Suonpää, Ded - Tampere 1918

Two sons, Urho and Urpo, were born in the Sillanpää croft. They both participated in the Finnish Civil War. One fought for the Whites, the other for the Reds. After the war ended with the victory of the Whites, Urpo was brought to the Finnish Political Offence Court, charged with treason. Urho was a member of the Political Offence Court. Having fought on the side of the winners, Urho ended up a major general, Urpo prisoner number 2864 in the prison camp. Juha Suonpää, Doctor of Arts, tracks his grandfather's, Urpo's, journey into the Battle of Tampere in 1918. Photomontages combine moments from the Civil War with the current street views of Tampere. The book forms a striking route into the first steps of the Finnish independence, where Tampere played a pivotal role. The photos make you fall silent. Here, on the street you know so well, once lay a pile of Finnish corpses, shot by other Finns. The 18-year-old Urpo survived the war, but was wounded. A bullet shot by a Russian soldier remained in his body for the rest of his life. Although the metal had encapsulated and the wound had closed, the memory of the war lived on as a scar in his left hand.