WEBVTT - The White Death

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<v Speaker 1>A secret society, a suspicious death, an elite New England

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<v Speaker 1>graduate school, and a professor and student who come together

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<v Speaker 1>to study an illicit form of magic and wind up

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<v Speaker 1>in a dangerous romance. The Arcane Arts bios Decovering the

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<v Speaker 1>electrifying debut novel that is leaving readers breathless, Available at

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<v Speaker 2>The woods are cold, dark, quiet. It's December nineteen thirty

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<v Speaker 2>nine on Finland's eastern edge. The lakes are frozen, the

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<v Speaker 2>swamps sprinkled with frost, and now deep in the wilderness,

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<v Speaker 2>a crisp breeze skidds through the brambles, Snow begins to fall.

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<v Speaker 2>Flakes tumble over a thicket of birch trees and come

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<v Speaker 2>to rest on the shoulders of a man lying flat

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<v Speaker 2>on the ice. His name is Simo Halja. He settled

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<v Speaker 2>here hours ago in the black of night. He's surrounded

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<v Speaker 2>by biting, cold, silence and thousands of Soviet soldiers, and

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<v Speaker 2>now he waits for the sun to rise. When Soviet

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<v Speaker 2>troops and tanks barreled over the border of Finland a

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<v Speaker 2>few weeks earlier, Simo vowed to fight back. Today, it's

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<v Speaker 2>twenty degrees below zero, He's dressed in a white snowsuit,

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<v Speaker 2>nearly invisible from head to toe, his eyes squinting against

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<v Speaker 2>the wind, scanned for invaders. Simo peeks out from behind

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<v Speaker 2>a small ridge of snow and surveys the horizon, now

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<v Speaker 2>glowing orange under the morning sky. Light glitters off the snowpack.

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<v Speaker 2>Somewhere beyond the birches, past the bombed out craters, past

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<v Speaker 2>the splintered trees, Simo notices something, a distant flash, the

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<v Speaker 2>morning light reflecting off a glass scope some three hundred

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<v Speaker 2>meters away. Simo reaches for his rifle. The Russian soldier

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<v Speaker 2>lifts his head, just for a moment. Then the soldier's

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<v Speaker 2>head falls to the ground. No warning, no flash, just

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<v Speaker 2>snow in silence. Forsimo, A day of work has just begun.

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<v Speaker 2>The Russians will never see the shooter, but they'll see

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<v Speaker 2>the bodies of their comrades frozen on the ice. Dozens

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<v Speaker 2>of them, then hundreds, all dropped by a single man,

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<v Speaker 2>a quiet, thirty three year old corporal in the Finnish Army,

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<v Speaker 2>who never used a scope, never left a trail, and

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<v Speaker 2>never stopped defending his homeland. In the winter of thirty nine,

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<v Speaker 2>every Soviet in Finland, feared the Reaper, lurking in the forest,

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<v Speaker 2>cold as ice, quiet as snow. Simo hal Haa The

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<v Speaker 2>White Death. Welcome to very special episodes an iHeart original podcast.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm your host, Zaren Burnett. Today the story of a

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<v Speaker 2>quiet farmer who became one of the most prolific snipers

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<v Speaker 2>in military history. Simo ha Ha The White Death.

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<v Speaker 3>Welcome back to very special episodes. My name is Jason English.

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<v Speaker 3>We got a good one for you today. I'll get

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<v Speaker 3>you right back out to it. I just want to

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<v Speaker 3>do some shout outs at the top here. Occasionally we

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<v Speaker 3>get to work with a production company called School of

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<v Speaker 3>Humans out of Atlanta. They're a film, TV and podcast company.

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<v Speaker 3>We've done many, many projects with them over the years.

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<v Speaker 3>They worked on today's episode with us Amelia Virginia Ealy's

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<v Speaker 3>Jesse Lucas Riley worked on this script. He's been here

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<v Speaker 3>since the beginning and I'm told this is going to

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<v Speaker 3>do good things for our numbers in Finland.

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<v Speaker 2>Before the Soviet invasion of Finland in November of nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>thirty nine, Simo how Ha led a peaceful life. He

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<v Speaker 2>was raised in a Lutheran farming family in a rural

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<v Speaker 2>hamlet called key Schenen. Life was simple, crops in the summer,

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<v Speaker 2>skiing in the winter, and hunting year round. Like most

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<v Speaker 2>kids from the Finnish backwoods, Simo learned how to shoot

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<v Speaker 2>a rifle. As a child. He earned pocket change chasing

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<v Speaker 2>down squirrels and selling their pelts. Timers praised him as

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<v Speaker 2>the town's top pest exterminator. At seventeen, Simo joined the

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<v Speaker 2>voluntary militia, where he excelled at marksmanship. After he turned nineteen,

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<v Speaker 2>he began his mandatory military service. Shy, with blue eyes

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<v Speaker 2>a gentle face. Standing just five foot three, he didn't

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<v Speaker 2>look like an imposing soldier. He was assigned to a

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<v Speaker 2>bicycle battalion, but the job was overall pretty boring. It

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<v Speaker 2>was the nineteen twenties peacetime. Once his military service concluded,

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<v Speaker 2>Simo hung his uniform up and returned to the family farm,

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<v Speaker 2>and for the next decade he kept to himself. That

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<v Speaker 2>is until in October nineteen thirty nine, rumors began swirling.

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<v Speaker 2>Finland was on the brink of invasion. A month earlier,

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<v Speaker 2>Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union stormed into Poland and

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<v Speaker 2>split it down the middle. Secretly the countries signed in agreement.

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<v Speaker 2>Germany would take western Europe, the USSR would take the east.

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<v Speaker 2>It was an uneasy alliance. Joseph Stalin feared that an

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<v Speaker 2>emboldened Germany could ally itself, with Finland opening up a

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<v Speaker 2>gateway to attack the USSR from the west. He set

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<v Speaker 2>his sights on Finland's east as a strategic buffer and

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<v Speaker 2>as a matter of pride, to restore land lost during

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<v Speaker 2>the Russian Revolution. Finland was up for grabs, and Simo

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<v Speaker 2>could feel it, writing in his war memoir.

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<v Speaker 4>There was a sense of war in the air.

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<v Speaker 2>This memoir, titled My Winter War Memories, was discovered in

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<v Speaker 2>twenty seventeen and recently published by the Finnish historian Tavet ais.

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<v Speaker 2>In it, Simo writes that in late nineteen thirty nine

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<v Speaker 2>he gathered his family and told them that the Red

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<v Speaker 2>Army was poised to invade soon. Finland would need every

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<v Speaker 2>man to step up.

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<v Speaker 4>This is our land and we have to defend it.

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<v Speaker 2>Simo rejoined the military and was immediately assigned to sixth Company,

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<v Speaker 2>Regiment thirty four. The men were soon deployed to a

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<v Speaker 2>region of eastern Finland called Karelia, a land of rolling hills,

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<v Speaker 2>tens of thousands of lakes and swamps, isolated villages, and

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<v Speaker 2>deep remote wilderness. And then, on November thirtieth, at three

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<v Speaker 2>in the morning, it happened. Soviet troops marched across Finland's border.

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<v Speaker 2>Their goal was to reach a fifty five mile long

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<v Speaker 2>fortification called the Mahndarheim Line, a series of bunkers and

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<v Speaker 2>trenches stretching between the Baltic Sea in Europe's largest lake,

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<v Speaker 2>Lake Ladoga. Think of it as the Great Wall of Finland.

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<v Speaker 2>The Mahnnarhim was built to protect Finland's interior from invasion

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<v Speaker 2>and the Soviets. They were determined to tear it down,

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<v Speaker 2>but that would be tricky. The Mahndarheim was protected by

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<v Speaker 2>natural terrain and defended by highly motivated military, So the

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<v Speaker 2>Soviets went for Plan B. They couldn't break through the

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<v Speaker 2>Mahnarkheim Line. They go around it and use the back door.

