Children in war, 1944 (photo)

World War 2 in Europe. Finnish children in Sweden. On a wooden rocking horse, the Finnish boy Pekka Laaksonen from Turku sits with a thumbed note around his neck with his name issued by the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs' Committee for Child Movement. Several little boys stand by ready to take over the toy when he has finished playing. In February 1944, the Finnish cities are exposed to bombings. The Finnish civilian population had to endure a lot of suffering and for that reason the evacuation of Finnish children to Sweden increased in order to put the children to safety. The children were sent from Finland to Sweden and the goal was that all children would be reunited with their relatives after the war. Many of the children never returned to Finland. Instead, they were adopted by a Swedish foster family. In total, nearly 49,000 Finnish children were brought to Sweden under the auspices of the Child Migration Committee. Here, Finnish children in temporary accommodation in, waiting for their Swedish families are being taken care of by female members of The Swedish Women's Voluntary Defence Organization. 1944.