Brooch by ATO-koru jewellery firm

The life of the Ingrian Finnish woman Elsa (1921–1998) was marked by numerous relocations and changes of residence. The brooch is a keepsake of one relocation. Elsa received it as a gift in Finland in December 1944, shortly before her departure to the Soviet Union.

Elsa’s childhood and youth

Elsa Kurki was born in Skuoritsa (Skworitz) in Ingria. In 1936, she and her adopted family were relocated to Siberia. The forced relocation was part of the purge of border regions initiated by Stalin’s regime, which affected not only the Ingrians but also many other minority groups, such as the Karelians.

In the late 1930s, Elsa was admitted to study in Leningrad, but the outbreak of war in 1939 interrupted her studies. She arrived in Finland in 1943 in her early twenties.

During the Continuation War, approximately 63,200 Ingrians were brought to Finland. The war years were characterised by a labour shortage, which the arrival of Ingrians was expected to ease. The population transfers were also partly motivated by humanitarian considerations and a desire to help.

During the war, Elsa lived in Lohja, where Ingrians worked at Lohjan Kalkkitehdas Oy lime works in Virkkala, the Lohja cellulose factory and the Ojamo lime mine among other places. However, the Continuation War ended for Finland with the signing of the Moscow Armistice on 19 September 1944.

Under the terms of the armistice Finland committed to returning all Soviet citizens. This was extended to include Ingrian Finns. The transfers took place mainly by rail between 5 December 1944 and 15 January 1945. By 1953, nearly 56,000 persons defined as Soviet citizens had been returned to the Soviet Union.

Gifted ATO-Koru brooch

The story of Elsa Ettli (née Kurki, later Rähmönen) was recorded in the archives of the Finnish Literature Society during the project The Ingria and Ingrians – recording histories, preserving memories (2018–2020). Several objects belonging to her were also incorporated into the collections of the National Museum of Finland.

Elsa’s estate included a brooch from the product range of ATO-koru jewellery firm, a subsidiary of the goldsmiths A. Tillander. The brooch was stored in a cardboard protective box together with a bundle of name cards tied with a pink ribbon. The top card reads: A keepsake for Elsa, 15 December 1944.

The documentation does not indicate whether the gift came from Elsa’s workplace or from another group or organisation, but it was nevertheless associated with her departure from Finland. The box protecting the brooch bears the handwritten note “Finland, 1944”.

ATO-koru produced jewellery in the 1930s and 1940s. Due to wartime material shortages, some pieces were made from non-precious metals, such as bronze. The designer was Hanna Siegfrieds, whose designs were inspired by old folk ornaments and ancient jewellery, as well as the collections of the National Museum of Finland.

ATO-koru’s 1945 catalogue includes the convex brooch received by Elsa, decorated in a national romantic style, listed as number 136 under the name Auvo. The price was 195 marks, equivalent to €30 in today’s currency.

Photo 1: A roughly circular brooch or pin (SU6182) decorated with three opposing volutes and a floral motif at the centre.
Photo 2: A brooch named "Auvo" from the range of the ATO-koru jewellery firm, together with its protective box bearing the manufacturer’s logo.
Photo 3: The bundle of cards received by Elsa contains 25 names, each on a separate card.
Photos: Timo Ahola, Finnish Heritage Agency.

From Siberia to Estonia and Finland

After the war years and her time in Finland, Elsa returned to Siberia to stay with a relative. She married, and later divorced, a man named Ettli. Surviving documents indicate that her life became more settled in the 1960s, when she moved to Estonia. She lived in Pärnu throughout her adult years and worked in the timber industry.

In the mid-1990s, Elsa Ettli moved once more, returning from Estonia to Finland with her partner, the Ingrian Finn Eero Tielinen (1924–2003), shortly before her death. Eero had also lived in exile somewhere in the Soviet Union and had served in the Finnish Army.

Departures, returns and repeated relocations, both forced and voluntary, were part of the life of Ingrian Finns and many other population groups in the border regions of the Soviet Union during the twentieth century. Understandably, few objects survived the many relocations, and even fewer have been preserved in museum collections. The brooch Elsa received in Finland accompanied her for more than fifty years and ultimately entered the collections of the National Museum of Finland through a donation from Ossi Harjunpää.

Anna-Mari Immonen

Literature:

Flink, Toivo 2012: Pois nöyrän panta. Inkerin Liitto 1922–1944. Siirtolaisuusinstituutti: Turku.

Inkeri – Historia, kansa, kulttuuri. Toim. Pekka Nevalainen, Hannes Sihvo. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura: Helsinki.

Korte, Maiju & Savolainen, Ulla 2023: Sodan ja karkotuksen lapset. Inkeriläisiä elämäntarinoita. Into Kustannus: Helsinki.

Rautajoki, Reijo 2020: Vaiettu vaellus. Inkeriläisten leirit 1942–1944. Siirtolaisuusinstituutti: Turku.

Sihvo, Jouko 2000: Inkerin kansan 60 kohtalon vuotta. Gummerus: Jyväskylä.