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<v Speaker 2>The back door was Northern Karelia, the woodlands, where Simohaua

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<v Speaker 2>and the men of Six Company were now waiting. Approximately

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<v Speaker 2>one hundred thousand Soviet troops poured into North Karelia. The Finns,

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<v Speaker 2>outmatched three to one, didn't stand a chance. Mortar fire

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<v Speaker 2>lit the sky. The earth shook In the village of Hautavara,

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<v Speaker 2>townhouses crumbled and horse carts were thrown into the air.

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<v Speaker 2>The town turned to rubble. Simo was just a few

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<v Speaker 2>miles from the destruction.

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<v Speaker 5>Well, this is it, we thought the war had begun.

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<v Speaker 5>Be assembled our bark fire, fortified our trenches, and finished

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<v Speaker 5>digging our fox holes.

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<v Speaker 2>More villages would fall. The Soviets made quick work and

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<v Speaker 2>began marching towards Simo's unit. In early December, Simo would

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<v Speaker 2>glimpse his first Soviet invader.

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<v Speaker 5>I got the first across the border person in my sight.

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<v Speaker 2>Simo saw the soldier walking straight at him. He could

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<v Speaker 2>tell immediately that this man was not a run of

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<v Speaker 2>the mill grunt.

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<v Speaker 5>A bat carrying enemy company leader who tried to end

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<v Speaker 5>my boar right there and then.

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<v Speaker 2>Simo was not yet a hardened sniper. He didn't know

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<v Speaker 2>how to hide from the enemy, and the Soviet soldier

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<v Speaker 2>had him in his sights. Bullets whizzed past Simo's ears,

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<v Speaker 2>Shrapnel kicked up sand and tossed it into his eyes.

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<v Speaker 2>Simo wiped his face and rested his cheek on the

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<v Speaker 2>stalk of his rifle.

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<v Speaker 4>Then came my turn.

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<v Speaker 2>He took a breath, cleared the sights, and.

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<v Speaker 4>I got the mark my first hit. With time and care.

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<v Speaker 2>The Soviet leader fell. This victory was short lived. The

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<v Speaker 2>first few battles did not go well for Finland. Surrounded

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<v Speaker 2>by the Red Army on three sides, Simo's unit was

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<v Speaker 2>forced into retreat. As they ran, the Fins realized the

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<v Speaker 2>enemy would use every abandoned village for cover. These little

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<v Speaker 2>towns would become Soviet fortresses. The Fins couldn't let this happen,

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<v Speaker 2>so one by one they set fire to their beloved homes.

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<v Speaker 2>Entire villages went up in flames vataneami leos vara kaifa

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<v Speaker 2>sua Yervi. Anxious Fins watched as the tables where families ate,

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<v Speaker 2>the cradles where they rocked their children, their family bibles,

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<v Speaker 2>everything burned to the ground, and the orders to retreat

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<v Speaker 2>kept coming.

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<v Speaker 5>After a couple of days of fearce fighting, we received

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<v Speaker 5>orders to retreat as far as Souvi Lahti.

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<v Speaker 2>In the lakeside town of Suri Loachti sixth Company was

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<v Speaker 2>hiding out in a graveyard when the Soviets charged machine

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<v Speaker 2>gun fire, rained down bombs exploded from all sides. The

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<v Speaker 2>enemy was just two hundred meters away and getting closer.

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<v Speaker 2>A messenger arrived on horseback, breathless. He had a note

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<v Speaker 2>from the higher ups. Simo's commander arenau the line and

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<v Speaker 2>waved the messenger off.

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<v Speaker 6>There is no time to read when they had On's here.

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<v Speaker 2>It was in order for another retreat, but sixth Company

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<v Speaker 2>had nowhere to go. As the Soviets approached, four hundred

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<v Speaker 2>homes were building into an inferno. The flames grew hotter

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<v Speaker 2>and hotter. The Russians grew closer and closer. Machine guns blared,

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<v Speaker 2>tanks squealed.

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<v Speaker 5>In I'll never forget. I was given a mission to

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<v Speaker 5>destroy the telephone light.

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<v Speaker 2>Simo ducked his head and darted between live rounds from

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<v Speaker 2>one house to the next.

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<v Speaker 4>I cut the wires, taking my tie.

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<v Speaker 5>Although the Russians were shooting at me with the machine

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<v Speaker 5>gun from a position about two hundred meters away.

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<v Speaker 2>He dodged flames to his left and bullets to his right,

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<v Speaker 2>snipping phone lines and moving on. He felt invincible.

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<v Speaker 4>At that time.

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<v Speaker 5>I hadn't learned to think that there fire could cause

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<v Speaker 5>any danger to me.

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<v Speaker 2>He rushed back to sixth company. When an opening in

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<v Speaker 2>the flames appeared, the company rushed through and regrouped into

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<v Speaker 2>the woods. From the sky above, Soviet bombers hunted the

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<v Speaker 2>retreating soldiers, but the town was a fireball. The heat

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<v Speaker 2>was blistering, billowing smoke clouded into the sky. The bombers

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<v Speaker 2>couldn't see. The homes of the Fins had provided safety

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<v Speaker 2>and shelter one last time. Finland's scorched earth tactic ultimately worked.

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<v Speaker 2>When the fires died, the Soviets had no abandoned buildings

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<v Speaker 2>to shelter in, nor did they have telephone lines to

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<v Speaker 2>make calls. They were cut off, trudging deeper into the

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<v Speaker 2>Finnish hinterland, forced to sleep in ditches, it grew colder.

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<v Speaker 2>The temperature would never rise about of seven degrees fahrenheit

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<v Speaker 2>for the rest of December, and as snow began to fall,

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<v Speaker 2>the tide would change. In what's known in Finland as

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<v Speaker 2>Kara Disota, or the Winter War. David would punch Goliath,

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<v Speaker 2>and a sharp eyed farmer who could not die would

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<v Speaker 2>become a legend. That's when we come back. When the

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<v Speaker 2>Soviet Union invaded Finland, party leaders promised the war would

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<v Speaker 2>be over in a matter of days, the Soviets heavily

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<v Speaker 2>outnumbered the Fins, both in manpower and machinery. They had

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<v Speaker 2>more than two thousand tanks, the Fins, by comparison, had

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<v Speaker 2>about thirty Dakita Khrushchev, then a member of the Soviet Politbureau,

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<v Speaker 2>would later describe the Kremlin's mood as confident. Very confident.

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<v Speaker 2>We could fire on unshot, he said, and the Fins

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<v Speaker 2>would put up their hands and surrender. This was a

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<v Speaker 2>spectacular misreading. Finland punched back hard, and they got help

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<v Speaker 2>from an old friend. The weather the winter of nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>thirty nine into nineteen forty would be one of the

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<v Speaker 2>coldest on record. The Mercury routinely dipped to thirty and

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<v Speaker 2>even forty below. The Fins were used to this. In fact,

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<v Speaker 2>trudging through sub zero snow in the middle of the

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<v Speaker 2>forest was their idea of fun. Soviet soldiers disagreed. Many

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<v Speaker 2>were conscripted from places like Ukraine, where the climate is

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<v Speaker 2>more temperate. Most had never experienced such extremes, and many

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<v Speaker 2>of them didn't even know how to ski, and so

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<v Speaker 2>as the December snow fell and the lake's froze, Finland

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<v Speaker 2>had the home field advantage and their wardrobe gave them

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<v Speaker 2>a leg up. The Fins wore white camouflage snowsuits, which

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<v Speaker 2>blended in with the drifting ice. Meanwhile, the Soviets wore

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<v Speaker 2>tan wool coats, basically walking around with shoot me signs

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<v Speaker 2>taped to their backs. Simo took that as an order.

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<v Speaker 5>The enemy snipers systematically picked off our leaders.

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<v Speaker 2>A Soviet sniper had killed three finished platoon leaders. That's

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<v Speaker 2>when Simo got the call.

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<v Speaker 5>The company leader assigned me to send greetings back to them.

