Kuhmo Military Cemetery
A total of 278 Kuhmo war heroes are buried in the Hankaniemi cemetery, the so-called old cemetery in Kuhmo. In the Winter War, 110 soldiers from Kuhmo died. Seventy-five soldiers were killed in the battles of Kuhmo and 35 on other fronts. In addition, one civilian was killed in battle-related events in Kuhmo. In the Continuation War, 168 soldiers from Kuhmo fell.
War hero funeral in Kuhmo in April 1940
The war hero funeral of the Winter War was held at the Hankaniemi cemetery on 21 April 1940. The service was officiated by Parish Minister Emil Rechardt. The parish village was still a war zone at the time, so relatives could only attend funerals with special permission. A soldier was standing guard on the Pajakkakoski bridge.
The deceased were buried in a large common grave covered with spruce twigs. Two more deceased were buried on 19 May 1940. Those who died later from injuries sustained during the Winter War are buried in the war grave. In the summer of 1950, the heroes’ gravesite was elevated from the rest of the area. Small, recumbent headstones were placed on each grave together with a shared large granite cross for the whole gravesite.
The Heroes’ cross was placed in the military cemetery as a memorial to the war heroes who died in the Second World War. It was erected by the municipality and parish of Kuhmo. The Heroes’ cross was unveiled on 24 May 1951. The memorial was designed by sculptor Jarmo Aalto and manufactured by the Veljekset Soininen stone carving studio.
The site is very easily accessible. A car park is located about 100 metres away from the site. However, there is limited space for buses. Address: Kainuuntie 64, 88900 Kuhmo, Finland.
Care of the fallen in the wars
The plans of the Finnish Defence Forces for the care of the fallen were found to be inadequate after the start of the Winter War. Initially, the intention was
to bury the dead as quickly as possible near the place where they fell. However, the relatives were against burying the fallen on the battlefield and the soldiers also hoped they could be buried in their parish cemetery.
On 16 December 1939, the Headquarters authorised the transfer of the dead to their home regions, and on 24 January 1940, an order was issued to establish evacuation centres for the fallen in all sections of the front. These centres took care of the transfer of the fallen to their home areas and the related activities. The evacuation centres were assigned to military chaplains. The system of care for the fallen, which had taken shape during the war, was confirmed and specified with a regulation after the Winter War.
The tasks of the evacuation centres included moving and collecting the deceased to the storage buildings provided for the purpose, building coffins to transport them to their home regions, cleaning and placing them in coffins, and arranging their transport by train to the station nearest to the place of burial. Any identification tags, documents and personal belongings found on the deceased had to be collected, catalogued and entered into the register of the deceased.
For those buried or missing in action on the front lines, the aim was also to record their names with the place and time of death or disappearance. The care of the fallen was particularly difficult during the withdrawal phases, when they were often left in enemy-held territory. If there was no possibility to transport the deceased to their home region, they were buried wrapped in blankets in a temporary grave without a funeral service. During the fierce withdrawal battles, some of the dead had to be buried in enemy-held areas and some were not buried at all. Because of the nature of the work, the staff of the evacuation centres were mostly men, but the cleaning of the dead and bookkeeping tasks were often performed by women, many of whom were Lottas. Handling bodies proved to be a difficult task to tolerate, with women often more resilient than men.
The evacuation centre for the fallen in the Kuhmo sector was located in Ontojoki, Sotkamo during the Winter War. The fallen from Kuhmo were transported to Sotkamo, where they were washed, dressed and placed in coffins. The fallen were kept in the Sotkamo Church. The construction of military cemeteries had to be carried out in a great hurry and according to incomplete plans.