Funeral for the six victims murdered with an axe by escaped prisoner Toivo Koljonen in their home. Satakunta, Finland. April 4, 1943 [800×522]

    by Johannes_P

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    1. [Toivo Koljonen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toivo_Koljonen) was born on 1910 in Lahti, Finland. According to the much detailled [Finnish Wikipedia](https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toivo_Koljonen), he did odd jobs and the occasional criminal offense; he also briefly married before divorcing, and had two children.

      In September 1938, he was sentenced to three months for battery against a young woman. He fought during the Winter War in Karelia and was involved in a black market ring involving military gas unlawfully resold to civilians.

      In 1941, Koljonen was senenced to four years for thefts and firearm offenses, which he served in Riihimäki Central Prison and then Huittinen Reserve Prison, being described by the guards as a balanced convict.

      On March 13, 1943, he escaped, helped by two of his fellow prisoners who were to be paroled. On the trip, he stole an ax from an old woman’s house. Koljonen wasn’t thought to be a priority as he was perceived as relativelt harmless compared to armed bands of deserters and Soviet infiltrators.

      On March 17, near Huittinen, he entered the house of the Hakanen family, where he stole bread when he met the returning homeowner Kalle Hakanen; Koljonen hacked Kalle and his wife Anna, also killing the similarly named daughter of a family who worked in the barn and the 6- and 11-year-old children who were still crying in their beds with an axe, finishing with Anna Mäkinen, a neighbour who came at the front door.

      The only survivors of the family was the 18-year-old eldest son, who was released from military.

      The crime shocked Finland: 4000 people came to the funerals, and it was during wartime, when transportation was restricted.

      Koljonen was dinally found by happenstance, when police was searching for a deserter in the region; the murder weapon was found in a manure jack. Koljonen never gave any motive for his act during interrogation, and he was jailed in Turku until his trial, held on April 19. 31 witnesses were heard.

      Koljonen was convicted and sentenced to one year in prison for escaping as a repeat offender, a year of disciplinary room for aggravated theft and six death penalties for the murders, committed under martial law and during a theft. Koljonen was also sentenced to the permanent loss of civil rights and to pay 22000 marks of damages. The two inmates who helped him to escape lost their parole and the prison guard under whom he served his sentence was rebuked for negligence.

      Koljonen was shot alongside two Soviet spies in October 21, 1943, becoming the last civilian to have been executed in Finland. All further executions would be for military offenses or treason.

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