Swedish Brigade

Swedish volunteers extensively participated in the White Terror, carrying out summary and mass executions. For example, after the Battle of Karu, Swedish Brigade commander Harald Hjalmarson, despite professed reluctance to use violence, shot at least four Red Guards who had been taken prisoner, such as Matti Kuljun, a company manager from Tampere. The brigade was "possessed by the most bitter hatred for the red vermin". One participant, Carl-Gustaf Grönstrand, commented:"Has not all of Finland been defenceless in their hands, have they spared society? They are not people, [but] beasts, which are to be exterminated, they are. They have no right to existence whatsoever and therefore they need to be gone. Soon you’ll be of the same opinion." == References ==