Les Juifs de Helsinki

The Jewish community of Helsinki traces part of its origin to former Jewish soldiers of the Imperial Russian army (the cantonists) permitted to remain in Finland, then a grand duchy under Russian rule. Remaining one of the smallest Jewish communities in Europe, it organized itself around a synagogue and communal institutions, its members often being merchants and later members of the liberal professions. During the Second World War, despite Finland's co-belligerency with Germany against the Soviet Union, the country refused to hand over its Jewish citizens, and the community survived. It remains active in Helsinki.

Sources & resources

• Encyclopaedia Judaica — 2e éd., Keter/Macmillan
• Jewish Virtual Library ↗