Eino Pietola (1920–2008)

Eino Pietola was born in Oulu, Finland. He trained as a mechanical engineer and worked as a job research manager at the Asko-Upo Company from 1964 to 1975. After retiring in 1975, he started writing and published his first novel that year. In 1978, Pietola published his first war book, Korpisoturit. His war books were based on both his own experiences in World War II and archival research. The high number of Finnish prisoner-of-war deaths became known only more than 40 years after the war, when Pietola published a book on the subject in 1987, Sotavangit Suomessa 1941-1944 (The POWs in Finland 1941-1944). He felt he could no longer remain silent after reading a newspaper article that claimed it was well known that Finland had in no way mistreated its POWs, and none were killed. Pietola came under severe criticism from historians who said he was not an academic and did not provide footnotes. "Yet we now know that he was right," said Serah Beizer, a researcher on the history of the Jews in Finland and the fate of Jewish POWs in World War II. Pietola was an honorary member of Salpausselkä Writers and served as chairman of the association in 1984–1986.