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<v Speaker 2>Instead of taking up positions with his fellow soldiers, Simo

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<v Speaker 2>peeled off on his own.

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<v Speaker 5>The lieutenants sent for me and showed me approximately where

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<v Speaker 5>he thought the enemy sniper's position to be.

0:17:18.672 --> 0:17:23.152
<v Speaker 2>This would become his new routine. Each morning, Simo would

0:17:23.192 --> 0:17:26.952
<v Speaker 2>ski out before dawn, slink into the woods, set up

0:17:26.952 --> 0:17:30.071
<v Speaker 2>a perch behind enemy lines, and wait.

0:17:30.831 --> 0:17:32.552
<v Speaker 4>They called me a stalker.

0:17:33.272 --> 0:17:36.752
<v Speaker 5>I silenced the men of the enemy's machine gun nests

0:17:36.832 --> 0:17:38.392
<v Speaker 5>when the occasion arose.

0:17:39.192 --> 0:17:42.631
<v Speaker 2>Once he found a spot, he piles snow around it.

0:17:42.992 --> 0:17:46.472
<v Speaker 2>He then wrapped white gauze round the barrel of his rifle.

0:17:46.872 --> 0:17:50.352
<v Speaker 2>He tossed water on to the snow, making it freeze

0:17:50.432 --> 0:17:54.472
<v Speaker 2>and crust over, preventing the powder from puffing up and

0:17:54.512 --> 0:17:56.952
<v Speaker 2>revealing his position when he took a shot.

0:17:57.832 --> 0:18:02.071
<v Speaker 5>When an enemy sniper was potted, I started stalking. A

0:18:02.152 --> 0:18:05.992
<v Speaker 5>show down between snipers always has the nature of her due.

0:18:06.632 --> 0:18:09.472
<v Speaker 5>Each one takes cover and wait for the other to

0:18:09.552 --> 0:18:10.072
<v Speaker 5>show up.

0:18:11.152 --> 0:18:14.712
<v Speaker 2>Simo tucked in and waited for an invader to take

0:18:14.792 --> 0:18:16.592
<v Speaker 2>aim at one of his comrades.

0:18:17.352 --> 0:18:20.472
<v Speaker 5>It often happened that an enemy sniper saw a good

0:18:20.552 --> 0:18:22.152
<v Speaker 5>target and tried for it.

0:18:22.752 --> 0:18:25.432
<v Speaker 4>The shot might have hit, but it was his last.

0:18:26.552 --> 0:18:30.032
<v Speaker 5>My chance came when the opponent began a side task.

0:18:30.792 --> 0:18:33.552
<v Speaker 5>I thumped with an open scope as soon as the

0:18:33.632 --> 0:18:35.112
<v Speaker 5>man's head came into view.

0:18:36.032 --> 0:18:40.351
<v Speaker 2>On his first outing, Simo scanned the woods. His enemy

0:18:40.432 --> 0:18:43.311
<v Speaker 2>was a master of disguise, it seemed.

0:18:43.632 --> 0:18:47.032
<v Speaker 5>At first I did not see a trace of him,

0:18:47.192 --> 0:18:49.512
<v Speaker 5>just a small rock where he was supposed to be.

0:18:50.752 --> 0:18:54.472
<v Speaker 5>After a careful investigation, we spotted him behind a little

0:18:54.552 --> 0:18:58.632
<v Speaker 5>hump of snow near that rock. I took a careful aim,

0:18:59.152 --> 0:19:04.912
<v Speaker 5>and the very first shot hit the intended target.

0:19:07.712 --> 0:19:12.032
<v Speaker 2>Soon this became Simo's routine. Each morning, he would set

0:19:12.072 --> 0:19:15.912
<v Speaker 2>out with at least fifty cartridges, a handful of grenades,

0:19:15.992 --> 0:19:19.952
<v Speaker 2>and a submachine gun, and of course, his trusty rifle.

0:19:20.632 --> 0:19:24.631
<v Speaker 2>One day in the field, Simo scanned the forest. In

0:19:24.672 --> 0:19:28.992
<v Speaker 2>the distance. About three hundred yards away, he spotted a shimmer.

0:19:29.512 --> 0:19:33.192
<v Speaker 2>It was a pair of periscope binoculars poking out of

0:19:33.232 --> 0:19:37.871
<v Speaker 2>the snow. Simo couldn't see the enemy, but he knew

0:19:37.952 --> 0:19:41.831
<v Speaker 2>they were there hiding. He loaded his weapon and took

0:19:42.112 --> 0:19:42.912
<v Speaker 2>two shots.

0:19:45.712 --> 0:19:50.512
<v Speaker 5>The Russians started pounding with their mortars towards us. Shrapnel, twigs,

0:19:50.512 --> 0:19:52.872
<v Speaker 5>and soot were flying from everywhere.

0:19:53.512 --> 0:19:55.792
<v Speaker 2>The pines shook violently.

0:19:56.592 --> 0:20:00.752
<v Speaker 5>About fifty shells landed around my foxhole. Many of them

0:20:00.872 --> 0:20:05.272
<v Speaker 5>threw clouds of sand into my face. Lieutenant cued the

0:20:05.312 --> 0:20:07.312
<v Speaker 5>line and sent a man to tell me to get

0:20:07.352 --> 0:20:12.512
<v Speaker 5>out of there. They'll kill you there, he said, Well,

0:20:13.072 --> 0:20:15.831
<v Speaker 5>getting out of the foxhole was not really in my mind,

0:20:16.912 --> 0:20:18.912
<v Speaker 5>so intense fast the enemy fire.

0:20:21.112 --> 0:20:26.552
<v Speaker 2>Eventually Simo escaped. The near miss motivated him. The next day,

0:20:26.592 --> 0:20:29.832
<v Speaker 2>he returned and set up in a hollow nearby.

0:20:30.672 --> 0:20:35.071
<v Speaker 5>Suspense gets the blood circulating, so the cold didn't really

0:20:35.112 --> 0:20:35.591
<v Speaker 5>face me.

0:20:36.512 --> 0:20:42.552
<v Speaker 2>Simo surveyed the snowscape and again noticed the glimmer of binoculars.

0:20:43.192 --> 0:20:46.111
<v Speaker 2>This time he could see the soldiers behind them.

0:20:46.472 --> 0:20:50.472
<v Speaker 5>From this place I could choose in peace. The mortar

0:20:50.512 --> 0:20:52.111
<v Speaker 5>fire didn't hit so close.

0:20:53.232 --> 0:20:57.792
<v Speaker 2>Simo took out the soldier behind those binoculars and six

0:20:57.952 --> 0:21:01.272
<v Speaker 2>others in the camp. The next day, when the Soviets

0:21:01.312 --> 0:21:05.632
<v Speaker 2>set up in the exact same spot, Simo repeated his routine.

0:21:07.712 --> 0:21:12.392
<v Speaker 2>Around that time, he began keeping count of his kills,

0:21:13.192 --> 0:21:24.952
<v Speaker 2>what he called his list of sins ligament elichomedexixy. Throughout

0:21:24.992 --> 0:21:30.072
<v Speaker 2>the entire winter war, Simo Hauha refused to use a scope.

0:21:30.472 --> 0:21:34.351
<v Speaker 2>He executed his enemies from distances of two hundred, three hundred,

0:21:34.432 --> 0:21:40.392
<v Speaker 2>even five hundred yards with old fashioned iron sights. Sometimes

0:21:40.432 --> 0:21:44.032
<v Speaker 2>the biting wind would sweep shards of ice or snow

0:21:44.232 --> 0:21:48.152
<v Speaker 2>into his naked eye, but to Simo the discomfort was

0:21:48.232 --> 0:21:52.032
<v Speaker 2>a small price to pay. It was, after all, the

0:21:52.152 --> 0:21:56.352
<v Speaker 2>reflected sunlight off of glass scopes and binoculars which gave

0:21:56.392 --> 0:22:00.512
<v Speaker 2>away the position of enemy snipers. With iron sights, he

0:22:00.952 --> 0:22:05.831
<v Speaker 2>would be virtually invisible. Besides, a scope would have given

0:22:05.952 --> 0:22:08.712
<v Speaker 2>Simo a closer view of the person he was killing,

0:22:09.192 --> 0:22:14.032
<v Speaker 2>and he didn't have the heart to look. By mid

0:22:14.072 --> 0:22:17.632
<v Speaker 2>December nineteen thirty nine, Simo and his company had built

0:22:17.672 --> 0:22:21.472
<v Speaker 2>a fortified position along the coal Law River, it was

0:22:21.512 --> 0:22:24.152
<v Speaker 2>a natural place to set up a line of resistance.

