From Heroes to Enemies - Finns in Canada, 1937-1947

From Heroes to Enemies is a social history of Finnish Canadians depicting the turbulent war years. Based on ten years of meticulous archival research, supported by extensice RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) documents obtained under the Access to Information Act of Canada, diaries, letter collections, and interviews, the book reveals a web of conflicts and previously unknown, suppressed phenomena. After years of negative press during the depression and the "red scare", Finns were suddenly elevated to heroes during the Winter War of 1939-1940, the battle between David and Goliath, Finland and Russia. When the crazy quilt of international relations changed, Finnish Canadians became enemy aliens as their former homeland fought against Canada's new ally, the Soviet Union, alongside Canada's enemy, Germany. Throughout it all, Finnisah Canadians did not change, their needs and desires remained unchanged, but with the pendulum of international politics they swung from heroes to enemies to heroes as if buffeted by contrary winds.