Genocide of the Ingrian Finns
| Genocide of the Ingrian Finns | |
|---|---|
| Part of the population transfer in the Soviet Union and the Great Purge | |
Ingria and Karelia Isthmus in 1740s | |
| Location | Ingria |
| Date | 1920s–1930s |
| Target | Ingrian Finns |
Attack type | Mass murder, persecution, ethnic cleansing, deportation |
| Deaths | 18,800 |
| Victims | 60,000 to 105,000 victims of deportation and imprisonment |
| Perpetrators | Soviet Union |
| Motive | Anti-Finnish sentiment, Sovietization, Russification |
The genocide of the Ingrian Finns (Finnish: inkeriläisten kansanmurha, Ingrian: inkeriläisiin kansaamurha) was a series of events triggered by the Russian Revolution in the 20th century, in which the Soviet Union deported, imprisoned and killed Ingrian Finns and destroyed their culture. In the process, Ingria, in the historical sense of the word, ceased to exist. Before the persecution there were 140,000 to 160,000 Ingrians in Russia and today approximately 19,000 (including several thousand repatriated since 1990).
From 1935 onwards, the genocide manifested itself in deportations of entire Ingrian villages, mass arrests and executions. Deportations took place from the late 1920s to the end of World War II, and in particular during the Great Purge in 1937–1938. The reason for the genocide was the distrust of the Soviet Union toward the Ingrians due to their close cultural and historical ties with Finland. At the same time, many other ethnic groups and minorities were also persecuted.
The destruction process targeted at Ingrian Finns was centrally planned and deliberate. Russian legislation in the 1990s refers to it as genocide. The aim was, in particular, to exterminate the male population. Tens of thousands of Ingrians died due to deportations and in labor camps. Over 100,000 Russian Finns were deported en masse without trial, most of whom were Ingrian Finns. Ingria and the border region with Finland experienced ethnic cleansing of Finns during Stalin's regime.