0:22:24.552 --> 0:22:27.672
<v Speaker 2>The coal Law was a small, gentle creek fed by

0:22:27.672 --> 0:22:31.311
<v Speaker 2>a freshwater lake. It was surrounded by swamps and endless

0:22:31.352 --> 0:22:34.752
<v Speaker 2>thickets of pine. Only one road crossed the river, and

0:22:34.792 --> 0:22:37.752
<v Speaker 2>the Fins had blocked it. The Fins at the Coolaw

0:22:37.992 --> 0:22:40.992
<v Speaker 2>were outmatched three to one, but they believed the little

0:22:41.072 --> 0:22:43.912
<v Speaker 2>river was on their side. They appeared to be right.

0:22:44.312 --> 0:22:46.672
<v Speaker 2>Over the next two months, the two sides would be

0:22:46.792 --> 0:22:50.872
<v Speaker 2>locked in a grinding stalemate, with the co Lah dividing

0:22:50.912 --> 0:22:54.272
<v Speaker 2>the two. Day after day, the Soviets sent tanks to

0:22:54.312 --> 0:22:57.672
<v Speaker 2>take the bridge, and day after day the Fins lit

0:22:57.752 --> 0:23:01.232
<v Speaker 2>those tanks on fire, and when the sun set, the

0:23:01.272 --> 0:23:04.512
<v Speaker 2>Fins would put on their skis, glide through the woods

0:23:04.592 --> 0:23:07.912
<v Speaker 2>and over the frozen lake, and steal cannons and mortars

0:23:08.072 --> 0:23:11.672
<v Speaker 2>left by their fleeing enemy. In fact, the Fins would

0:23:11.672 --> 0:23:15.272
<v Speaker 2>steal so many weapons Moscow would claim that a quote

0:23:15.512 --> 0:23:19.992
<v Speaker 2>great power must be supplying the small country with extra weapons.

0:23:20.472 --> 0:23:24.311
<v Speaker 2>Their suspicions were correct in a way. That great power

0:23:24.592 --> 0:23:28.632
<v Speaker 2>just happened to be the Soviet Union. As Christmas approached,

0:23:28.712 --> 0:23:32.432
<v Speaker 2>the Fins were routinely used the Soviet's own machine guns

0:23:32.472 --> 0:23:35.831
<v Speaker 2>against them, forcing the enemy to lay low and sleep

0:23:36.072 --> 0:23:40.032
<v Speaker 2>in the frozen bogs across the river. Here is how

0:23:40.232 --> 0:23:43.752
<v Speaker 2>Erqui Palo Lampi, a Finish writer dispatched to the battleground,

0:23:43.792 --> 0:23:44.871
<v Speaker 2>described the scene.

0:23:45.312 --> 0:23:49.831
<v Speaker 4>The ice is uneven, torn by artillery cells. Showers from

0:23:49.872 --> 0:23:53.232
<v Speaker 4>the machine guns sweep over us all the time, and

0:23:53.272 --> 0:23:56.712
<v Speaker 4>the noise of the battle is intense. The enemies have

0:23:56.832 --> 0:23:58.832
<v Speaker 4>fallen into dinright piles.

0:23:59.832 --> 0:24:02.352
<v Speaker 2>As most of the Fins worked to defend the road

0:24:02.472 --> 0:24:06.152
<v Speaker 2>and the river. Simo Hauha lurked in the woods alone,

0:24:06.592 --> 0:24:08.152
<v Speaker 2>waiting watching.

0:24:08.672 --> 0:24:12.992
<v Speaker 5>The sniper's job was relatively free. You had to move

0:24:13.072 --> 0:24:17.872
<v Speaker 5>all over the company's area wherever you were needed. Sometimes

0:24:17.952 --> 0:24:21.952
<v Speaker 5>I looked for suitable targets myself, sometimes they were shown

0:24:21.992 --> 0:24:26.392
<v Speaker 5>to me. The company leader and platoon leaders would often

0:24:26.432 --> 0:24:29.952
<v Speaker 5>say that there's an annoying opponent over there that would

0:24:29.992 --> 0:24:31.592
<v Speaker 5>need to be taken out of the game.

0:24:32.752 --> 0:24:35.552
<v Speaker 2>He was a specter, a whisper in the wind, a

0:24:35.592 --> 0:24:38.831
<v Speaker 2>ghost in the snow, and each day he returned to

0:24:38.912 --> 0:24:41.632
<v Speaker 2>camp with more notches in his belt.

0:24:42.392 --> 0:24:47.432
<v Speaker 5>Udism the vizi udix Ingkament, the cozy ludisingment.

0:24:48.552 --> 0:24:52.472
<v Speaker 2>One day, the company chaplain Antirantama joined troops on the

0:24:52.472 --> 0:24:55.792
<v Speaker 2>front lines. He asked Simo how many kills he had

0:24:55.792 --> 0:24:56.472
<v Speaker 2>so far.

0:24:56.712 --> 0:24:58.591
<v Speaker 4>Come on the top log onya.

0:24:59.032 --> 0:25:01.432
<v Speaker 2>Simo replied, nonchalant.

0:25:01.072 --> 0:25:04.232
<v Speaker 4>Around one hundred and thirty eight a certain cases.

0:25:05.952 --> 0:25:10.272
<v Speaker 2>Reverend Rantama rolled his eyes. Surely this was an exaggeration,

0:25:10.912 --> 0:25:14.792
<v Speaker 2>but then he exchanged glances with Simo's buddies. They all

0:25:14.912 --> 0:25:19.352
<v Speaker 2>flashed a look, yeah, that sounds about right. The Reverend

0:25:19.392 --> 0:25:23.512
<v Speaker 2>gave Simo a nickname, the quote number one Reaperman of

0:25:23.672 --> 0:25:31.391
<v Speaker 2>the Cold Law. He had others, including the magic Shooter. Simo,

0:25:31.512 --> 0:25:34.311
<v Speaker 2>how Ha, was always a good shot, after all, he

0:25:34.352 --> 0:25:38.032
<v Speaker 2>grew up blinking squirrels and other varmints, but early on

0:25:38.232 --> 0:25:40.912
<v Speaker 2>he clearly had a gift for it. When he first

0:25:40.992 --> 0:25:44.752
<v Speaker 2>joined the service in the nineteen twenties, his buddies marveled

0:25:44.792 --> 0:25:48.472
<v Speaker 2>at how fast and accurate his shots could be. Once

0:25:48.552 --> 0:25:52.872
<v Speaker 2>Simo hit a target five hundred feet away sixteen times

0:25:52.872 --> 0:25:56.952
<v Speaker 2>in a row in just under one minute. He routinely

0:25:57.112 --> 0:26:00.752
<v Speaker 2>entered local shooting competitions throughout the twenties and the thirties

0:26:00.872 --> 0:26:05.872
<v Speaker 2>and regularly came home with a medal. Simo obsessed overmarksmanship.

0:26:06.392 --> 0:26:09.912
<v Speaker 2>During his peaceful farming days, he used his lunch breaks

0:26:09.912 --> 0:26:13.632
<v Speaker 2>to silently cite his rifle. When the day's work had ended,

0:26:13.832 --> 0:26:17.832
<v Speaker 2>he'd load his rifle and practice. That practice paid off.

