Finland Times

 

File picture of justice minister Anna-Maja Henriksson. Photo Lehtikuva.

The civilians who were interned after the Continuation War are given the opportunity to apply for compensation with the compensation act coming into force on September 1.

 

The Ministry of Justice in a press release on Friday said applications for compensation may be submitted to the State Treasury once the act enters into force and but before the end of 2015. 

 

The State Treasury will issue further information about applying for compensation in August 2014.

 

‘The compensations granted by the state are a way of recognising that the actions of the Finnish authorities were unreasonable, as they also interned women and children with Finnish roots,’ said Justice Minister Anna-Maja Henriksson.

 

The minister said, “These people could not have posed any threat whatsoever to the safety of the Allied Forces, and neither did the Allied Control Commission require Finland to intern them.” 

 

The amount of the compensation is EUR 3,000 and in those rare cases where the internment lasted for less than a month the compensation amounts to EUR 1,500, according to the press release. 

 

If, however, the person was interned for less than three days, he or she will not be eligible for compensation.

The most eligible applicants are those who were children when interned. 

 

According to the terms of the 1944 Moscow Armistice, Finland was obligated to intern all German and Hungarian civilian nationals in Finnish territory. Initially, the Finnish authorities did not intern people with dual nationality and their children. However, the list was later expanded to also include Finnish-born women and their children.