White Death

In April of 1938, representatives from the USSR approached the
Finnish government and expressed a concern that Nazi Germany could
attempt to invade Russia, and such an attack might come through
parts of Finland. The Finns replied that they were officially
neutral, but any Nazi incursion on Finland’s borders would be
resisted. This did not mollify the Soviets. Hitler’s manifesto,
Mein Kampf, was published thirteen years previous with specific
note that the Nazis would need to invade the Soviet Union. The Red
Army was determined to “advance to meet the enemy” and refused to
accept promises from the smaller country. As negotiations
continued, the Soviets tried to coax Finland into leasing or ceding
some area to serve as a buffer to Leningrad. In November 1939,
however, all negotiations ceased, and on 30 November 1939 the
Soviet Red Army invaded Finland. In the municipality of Rautjärvi
near the Soviet/Finnish border, 34-year-old Simo Häyhä was a farmer
and hunter leading a flagrantly unexciting life. Upon news of the
hostilities, he gathered up food, plain white camouflage, and his
iron-sighted SAKO M/28-30--a variant of the Soviet Mosin-Nagant
rifle--and went to defend his country. Before the four-month war
ended, humble Häyhä would gain infamy among the Russian invaders,
and come to be known as the “White Death”.