0:26:18.272 --> 0:26:21.312
<v Speaker 2>There's a photo of six Company taken just before Christmas

0:26:21.432 --> 0:26:24.752
<v Speaker 2>nineteen thirty nine. In it, about two dozen men stand

0:26:24.752 --> 0:26:28.232
<v Speaker 2>in the snow, smiling out of frame as a Christmas

0:26:28.312 --> 0:26:33.311
<v Speaker 2>tree decorated with grenade shraud. Simo, however, is nowhere to

0:26:33.352 --> 0:26:33.871
<v Speaker 2>be found.

0:26:34.392 --> 0:26:36.831
<v Speaker 5>I myself was not in the picture taken off the

0:26:36.912 --> 0:26:41.672
<v Speaker 5>Christmas party, but I was in the foreground tasing the Russians,

0:26:41.752 --> 0:26:45.872
<v Speaker 5>snapping twenty Russians and three more on the leg.

0:26:47.392 --> 0:26:51.232
<v Speaker 2>He was too busy hunting Soviets. On December twenty first,

0:26:51.552 --> 0:26:55.392
<v Speaker 2>Simo returned to camp, stepped into the main tent to

0:26:55.432 --> 0:26:58.992
<v Speaker 2>shook off his boots, and reported his count.

0:26:58.632 --> 0:27:01.351
<v Speaker 5>Twenty six here, Lieutenant, Oh, when he got it, just

0:27:01.432 --> 0:27:03.952
<v Speaker 5>went thirty four hera lieutenant.

0:27:04.512 --> 0:27:07.272
<v Speaker 2>The lieutenant scoffed, joking.

0:27:07.592 --> 0:27:09.672
<v Speaker 6>You a wasted the States fan Simo.

0:27:10.872 --> 0:27:14.712
<v Speaker 2>Simo sat on the bare floor and lit a cigarette

0:27:14.752 --> 0:27:19.272
<v Speaker 2>twenty six kills. It was his single day best, if

0:27:19.312 --> 0:27:24.912
<v Speaker 2>we can call it best. He sat there smoking by Christmas,

0:27:24.952 --> 0:27:28.672
<v Speaker 2>he had recorded one hundred and fifty kills, completely unaware

0:27:28.712 --> 0:27:39.032
<v Speaker 2>that he was already the most successful sniper in military history. Today,

0:27:39.352 --> 0:27:43.832
<v Speaker 2>many accounts of Simo's exploits are lost. Sixth Company kept

0:27:43.872 --> 0:27:48.512
<v Speaker 2>a war diary, but those pages went missing decades ago. Fortunately,

0:27:48.672 --> 0:27:52.312
<v Speaker 2>tales of the company's success lured writers to the battleground.

0:27:53.472 --> 0:27:57.032
<v Speaker 2>An author named Mika Vaultri came to the collah that

0:27:57.152 --> 0:27:58.872
<v Speaker 2>December and painted the scene.

0:27:59.352 --> 0:28:03.872
<v Speaker 7>Snow blanket glows eerily in the moonlight, and the shades

0:28:03.912 --> 0:28:08.712
<v Speaker 7>of the forest are unmoving. Snow clad watchmen blend invisible

0:28:08.952 --> 0:28:14.272
<v Speaker 7>into the landscape. Sometimes a snowsuit wearing watch emerges from

0:28:14.272 --> 0:28:19.232
<v Speaker 7>the snow, quietly asking for the password. The snow covered

0:28:19.232 --> 0:28:23.472
<v Speaker 7>shell holds along the roadside are getting more and more numerous.

0:28:24.272 --> 0:28:28.432
<v Speaker 7>Here and there you can see shattered trees in the distance.

0:28:28.472 --> 0:28:32.232
<v Speaker 7>We hear the blast of a grenade and something snaps

0:28:32.312 --> 0:28:34.672
<v Speaker 7>in the branches above our heads.

0:28:35.352 --> 0:28:39.112
<v Speaker 2>Vaultrie was invited into six Compani's tent, where Simo and

0:28:39.152 --> 0:28:42.392
<v Speaker 2>his fellow soldiers gathered by the stove to share stories.

0:28:43.112 --> 0:28:47.152
<v Speaker 7>When reading about them in the newspapers, the story seemed unbelievable,

0:28:48.032 --> 0:28:50.752
<v Speaker 7>But when you hear them in a soldier tent with

0:28:50.832 --> 0:28:53.912
<v Speaker 7>the stove giving off its warmth. Told by the people

0:28:54.032 --> 0:28:59.952
<v Speaker 7>involved themselves in simple words, without boasting or exaggeration, then

0:29:00.032 --> 0:29:04.272
<v Speaker 7>you know that they are indeed true.

0:29:04.312 --> 0:29:08.232
<v Speaker 2>Suddenly five grenades exploded in the forest nearby.

0:29:10.272 --> 0:29:14.912
<v Speaker 7>No one lying on the hay flinched. No wants expression changed.

0:29:16.192 --> 0:29:20.832
<v Speaker 7>Only someone glanced at me, amusedly wondering what effect this

0:29:21.032 --> 0:29:22.232
<v Speaker 7>might have on their guests.

0:29:22.912 --> 0:29:26.112
<v Speaker 2>When Vaultri left the cola a few days later, he

0:29:26.272 --> 0:29:31.352
<v Speaker 2>was convinced the underdog Fins would win. They had an advantage,

0:29:31.392 --> 0:29:35.312
<v Speaker 2>a weapon that no military commander in a fancy office

0:29:35.392 --> 0:29:36.272
<v Speaker 2>could understand.

0:29:36.912 --> 0:29:39.552
<v Speaker 7>For the first time in my life, I realized what

0:29:39.672 --> 0:29:44.112
<v Speaker 7>Finnish wilderness truly means. The forests and the snow fight

0:29:44.232 --> 0:29:49.792
<v Speaker 7>against the folk. The Finnish wilderness protects suns better than

0:29:49.832 --> 0:29:52.152
<v Speaker 7>any fortifications or fortress.

0:29:58.392 --> 0:30:02.232
<v Speaker 2>By January, the co law still held Stories of bravery

0:30:02.272 --> 0:30:05.952
<v Speaker 2>from the front lines spread across Finland and to other

0:30:06.072 --> 0:30:10.032
<v Speaker 2>stretches of Europe. Once written off as a lost cause,

0:30:10.352 --> 0:30:15.392
<v Speaker 2>Finland's push against the USSR was becoming an inspiration. In Britain.

0:30:15.632 --> 0:30:22.552
<v Speaker 2>Winston Churchill marveled Finland alone and danger of death. Superb sublime.

0:30:22.712 --> 0:30:27.432
<v Speaker 2>Finland shows what free men can do. If the co

0:30:27.632 --> 0:30:32.072
<v Speaker 2>law could hold, if Finland could protect its then surely

0:30:32.432 --> 0:30:45.352
<v Speaker 2>the country would prevail. In February nineteen forty, Simo Hauha

0:30:45.632 --> 0:30:48.792
<v Speaker 2>was awarded a four day pass for rest and relaxation.

0:30:49.392 --> 0:30:52.072
<v Speaker 2>He returned to his family farm. He told no one

0:30:52.192 --> 0:30:56.032
<v Speaker 2>what he'd seen or done. Instead, he fled to the

0:30:56.072 --> 0:31:03.992
<v Speaker 2>isolation of the woods and practiced. Simo was always quiet, reserved,

0:31:04.392 --> 0:31:06.912
<v Speaker 2>but it's fair to guess that a lot was on

0:31:07.032 --> 0:31:10.592
<v Speaker 2>his mind. More than one hundred men from sixth Company

0:31:10.792 --> 0:31:15.072
<v Speaker 2>had died. One of his best friends, tov Varis, had

0:31:15.112 --> 0:31:19.072
<v Speaker 2>been killed by a Soviet sniper. Simo and Tovey had

0:31:19.072 --> 0:31:23.072
<v Speaker 2>been longtime buddies for years. They biked to the shooting

0:31:23.192 --> 0:31:27.032
<v Speaker 2>range together in winter. They skied there with rifles on

0:31:27.072 --> 0:31:32.472
<v Speaker 2>their backs, chatting, laughing. Now tove was gone, and Simo

0:31:32.752 --> 0:31:36.632
<v Speaker 2>wanted one thing. The man who killed his friend.

