Rebuilding emotional ties for child evacuees returning from abroad: children’s literature and informal education in post-Second World War Finland

Abstract

During the Second World War, Nordic countries witnessed a large-scale displacement of the population as around 70,000 Finnish children were evacuated to other Nordic countries. While up to 15,000 of them did not return to Finland, the majority travelled back, carrying multiple ruptures in their close relationships: first from their biological parents and then from foster parents. Accordingly, a wide spectrum of feelings such as grief and sadness, but also joy, was felt during reunifications. This article examines how the emotional experiences of post-war reunifications were addressed in one particularly interesting Finnish children’s novel (1947). The book is analysed in the context of post-war advisory literature by paying special attention to its informal educational content. It is argued that the book, representing a classic story of an orphan girl, provided readers with a culturally meaningful way to reflect on their personal situations, thus advising families so they could cope better with the problems of reunification.