Dear
Members and
Friends of the
Oskar Halecki
Institute in
Canada (OHI),
We
are pleased to
announce the
screening of
the American
documentary
film
produced
and directed
by Ben Stout
(79 min.)
FIRE
AND ICE
The
Winter War of
Finland and
Soviet
Russia 1939-1940
Introduction
by Dr.
Alexander M.
Jablonski
This
will be the
44th Meeting
of the Ottawa
Film
Discussion
Club,
co-
sponsored by
the Oskar
Halecki
Institute in
Canada, with
The Polish Combatants' Association in Canada and
the Canadian
Baltic
Council.
Please distribute this invitation, along with
the corrected
poster and
additional
information
about the
screening,
to your friends
and organizations.
Refreshments by SPK and OHI
Best
regards,
Dr.
Alexander M.
Jablonski,
P.Eng.
President
The
Oskar Halecki
Institute in
Canada
|
FIRE AND ICE:
THE WINTER WAR OF
FINLAND AND
RUSSIA
1939-1940
Herb
Finlandii
(wersja
współczesna z
1978) -
Wikipedia
Eighty-six
years ago on
November 30,
1939, the war
between
Finland and
Russia started
with heavy
bombing of
Finnish cities
including
Helsinki, the
capital of
this small
Scandinavian
nation. Over
400,000 Soviet
troops
attacked
Finland along
its entire
Eastern
border. This
war influenced
dramatically
the World War
II and
mobilized
entire Finnish
nation. This
film director
American Ben
Strout
received for
it an Emmy
Award from the
Lower Great
Lakes Chapter
of the
National
Academy of
Television
Arts and
Sciences in
2007 and was
also
recognized by
the New York
Times as a
Critics Pick
Director in
2006.
This
film is a
tribute to the
Finnish nation
and describes
also the human
side of this
conflict,
which was the
directly
linked to the
Ribbentrop –
Molotov pact
signed between
Germany and
Russia on
August 23,
1939. The pact
led to start
of the World
War II by the
invasion of
Poland on
September 1,
1939, by
Hitler’s
Germany and on
September 17
by Stalin’s
Russia. Then
Red Army
attacked and
captured some
territories of
Baltic states
– Lithuania,
Latvia and
Estonia and
finally
attacked
Finland.
Finland was
left alone to
fight against
much larger
aggressor’s
forces. The
Finnish
Russian Winter
War
(1939-1940)
changed the
results of the
World War II
and safe
democracy.
The
exceptional
leader and the
founder of
free Finland
was Carl
Gustaf Emil
baron
Mannerheim,
who was called
at that time
for the second
time in his
very special
life to lead
the Finnish
nation and its
army to fight
the old enemy,
the Soviet
Russia. The
story about
his life as a
czarist
Russian
general,
founder of the
modern
Finland,
leader and
skillful
Finnish only
Marshal, and
defender of
this small but
brave nation
to independent
life, is
almost
forgotten. The
communists and
left oriented
Western
historian
labelled him
as a
collaborator
with Hitler’s
Germany.
Finland
abandoned by
the West had
to options: 1)
being taken by
the Soviet
Russia and
destroyed as
the
independent
nation or 2)
to fight to
the end under
difficult and
unknown
circumstances.
Carl
Mannerheim had
chosen a
second option,
and he
defended
Finland and
paved the wave
to Her current
status as the
part of the
West and the
NATO alliance
in 2023. This
changed
forever the
situation of
Scandinavia
and the Baltic
Sea, and
Northern
Europe.
Marshall
of Finland
Carl Gustav
Emil baron
Mannerheim
(1867 – 1951).
He
led Finnish
Army in the
Winter War
(1939-1940)
and the
Continuation
War
(1941-1944).
(Photo
ca. 1940, DPA
picture
alliance/Alamy)
At
the end of His
memoirs
(Minnen)
published
originally in
Swedish and in
Finnish, in
1951-1952, and
translated
into Polish
for the first
time in 1996,
Carl
Mannerheim
wrote:
In
Polish:
Zwierając
szeregi w
godzinie
niebezpieczeństwa,
naród fiński
kupił prawo do
niepodległego
życia w kręgu
wolnych
narodów. To,
że nie zawiódł
w czasie
największych
prób, dowodzi,
że wywodzi się
ze zdrowego i
mocnego pnia.
Jeżeli
pozostaniemy
wierni sobie w
obliczu
zmienności
losu,
zjednoczeni i
niezłomni,
trwać będziemy
przy
wartościach,
tworzących
podstawę
wolności
Finlandii:
odziedziczonej
po ojcach
wierze,
miłości
ojczyzny,
zdecydowaniu i
ofiarnej woli
obrony – naród
fiński może
ufnie patrzyć
w przyszłość.
English
translation
(AMJ):
By
closing ranks
in the hour of
danger, the
Finnish nation
bought the
right to
independent
existence
within the
circle of free
nations. That
it has not
failed during
the greatest
trials proves
that it comes
from a healthy
and strong
stock. If we
remain
faithful to
ourselves in
the face of
changing
fortunes,
united and
steadfast, we
will cling to
the values
that form
the foundation
of Finland's
freedom: the
faith
inherited from
our fathers,
love of
country,
determination,
and selfless
will to defend
ourselves –
the Finnish
nation can
look to the
future with
confidence.
Marshall Carl Gustaf
Emil baron
Mannerheim
Alexander M. Jabłoński
Ottawa
January 2026 |
|
Wtorek, 20
stycznia 2026
Maria
Haladyn-Dudek,
mieszkająca w
Montrealu,
jest
psychologiem i
psychoterapeutą
z długoletnim
doświadczeniem
zawodowym.