0:31:39.112 --> 0:31:41.952
<v Speaker 4>That man who will be taken out of his days.

0:31:43.752 --> 0:31:47.472
<v Speaker 2>When he returned to the front, Simo interrogated the Finnish

0:31:47.552 --> 0:31:52.792
<v Speaker 2>soldiers who saw Tovi die. Where was he killed?

0:31:52.912 --> 0:31:53.472
<v Speaker 4>He asked.

0:31:53.952 --> 0:31:57.392
<v Speaker 2>They opened a map and pointed here. The next day,

0:31:57.552 --> 0:32:00.432
<v Speaker 2>Simo set out on his skis and set up camp.

0:32:04.552 --> 0:32:09.312
<v Speaker 2>This mission would be different most days. Simo arrived early

0:32:09.352 --> 0:32:12.912
<v Speaker 2>in the morning, hoping to catch the enemy at sunrise,

0:32:13.552 --> 0:32:18.592
<v Speaker 2>but hunting a fellow sniper required a new strategy. Snipers,

0:32:18.632 --> 0:32:22.912
<v Speaker 2>after all, stay put. They don't move, at least not

0:32:23.152 --> 0:32:30.392
<v Speaker 2>until they leave for the night. So Simo waited all daylight.

0:32:30.552 --> 0:32:34.232
<v Speaker 2>I came dusk, followed the moon and the stars began

0:32:34.352 --> 0:32:37.912
<v Speaker 2>to rise, and instead of heading back to camp, Simo

0:32:38.192 --> 0:32:43.312
<v Speaker 2>stayed watching. A shadow in the distance moved. It was

0:32:43.432 --> 0:32:45.232
<v Speaker 2>the sniper, calling it a night.

0:32:46.392 --> 0:32:48.752
<v Speaker 5>The poor boy climbed on the edge of the pit.

0:32:50.032 --> 0:32:54.432
<v Speaker 5>I then raised the side a little. It was approximately

0:32:54.512 --> 0:32:58.632
<v Speaker 5>three hundred meters.

0:32:57.392 --> 0:33:00.992
<v Speaker 2>Three hundred meters in the growing darkness. A tough shot.

0:33:01.352 --> 0:33:04.272
<v Speaker 2>Simo stared down his barrel focused.

0:33:07.472 --> 0:33:09.952
<v Speaker 4>I had the good luck to hit with the first snap.

0:33:13.912 --> 0:33:17.472
<v Speaker 2>By February, everyone in Finland would know about the Battle

0:33:17.552 --> 0:33:21.272
<v Speaker 2>of the Cola, and everyone would know the name Simo.

0:33:21.552 --> 0:33:24.192
<v Speaker 2>How there are many.

0:33:24.032 --> 0:33:27.992
<v Speaker 7>True tales about him, how deadly bullets do not touch him,

0:33:28.352 --> 0:33:30.272
<v Speaker 7>how he can bear to be away from the front

0:33:30.312 --> 0:33:34.112
<v Speaker 7>line ewan when wounded, and how he doesn't even stay

0:33:34.312 --> 0:33:37.112
<v Speaker 7>on the front lines, but goes behind enemy lines to

0:33:37.192 --> 0:33:43.152
<v Speaker 7>harass them. The famous sharpshooter has certainly felt already around

0:33:43.192 --> 0:33:45.112
<v Speaker 7>two hundred enemies with his rifle.

0:33:46.472 --> 0:33:50.352
<v Speaker 2>More journalists arrived on the frozen battlefield, and Moore returned

0:33:50.392 --> 0:33:53.072
<v Speaker 2>home with stories of the ghost in the snow that

0:33:53.512 --> 0:33:58.472
<v Speaker 2>was Simo. How ha, Each tale made the five foot

0:33:58.552 --> 0:34:04.992
<v Speaker 2>three soldier larger than life. Here's one. Simo was lying

0:34:05.032 --> 0:34:08.672
<v Speaker 2>on a rock staking out Soviets when artillery reined down

0:34:08.911 --> 0:34:14.312
<v Speaker 2>over his position. A grenade exploded so close it tore

0:34:14.431 --> 0:34:18.712
<v Speaker 2>the shirt off his back. Simo brushed himself off, a

0:34:18.752 --> 0:34:22.432
<v Speaker 2>red burn streaking down his back. When a writer asked

0:34:22.511 --> 0:34:25.991
<v Speaker 2>Simo if the hit hurt, the sniper didn't appear to

0:34:26.072 --> 0:34:30.312
<v Speaker 2>understand the question. He simply replied, but it didn't hit,

0:34:31.112 --> 0:34:32.792
<v Speaker 2>And so his legend grew.

0:34:33.712 --> 0:34:35.472
<v Speaker 4>Death moves along the front lines.

0:34:36.312 --> 0:34:39.431
<v Speaker 6>Sometimes it takes a man from where you wouldn't believe it.

0:34:40.111 --> 0:34:43.911
<v Speaker 6>Quite often man is miraculously sparred from what seems like

0:34:44.111 --> 0:34:44.751
<v Speaker 6>certain death.

0:34:45.591 --> 0:34:50.471
<v Speaker 2>Accounts of Simo's venerable hunts began appearing in newspapers as

0:34:50.631 --> 0:34:54.591
<v Speaker 2>far off as Paris and Belfast. The race was on

0:34:55.192 --> 0:34:59.071
<v Speaker 2>for eager reporters to flock to Coola to profile him.

0:34:59.431 --> 0:35:02.991
<v Speaker 2>Many surprised that he didn't resemble the cold blooded killer

0:35:03.031 --> 0:35:03.991
<v Speaker 2>of their imagination.

0:35:04.591 --> 0:35:06.152
<v Speaker 4>You have to look that if.

0:35:05.951 --> 0:35:08.392
<v Speaker 7>He were to murray, he would be a great danger

0:35:08.712 --> 0:35:12.312
<v Speaker 7>of being put under the sleeper. He looks as innocent

0:35:12.431 --> 0:35:14.711
<v Speaker 7>as if he wouldn't ever even have failed an apple

0:35:14.792 --> 0:35:16.752
<v Speaker 7>from a three.

0:35:16.792 --> 0:35:22.192
<v Speaker 2>The resistance at Cola became synonymous with Finnish grit. Powered

0:35:22.232 --> 0:35:27.872
<v Speaker 2>by small units, they used terrain, cunning, and extreme conditions

0:35:27.872 --> 0:35:33.471
<v Speaker 2>to hold off massive Soviet forces for months. The Finn's

0:35:33.752 --> 0:35:40.191
<v Speaker 2>stubborn resistance was becoming legendary, and Simo was approaching mythic status.

0:35:40.792 --> 0:35:44.551
<v Speaker 7>On his back is his famous rifle, with which he has,

0:35:44.671 --> 0:35:49.192
<v Speaker 7>according to precise accounting, felt two hundred and nineteen enemies.

0:35:49.631 --> 0:35:52.112
<v Speaker 7>He has a habit of skiing along the front lines

0:35:52.352 --> 0:35:55.351
<v Speaker 7>and with his sharp eye watching what the other side

0:35:55.431 --> 0:35:58.872
<v Speaker 7>is doing. Usually the first shot always hits when the

0:35:58.911 --> 0:36:02.591
<v Speaker 7>cost is the price of the shot fifty five pennies.

