1st Edition
Archaeologies of Hitler’s Arctic War Heritage of the Second World War German Military Presence in Finnish Lapland
This book discusses the archaeology and heritage of the German military presence in Finnish Lapland during the Second World War, framing this northern, overlooked WWII material legacy from the nearly forgotten Arctic front as ‘dark heritage’ – a concrete reminder of Finns siding with the Nazis, often seen as polluting ‘war junk’ that ruins the ‘pristine natural beauty’ of Lapland’s wilderness. The scholarship herein provides fresh perspectives to contemporary discussions on heritage perception and ownership, indigenous rights, community empowerment, relational ontologies and also the ongoing worldwide refugee crisis.
1. Introduction; Part I. Hitler’s Arctic War and its Material Remains; 2. Why an Archaeological Study of the Second World War?; 3. Finnish-German Waffenbrüderschaft: The Northern Brothers-in-arms, 1940-1945; Part II. Strangers in a Strange Land: Germans and their Prisoners in an Alien Arctic Landscape; 4. Soldiers’ and Prisoners’ Places and Landscapes; 5. Soldiers’ and Prisoners’ Things and Materiality; 6. Entangled with the North: Placelessness, Disorder and Dislocation; Part III. Ignored, Yet Remembered: Post-war Significance of the German WWII Remains; 7. Heritage Past, Present and Future; 8. Materialities of a Haunting Past – or Present?; 9. Positive Uses for a Haunting and Difficult Past; 10. Custodians of "War Junk": Local and Global Heritage of Second World War in Lapland
Biography
Oula Seitsonen (Sakarin-Pentin Ilarin Oula) is an archaeologist and geographer at the University of Oulu and University of Helsinki, Finland.
"Seitsonen’s book provides new insights into the war in the far north and its material legacy. Moreover, Seitsonen engages in discussions about heritage perceptions and ownership, the rights of the Sámi people, and the refugee questions." - Pasi Tuunainen, Finnish Commission for Military History and University of Eastern Finland, International Journal of Military History and Historiography
