Evening star., 1939-12-24
Yu|e Holds Little jov
For Finland Bowed
By Weight Of War
Third Of Nation Either
At Front or Forced Out
Of Homes by Fighting
By LELAND STOWE,


HELS1NKI, Dec. 23.-Much more
than in England and America,
Christmas has always been the oc-
casion of nation wide family re-
unions in Finland. But in this war
time Yuletide will be strangely sub
.dued, without music or singing and
with most families widely separated.
For there is scarcely a family
among the 100000 Firms without
one or several male relatives at the
front. In addition, one out of
-- every seven in Finlands entire
civilia npopulation is a war refugee
-uprooted, far from home and de-
pendent upon public and private
charity for shelter, warmth and a
place to sleep.
Already the Red invaders have
forced 100000 women and children
and aged to abandon their farms
and villages, or homes in exposed
cities like Viipuri (Viborg) and
>. Helsinki. Add to these the big
J army mobilization. together with
: girls and women in the Lotta
!. Svard (women's auxiliary, and this
. means close to one-third of the
!. nations population preoccupied or
: dislocated by the Bolshevist war.
: Firms Cherished Yule.
{ Imagine 100000 Americans
: either in uniforms, in women's aux
; iliary services or driven from their
4 homes, and you may have a faint
s idea of the kind of Christmas the
Finnish people face. Not single
: civilian can be seen from my win
: dow. on either Helsinki's central
< esplanade or intersecting streets. An
: air alarm sounds and all the in
. habitants of this capital are driven
: indoors or underground. Even with
: out bombs this is the inhuman
reality Of the prelude to a day
which will not mean peace on earth
for the Firms.
Nevertheless, the Films always
! have cherished Christmas as no
: other day in the year. In strict
! accuracy their Christmas always
has lasted eight days-an unin-
terrupted round of family celebra-
tions, dinners with grandparents,
uncles, aunts and cousins, from
Christmas eve through New Year.
The old-fashioned Christmas of our
New England colonists had a sim
liar old home week atmosphere,
save that these far Northern people
unleash much more abandon and
spontaneous gaiety when they cele-
brate anything.
Sleep at Posts.
But this will be a very different
kind of Christmas for the Firms.
Husbands, brothers and uncles are
all in service somewhere. Nearly
half of all the wives, aunts and
sisters are doing 12-hour duty in
AFRAID stations, hospitals and field
kitchens. In Helsinki alone, several
thousand I.ottas will have no time
off for Christmas eve or Christmas.
Hundreds Of young women sleep at
their posts and many have not slept
on a mattress for over three weeks.
Dancing has been abolished in Fin
land for the duration of the war.
There are much more important
things to do.
Sirens may sound the all clear, but
they will be lying, actually. For
there will be no all clear for the Fin
nish people for weeks, months, or
perhaps years to come. This, they
all know, may be their last Christ
mas as free republic until such a
remote time as even little peoples
may live unmolested in world
which actually practices good will
to men.
Yet where remnants of families
still succeed in assembling next
Monday, there will be new pride
in being Finnish. In some places,
if absent ones have not already been
killed, there will still be laughter.
:, In most places, there will be hope
In every place, there will be this
high splendid Finnish will to live. It
:, will be different Christmas, but the
Firms, as Stain himself must now
!, know, are what they have always
:. been-the freest spirits of the frozen
!. North.
: Few Presents Being Bought.
:. It seems that I have almost neg
= lected to tell what Finland's Christ
mas will really be like People are
not buying many Christmas presents
. for their own families this year. In
: stead, they are buying anything they
can find and afford that the soldiers
= may need. People say:
Don't give me anything for
!. Christmas. You must give something
tFto the soldiers, instead" Or people
I say: 1--WE must do something for the
refugees in the town hall and the
= schools Or they buy big ham for
the evacuees who now make their
. !, own homes overcrowded and uncom-
r.fortable.
Z Yes, this will be decidedly differ
4 ent Christmas than most newspaper
/ correspondents here have ever seen
awe have never seen the Christmas
Il spirit fill whole land and animate
!. an entire nation before. In this land
Y of Christmas trees there will still be
ii Christmas trees regardless of the
!. war. But the real presents will not
!. be on the Christmas trees. Here an
/, entire people without peace on
:, earth" thinks first of its needy and
a common cause
= Copyright. 1889. Chicago Daily News. 1nc.) }