0:36:03.551 --> 0:36:08.352
<v Speaker 2>Across Finland, a belief emerged if Simo survives, so will

0:36:08.471 --> 0:36:16.392
<v Speaker 2>the country and Simo, they believed, was untouchable. By early March,

0:36:16.671 --> 0:36:20.711
<v Speaker 2>a trail of burnt out tanks stood as a monument

0:36:20.872 --> 0:36:25.311
<v Speaker 2>to the Soviet's failure to cross the Kola. Stalin's men

0:36:25.752 --> 0:36:30.752
<v Speaker 2>needed a new strategy. Miles away, they began felling tree

0:36:30.832 --> 0:36:34.272
<v Speaker 2>and building a new road. They hatched a plan to

0:36:34.312 --> 0:36:38.311
<v Speaker 2>send thousands of fresh troops across the river. The two

0:36:38.392 --> 0:36:43.151
<v Speaker 2>sides were destined for an epic clash for finland. All

0:36:43.232 --> 0:36:46.951
<v Speaker 2>hands were on deck. Leadership could not afford to have

0:36:47.031 --> 0:36:50.591
<v Speaker 2>Simo sitting in the forest alone. They ordered him to

0:36:50.792 --> 0:36:57.031
<v Speaker 2>join his countrymen and prepare for an all out assault.

0:36:57.991 --> 0:37:02.591
<v Speaker 2>It's five a m March sixth, nineteen forty. Simo and

0:37:02.671 --> 0:37:07.191
<v Speaker 2>his men poke their heads out of their tents. They

0:37:07.272 --> 0:37:13.431
<v Speaker 2>strap on their skis, slowly, silently, under the cover of moonlight.

0:37:13.951 --> 0:37:17.392
<v Speaker 2>They glide through the Ulis Minin forest and come upon

0:37:17.511 --> 0:37:21.951
<v Speaker 2>a frozen swamp. The bog is the size of three

0:37:22.031 --> 0:37:26.951
<v Speaker 2>football fields. There is no tree cover. The men exchanged glances.

0:37:27.352 --> 0:37:30.911
<v Speaker 2>The sun is rising. They need to cross the open

0:37:30.991 --> 0:37:38.792
<v Speaker 2>ground fast, and soon suddenly an explosion around them. Trees

0:37:38.991 --> 0:37:43.511
<v Speaker 2>crack and splinter. Dirt flies into the air. Soviet shells

0:37:43.671 --> 0:37:46.872
<v Speaker 2>rain down on their position. There is no time to think.

0:37:47.192 --> 0:37:48.871
<v Speaker 2>They must cross now.

0:37:49.551 --> 0:37:52.832
<v Speaker 5>On the other side of the swamp, an assault begun

0:37:52.951 --> 0:37:55.591
<v Speaker 5>against an enemy that was right nearby.

0:37:58.392 --> 0:38:01.872
<v Speaker 2>Simo presses his submachine gun to his shoulder. He skis

0:38:01.911 --> 0:38:05.352
<v Speaker 2>across the swamp as fast as he can. Bullets whiz past.

0:38:05.631 --> 0:38:06.911
<v Speaker 2>He returns fired.

0:38:09.071 --> 0:38:12.991
<v Speaker 4>My rifle was working fine. I was happy with its results.

0:38:13.911 --> 0:38:16.672
<v Speaker 5>We were so close to the enemy that the nearest

0:38:16.792 --> 0:38:18.792
<v Speaker 5>was about two meters away from me.

0:38:19.312 --> 0:38:22.671
<v Speaker 2>Simo can see the Soviets in their foxholes. Some are

0:38:22.832 --> 0:38:27.071
<v Speaker 2>so close he can practically grab them. They're running away,

0:38:27.111 --> 0:38:34.551
<v Speaker 2>disappearing into the trees. Simo looks around the woods for quiet.

0:38:34.352 --> 0:38:38.791
<v Speaker 5>While fighting clashing in the dark forest. I couldn't see

0:38:38.832 --> 0:38:42.671
<v Speaker 5>the enemy in front of me, and that's when my

0:38:42.792 --> 0:38:43.431
<v Speaker 5>luck turned.

0:38:44.911 --> 0:38:49.191
<v Speaker 2>A Soviet soldier is hiding behind the tree. Simo never

0:38:49.272 --> 0:38:50.071
<v Speaker 2>sees them.

0:38:50.232 --> 0:38:53.392
<v Speaker 5>Suddenly I heard a shot from maybe fifty to one

0:38:53.511 --> 0:38:57.272
<v Speaker 5>hundred meters away.

0:38:57.832 --> 0:38:59.431
<v Speaker 4>And I felt that now it had hit.

0:39:03.071 --> 0:39:06.151
<v Speaker 2>Simo opens his eyes. He is on the ground in

0:39:06.232 --> 0:39:08.552
<v Speaker 2>a pool of blood and melting snow.

0:39:09.471 --> 0:39:13.271
<v Speaker 5>The world was spinning and tilting in my eyes. I

0:39:13.272 --> 0:39:17.671
<v Speaker 5>think the stars were also showing. Then a rush of

0:39:17.792 --> 0:39:22.111
<v Speaker 5>blood blinded my eyesight. My mouth felt to be full

0:39:22.151 --> 0:39:24.392
<v Speaker 5>of bone, fragments and blood.

0:39:25.911 --> 0:39:30.232
<v Speaker 2>Simo feels a warmth spread across his face. He feels

0:39:30.232 --> 0:39:34.911
<v Speaker 2>his jaw dangling open, like wet meat. Pieces of his

0:39:35.071 --> 0:39:38.831
<v Speaker 2>tongue lay on the snow. A bullet pierced his left

0:39:38.872 --> 0:39:43.911
<v Speaker 2>cheek and upper lip. Soldiers rush to his aid, screaming

0:39:43.991 --> 0:39:47.632
<v Speaker 2>for a medic. They turn him onto his side, hoping

0:39:47.712 --> 0:39:51.312
<v Speaker 2>to stop him from choking on his own blood. Simo

0:39:51.752 --> 0:39:55.312
<v Speaker 2>is still conscious. He feels his men drop his limp

0:39:55.431 --> 0:40:00.232
<v Speaker 2>body onto a sled, tugging him back across the frozen swamp.

0:40:00.872 --> 0:40:04.911
<v Speaker 2>The sled glides over the ice, The dawn sun begins

0:40:04.911 --> 0:40:09.511
<v Speaker 2>to rise, machine guns fade in the distance, and Simo's

0:40:09.551 --> 0:40:19.431
<v Speaker 2>world goes dark. Hours later, Simo's body is placed on

0:40:19.471 --> 0:40:23.591
<v Speaker 2>a pile of fins, killed in action. His lieutenant is

0:40:23.671 --> 0:40:28.551
<v Speaker 2>informed of his death. The news spreads across Finland. Radio

0:40:28.752 --> 0:40:33.552
<v Speaker 2>and newspaper obituaries report with sadness that a national hero

0:40:34.272 --> 0:40:35.031
<v Speaker 2>has perished.

0:40:35.392 --> 0:40:39.352
<v Speaker 5>The freedom fighter simohioa of whose unique service the papers

0:40:39.352 --> 0:40:41.951
<v Speaker 5>have told down around Miraculos stories, has fallen in the

0:40:42.031 --> 0:40:44.071
<v Speaker 5>last battles of the water on the Kolarida.

0:40:45.192 --> 0:40:49.632
<v Speaker 2>Around fifteen hundred Finnish soldiers would die defending the Kola

0:40:50.111 --> 0:40:53.951
<v Speaker 2>and yet, despite facing a Soviet army much bigger than

0:40:53.951 --> 0:40:58.592
<v Speaker 2>their own, the river would hold the Mohnarheim line, though

0:40:58.832 --> 0:41:03.312
<v Speaker 2>would not the Great Wall of Finland would crack, Soviet

0:41:03.392 --> 0:41:06.712
<v Speaker 2>forces would pour in, and Finland would be forced into

0:41:06.792 --> 0:41:11.352
<v Speaker 2>an impossible position. On March twelfth, the two countries signed

0:41:11.392 --> 0:41:14.431
<v Speaker 2>a peace treaty. Finland agreed to give up about ten

0:41:14.471 --> 0:41:18.151
<v Speaker 2>percent of its land, all of the region around the

0:41:18.192 --> 0:41:22.431
<v Speaker 2>Coolah River, the town of Simo's boyhood, his family farm.

