13-year-old Ingrian Finn fled Soviet repression to Võru County

Taisto Praks, known by the nickname Soome Volli, fled Soviet repression to South Estonia in 1945 at the age of 13 and subsequently joined forest guerrillas in the forests of Võru County. His hiding was followed by a quarter-century in forced labour camps.

Taisto Praks, known in popular memory as Soome Volli, was born in 1931 in Ingria near Gatchina. His story is a tragic example of the fate of Ingrian Finns in the mid-20th century, when Soviet repression destroyed entire communities.

A people separated from their families

The situation of the Ingrian Finns was extremely difficult during and after the Second World War. During the Continuation War, some of them were evacuated to Finland, but when the armistice was signed in 1944, the Soviet Union demanded the return of the refugees. Most Ingrian Finns were not allowed to return to their home villages. Young Taisto Praks also reached Finland with his grandmother, was sent back to the Soviet Union, but was not permitted to return to his home.

In the ranks of forest guerrillas in Võru County

Homeless and displaced, the 13-year-old boy fled to South Estonia in 1945, where over time he became a forest guerrilla. Within a few years, he joined the Pilved squad operating in the forests of Võru County, which hid from Soviet rule. For over four years, Praks managed to hide in the forests, but ultimately the Soviet security apparatus caught the young man.

A quarter-century in forced labour camps

Praks's capture was followed by a terrible sentence: roughly a quarter-century in forced labour camps. His story is one of many that illustrates how Soviet repression affected even those who were separated from their homes already in childhood and sought refuge in foreign lands.