made electronic versions of the originals for your information and my own personal records. For your information, I have also attached a one-page copy of a briefing presented by the Finnish Reserve Officers' Association that depicts "Finnish War History in a Nutshell."
I hope this letter is not too late for publication. In any event, I wish you a very happy new year! (In Finnish, "Hyvaa uutta vuotta!")