0:41:22.911 --> 0:41:26.752
<v Speaker 2>All of it was now part of the Soviet Union.

0:41:27.471 --> 0:41:31.312
<v Speaker 2>The Coolah fell not with tanks or greens or a

0:41:31.352 --> 0:41:35.431
<v Speaker 2>sniper's bullet, but rather with the stroke of a pen.

0:41:36.792 --> 0:41:40.672
<v Speaker 2>The same day Finland surrendered, the family of Simo Hauha

0:41:40.991 --> 0:41:42.992
<v Speaker 2>received a telegram.

0:41:43.192 --> 0:41:48.352
<v Speaker 4>Stop the funeral the disease, dismissing the message.

0:41:48.911 --> 0:41:53.511
<v Speaker 2>It was from Simo. He wasn't dead. He was in

0:41:53.551 --> 0:41:57.392
<v Speaker 2>a Red Cross hospital. He'd been unconscious for nine days.

0:41:57.431 --> 0:41:59.831
<v Speaker 2>Somebody had pulled him out of that pile of dead

0:41:59.872 --> 0:42:03.831
<v Speaker 2>bodies and taken him to the hospital. He had four surgeries.

0:42:04.071 --> 0:42:07.752
<v Speaker 2>Doctors reconstructed his face with pieces of his hip bone.

0:42:08.232 --> 0:42:10.792
<v Speaker 2>Now he was eating through a feeding to but he

0:42:10.872 --> 0:42:14.631
<v Speaker 2>was alive, awake, and in good spirits. A few weeks

0:42:14.712 --> 0:42:19.471
<v Speaker 2>later he got a note from his lieutenant Arnayuti linen Seemore.

0:42:20.272 --> 0:42:23.951
<v Speaker 6>We believed you were gone, we needn't told a memorial feast.

0:42:24.232 --> 0:42:26.991
<v Speaker 6>But when we learned that you were alive, then we

0:42:27.071 --> 0:42:30.992
<v Speaker 6>held quiet up on hardy. Hope your health returns. Every

0:42:31.031 --> 0:42:35.111
<v Speaker 6>finish free or unofficially at Bat's grandmother, we'll accept the

0:42:35.232 --> 0:42:37.192
<v Speaker 6>us a bachelor us Grando.

0:42:37.792 --> 0:42:42.671
<v Speaker 2>In the years that followed, Simo underwent twenty six surgeries

0:42:42.712 --> 0:42:46.352
<v Speaker 2>to reconstruct his jaw. By nineteen forty two, he was

0:42:46.431 --> 0:42:49.352
<v Speaker 2>able to cross the border into Russia for the dedication

0:42:49.671 --> 0:42:52.872
<v Speaker 2>of the Kolah River as a protected area, a joint

0:42:53.111 --> 0:42:59.511
<v Speaker 2>memorialization effort by Russia and Finland. Approximately fifteen hundred Fins

0:42:59.551 --> 0:43:03.151
<v Speaker 2>had perished in those woods, along with about sixty one

0:43:03.272 --> 0:43:07.911
<v Speaker 2>hundred Soviets. Simo would be credited with two hundred and

0:43:07.951 --> 0:43:12.392
<v Speaker 2>fifty nine sniper kills, plus another two hundred and fifty

0:43:12.431 --> 0:43:17.392
<v Speaker 2>more with pistols and automatic rifles. All told, Simo was

0:43:17.431 --> 0:43:21.392
<v Speaker 2>responsible for nearly ten percent of all Soviets killed at

0:43:21.392 --> 0:43:25.191
<v Speaker 2>the Kolah, making him one of the deadliest snipers in

0:43:25.272 --> 0:43:31.352
<v Speaker 2>military history. Simo Hauja would and the rest of his

0:43:31.431 --> 0:43:36.471
<v Speaker 2>life on a woodland farm in solitude. He never married.

0:43:36.991 --> 0:43:40.872
<v Speaker 2>He spent his years raising hunting dogs and guiding moose hunts.

0:43:41.352 --> 0:43:44.792
<v Speaker 2>He rarely spoke about the war. When he did, he

0:43:44.872 --> 0:43:47.632
<v Speaker 2>never boasted about individual accomplishments.

0:43:48.471 --> 0:43:52.832
<v Speaker 5>Listen, no one slacked off there in the war. Together

0:43:52.951 --> 0:43:55.792
<v Speaker 5>we underwent the tough moment and we eat tried to

0:43:55.832 --> 0:43:59.272
<v Speaker 5>do our best. The most important thing is that you

0:43:59.392 --> 0:44:00.512
<v Speaker 5>trust your friend.

0:44:01.392 --> 0:44:04.591
<v Speaker 2>Simo carried the scars of battle for the rest of

0:44:04.631 --> 0:44:05.471
<v Speaker 2>his life.

0:44:05.671 --> 0:44:09.591
<v Speaker 5>But never complained the shot that wounded me. Came an

0:44:09.631 --> 0:44:11.392
<v Speaker 5>honest man to man combat.

0:44:12.911 --> 0:44:16.392
<v Speaker 2>Decades later, as an old man, Simo met up with

0:44:16.471 --> 0:44:19.671
<v Speaker 2>a group of veterans who'd survived the Battle of Kola.

0:44:19.872 --> 0:44:23.871
<v Speaker 2>At one point, somebody asked him, had any snipers from

0:44:23.911 --> 0:44:28.112
<v Speaker 2>Russia shown up? Simo looked around and shook his head.

0:44:28.911 --> 0:44:44.311
<v Speaker 2>They cut an RSVP. He had already buried them. Very

0:44:44.312 --> 0:44:47.911
<v Speaker 2>Special Episodes is made by some very special people. Today's

0:44:47.951 --> 0:44:51.471
<v Speaker 2>episode was produced in partnership with School of Humans. This

0:44:51.631 --> 0:44:55.991
<v Speaker 2>show is hosted by Zaren Burnett, Danish Schwartz, and Jason English.

0:44:56.471 --> 0:45:00.631
<v Speaker 2>Today's episode was written by Lucas Riley. Our senior producers

0:45:00.631 --> 0:45:05.392
<v Speaker 2>are Josh Fisher and Amelia Rock. Additional production by Etily's Perez.

0:45:05.911 --> 0:45:10.511
<v Speaker 2>Our story editor is Virginia Prescott, editing, sound design, mixing

0:45:10.551 --> 0:45:14.711
<v Speaker 2>and mastering by Jesse Niswanger, Research in fact checking by

0:45:14.752 --> 0:45:18.752
<v Speaker 2>Austin Thompson and Lucas Riley. Got to give major props

0:45:18.752 --> 0:45:21.272
<v Speaker 2>to our excellent cast who brought this one to life.

0:45:21.631 --> 0:45:27.751
<v Speaker 2>Starring Niska Kayanos as Simo Haukra. Additional voices provided by

0:45:28.151 --> 0:45:36.352
<v Speaker 2>Tuamas Achva Home, Tuamas Brock, and Touka Ra. Special thanks

0:45:36.431 --> 0:45:41.352
<v Speaker 2>to Sirifa Rista Marquis Brock. Original music by Alise McCoy

0:45:41.511 --> 0:45:47.071
<v Speaker 2>and Jesse Niswanger. Show logo by Lucy Quintanilla. Executive producers

0:45:47.111 --> 0:45:51.631
<v Speaker 2>of today's episode are Virginia Prescott and Jason English. Very

0:45:51.712 --> 0:45:54.711
<v Speaker 2>Special Episodes is a production of iHeart Podcasts. If you're

0:45:54.752 --> 0:45:56.631
<v Speaker 2>a fan of the show, go give us a rating

0:45:56.752 --> 0:45:59.272
<v Speaker 2>or review on your favorite podcast platform