Edvard Karvonen Explained

Edvard Karvonen
Nickname:Eetu
Birth Date:19 July 1905
Birth Place:East Karelia, Russian Empire
Death Place:Lahti, Finland
Allegiance: White Finland
Estonia

Finland
Branch:White Guard
Pohjan Pojat
French Foreign Legion
Sturmabteilung
Schutzstaffel
Legion Condor
Finnish Army
Rank:Vääpeli
Battles:Finnish Civil War
Estonian War of Independence
Aunus expedition
Spanish Civil War
Winter War
Continuation War
Awards:Several unspecified Nazi awards

Edvard Karvonen (19 July 1905 - 5 October 1973)[1] was a Finnish Nazi and a soldier.

Biography

Karvonen was born in Eastern Karelia. He took part in the Battle of Viipuri as a 13-year-old. After the civil war, he took part in the Heimosodat in Estonia and the Aunus expedition and served in the French Foreign Legion between 1920 and 1923. In 1926 he moved to Germany and joined the Sturmabteilung and Schutzstaffel. While studying arts in Germany, he joined the Condor Legion and took part in the Spanish Civil War. He took part in the Winter War where he was wounded in the head and lost an eye. He was wounded 8 times during his life, for the last time in 1941 in the attack phase of the Continuation War, by the river Lotta.[2] [1] [3]

Karvonen took part in the Lapua Movement, was a founding member of the Sortavala chapter of National Socialist Union of Finland and later the head of security of the Finnish National Socialist Labor Organisation.[4] [5]

Karvonen was a polyglot; he could fluently speak Swedish, Russian, German and Finnish.[3]

Family

Karvonen lived with his common law wife Olga Kekäläinen, a Finnish expatriate from the Soviet Union.[4] They had one daughter.[1]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mistä hän tuli ja minne taas lähti?. Kurkijokelainen. 26 March 2007. Aino Koppi.
  2. Kansa Taisteli. Aseveli Karvosen kahdeksas sota. Esko Paavola. 1977.
  3. Westerlund, Lars: Cirkus Collani : de finländska SS-frivilliga 1941–43 : en sedesskildring baserad på de frivilligas egna berättelser, s. 122. Helsinki: Books on Demand, 2017. ISBN 978-951-568-17196-4-1.
  4. Roselius, Aapo & Silvennoinen, Oula & Tikka, Marko: Suomalaiset fasistit - Mustan sarastuksen airuet. WSOY, 2016. ISBN 9789510401323.
  5. Ekberg, Henrik (1991). Führerns trogna följeslagare. Den finländska nazismen 1932–1944. Schildts. pp. 174–175. 951-50-0522-1.