Mäntyvaara battlefield
During the Winter War, the 1st Battalion of the 596th Infantry Regiment of the Soviet army was given the task of flanking through the terrain and cutting off the Salla-Kemijärvi road from the west side of Joutsijärvi. The battalion had travelled on foot to the rear of the Finns, but the Finnish 17th Separate Battalion, who were resting, detected the enemy and engaged in battle. After the fierce battle fought during the dusky afternoon and dark evening on 20 December 1939, the Finns managed to capture the hill and the Soviet troops were destroyed.
17 Finns and over 300 Soviet soldiers were killed in the battle. There is a monument erected by the Finns, a memorial stone for the Soviet soldiers who fell in the battle as well as mass graves in the area. In Joutsijärvi, Soviet mass graves are also located in Vuosamonselkä, Jokiselkä, Ahoniemi and on the east side of Lake Ala-Kappale.
Battle positions dug on the slopes of the Mäntyvaara hill before the battle by people obliged to work can also be seen in the terrain of Mäntyvaara. Near the monument, there is also a memorial stone for the two fallen Swedish volunteers involved in the Winter War. During the Continuation War, a prison camp maintained by the Germans was located in Mäntyvaara. People who died at the camp for prisoners of war have been buried in Mäntyvaara. On the north-western slope of Mäntyvaara, there is a mass grave for prisoners of war marked with red cone where 380 people are buried.
| Street address | Sallantie 2137 |
|---|---|
| Postcode | 98710 |
| City | Kemijärvi |