National archives’ ‘war victim sampo’ database to be supplemented with data on the 1918 battles at Vierumäki

Since 1998, information on people who died in the Finnish civil war has been collected in a national database.

Since 1998, information on people who died in the Finnish civil war has been collected in a national database. In November 2019, the National Archives published the renewed War Victim Sampo, which replaced the previous Finnish War Victims 1914–1922 database. As part of this work, the Prime Minister’s Office commissioned an archival study from the National Archives at the end of 2019 on what is known about the civil war battles at Vierumäki in 1918 based on documentary sources, and on what these sources reveal about the number of victims buried in Vierumäki. The burial site is located at what is now the Versowood Oy factory area. The report will be published on the website of the National Archives at on 8 July 2020.

The archival study was conducted by Ilkka Jokipii (MA) and Ville-Pekka Kääriäinen (MA). The study, launched at the National Archives in early March 2020, was led by Research Director Päivi Happonen and Director General Jussi Nuorteva.

In addition to the battles at Vierumäki in 1918, an archival study is being conducted concerning the Hennala prison camp. The War Victim Sampo database will be supplemented with the information obtained from the study on the Hennala prison camp in January 2021.

Inquiries: 

Research Director Pävi Happonen, [email protected], Tel. +358 50 468 8762, National Archives of Finland,

Chief Specialist Tiina-Kaisa Laakso-Liukkonen,  [email protected], Tel. +358 29 516 0220, Prime Minister’s Office