Westerlund, The Finnish SS-Volunteers and Atrocities 1941-1943 - Against Jews, Civilians and Prisoners of War in Ukraine and the Caucasus Region 1941-1943

In the spring of 1941, Finland began to recruit volunteers to serve in the German Waffen-SS. After the perils of the Winter War of 1939-40, the Finnish government and the military high command wanted support against the continuing existential threat posed by the Soviet Union, even in the wake of the signing of the Moscow Peace Treaty. Only Germany had the means to provide such support in a situation where the Soviet Union had already occupied the three Baltic States (in June 1940) after seizing...