In June 1944, after two wars with the Soviet Union, the Finnish region of Karelia was ceded to the Soviet Union. As a result, the Finnish population of Karelia, nearly 11% of the Finnish population, was moved across the new border. The war years, the loss of territory, the resettlement of the Karelian population, and the reparations that had to be paid to the Allied Forces, were experiences shared by most people living in Finland between 1939 and the late 1950s. Using a family's memoirs, the author shows how these traumatic events affected people in all spheres of their lives and also how they coped physically and emotionally.

Karen Armstrong (1946-2014) was a Professor of Social Anthropology at Helsinki University.

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
A Note on Sources

Chapter 1. Event and Meaning

Inkilä, 1997 Community Discourse The Historical Context

Chapter 2. Subjective Meaning

Routines and Rituals The Lutheran Church in Kirvu Residual Structures

Chapter 3. Significant Worlds

Topogeny The Text as a World

Chapter 4. Genealogical Narratives

Marriage and Alliance Origins A House Called Poja-Aatam The Central Story: Eskola House Karelian House Society

Chapter 5. Kinship and Nation

Getting Married Inheritance Exchange and Transmission

Chapter 6. Wartime: A National Event

Individual Voices and Collective Memory The Civil War and Its Aftermath Sivistys Women and Sacrifice in War Extraordinary Noted Narratives and National Events Patriotism

Chapter 7. Mamma hyvä: Meaning and Value in Letters

Apples and Sugar Living Properly Rhubarb and Cultural Transmission

Chapter 8. Towards Mythology

The First Evacuation Experiencing Otherness Back Home in Inkilä The Second Evacuation End of War, 1944 Boundaries

Chapter 9. Conclusion: National Political Culture

Notes
References
Index