Murmansk FinnsorKola Finns (Finnish: Muurmanninsuomalaiset, Kuolansuomalaiset) are a group of Finns who live or lived in Murmansk Oblast. They came to Murmansk around 1860 during the Finnish famine of 1866–68.[1] However, there was another immigration period in 1900, due to the building of the Kirov Railway. In 2010, there were 273 Finns living in Murmansk.[2]
During the Stalin era, the Murmansk Finns were heavily persecuted, being accused of espionage[3] The last Murmansk Finnish villages were emptied in 1940, when 6,973 "citizens of foreign nationalities": Finns, Norwegians, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, and Swedes were deported.[1][4] The survivor, artist and writer Sven Lokka in his books described the experience of Murmansk Finns.[5]
Agnessa Haikara wrote a documentary book『Неизвестная северная история』(Unknown Northern History) about the persecution of 210 Murmansk Finns and Kola Norwegians (printed in Finnish as Kuka koputtaa ovellesi?, "Who is Knocking at Your Door?"[6]), for which Haikara was accused of "encitement of ethnic hatred".[7]
