Toivo Antikainen

Toivo Antikainen
Toivo Antikainen in 1930
Born	(1898-06-08)8 June 1898 Helsinki,Grand Duchy of Finland
Died	4 October 1941(1941-10-04)(aged 43) Arkhangelsk,Soviet Union
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Years of service	1918–1924
Battles/wars	Finnish Civil War Russian Civil War
Awards

Toivo Antikainen(Russian:То́йво А́нтикайнен,8 June 1898 – 4 October 1941) was aFinnish-borncommunistand amilitary officerof theSovietRed Army.He was one of the founders and leaders of the exileCommunist Party of Finland.Antikainen died in suspicious circumstances in the Soviet Union in 1941.

Biography

Early years

Toivo Antikainen was born to a working-class family inHelsinki.His parents were trade unionists and Toivo joined theSocial Democraticyouth organization at the age of 8. Antikainen went to school for six years and started working as he was 12. In the late 1910s, Antikainen had several posts in the Social Democratic organizations. As theFinnish Civil Warbroke out in January 1918, Antikainen served in theRedadministration, but did not fight in theRed Guards.

The Russian Civil War

Antikainen in a Red Army officer uniform, 1922

As the Reds were losing the war, Antikainen fled to theSoviet Russiain late April 1918. He was one of the founders of the exileCommunist Party of Finland,established inMoscowin August 1918. Antikainen took a course in thePetrograd Red Officer Schooland graduated in the spring of 1919. In theRussian Civil War,he fought against the FinnishWhitesinEast Karelia.In January 1922, Antikainen commanded a battalion in theBattle of Kimasozero,where a Red Army unit composed of Finnish Reds beat the Whites and pushed them back to Finland.The 1937 filmZa Sovetskuyu Rodinu(For the Soviet Motherland) is based on the events. Antikainen is played byOleg Zhakov.He also took part in the investigation of theKuusinen Club Incidentin 1920, and the suppression of theKronstadt rebelliona year later. After working as a lecturer in the Red Officer School, Antikainen was transferred to theCommunist Internationalin 1924. Since 1926 he gave lectures at theInternational Lenin Schoolin Moscow.

Trial in Finland

During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Antikainen had several underground assignments in Finland for the illegal Communist Party. In November 1934, the police captured him in Helsinki from the house of the communist leaderYrjö Leino.He was now accused of a preparation of ahigh treasonin a trial that started in February 1935. Antikainen was also charged of the murder of the Finnish officerAntti Marjoniemiwho was killed in the 1922 Battle of Kimasozero. According to the prosecution, Marjoniemi was taken as a prisoner and then shot by Antikainen. The right-wing press also claimed that Antikainen had tortured him and conducted some kind of cannibalism after Marjoniemi had been roasted in the camp fire, but these accusations were not based in reality.

Trial of Antikainen in 1936

The trial caught worldwide attention as Antikainen and the Bulgarian communistGeorgi Dimitrov,arrested inBerlinfor alleged complicity in theReichstag fire,were supported by an international solidarity campaign. TheInternational Red Aidwas also involved acquiring legal aid and bringing independent foreign experts to follow the trial.One of the observers was Diana Hubback, the daughter of the British feministEva Marian Hubback.Antikainen was even noticed by the Finnish American volunteers of theSpanish Civil War,a machine gun company of theAbraham Lincoln brigadewas named after him.Due to the Antikainen case, the Finnish right-wing was eager to bring back the capital punishment, but this was strongly rejected by the liberals who collected a petition of more than 120,000 names against the intention. Finally, Antikainen was sentenced for 8 years of a preparation of a high treason. In May 1937, theSupreme Courtsentenced him a life in prison of the murder of Antti Marjoniemi, although there was onlycircumstantial evidence.In 1974, the Finnish-bornKGBofficerToivo Vähäpublished his memoirs claiming that he had killed Marjoniemi with a knife by an order from Antikainen. This information, however, cannot be verified from other sources.

Return to the Soviet Union

After the 1939–1940Winter War,Antikainen and the Finnish communistAdolf Taimiwere released and deported to Soviet Union. Antikainen now found out that a large number of his old Finnish companions had vanished. After awkwardly questioning the party officials, he finally learned that they were killed in theGreat Purge.This led into a nervous breakdown and Antikainen took leave of absence. In the summer of 1940, he was elected to theSupreme Soviet of the Soviet Unionas the representative of theKarelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic.

Death

Toivo Antikainen in on 1968 Soviet stamp

Antikainen was allegedly killed in a plane crash nearArkhangelskin October 1941. As he had openly criticized the Soviet leaders, some believe that his death was not an accident.According to the memoir of the exile Austrian communistRuth von Mayenburg,Antikainen stayed at theHotel Luxin Moscow and jumped out of the window as theNKVDofficers were breaking his door.It is also claimed that he was assassinated by the later head of the Soviet UnionYuri Andropov,because Antikainen tried to take his place in theKomsomol of the Soviet Karelo-Finnish Republic.

Antikainen is buried to the village ofKegostrovinArkhangelsk Oblast(currently in the city of Arkhangelsk).Streets inPetrozavodsk,SegezhaandKostomukshaare named after Antikainen. In 1970, the cargo shipMS Toyvo Antikaynenwas named in his honor.