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Lauri Törni aka. Larry Thorne, between 1941 - 1948

When Nazi Germany neared its end, there remained those in Finland who would have liked to contribute to the Third Reich's final death struggle. Afraid of

communism, these individuals viewed themselves as a final rescuing force for their homeland.

But such grandiose visions would have required a military takeover of Finland, the raising of a German-minded shadow government to power, a termination of the peace treaty with the Soviet Union, and the continuing support of a war for Germany.

Many Finns were involved in the preparation for such a situation only to find themselves severely punished during the post-war period with harsh sentences in a Finnish hi-court from 1946-47. One of those sentenced was legendary Finnish war hero Lauri Törni, who voluntarily aided Nazi Germany during its final desperate situation in the spring of 1945.

Elite Soldier of A-class

Lauri Allan Törni (1919-65) fulfilled all Aryan requirements of the SS. He stood 178cm tall. His bodily proportions were firm and strong and his hair was light brown. His face was angular (not Slavonic circular) and his eyes were grey-blue. He belonged to an elite class of SS-men and was thus marked with a large letter “A,” brandished in the bicep of his left arm. One may leave memories behind but not the stigma. 

1407 Finnish volunteers enlisted in the Waffen-SS. These men were mainly between the ages of 18-20, and amongst them, 22-year old Törni was one of the oldest. 79% of all Finnish volunteers were members of the civil guard and 20% of those were members of the Finnish patriotic movement (IKL) or its youth organization equivalent (Black and Blue). But what remains largely unknown today is that there were three times more right wing radicals enlisted as volunteers than among the common Finnish citizenry. In spite of this, Törni remained only a member of the

civil guard. The recruitment of SS-men at this time in Finland was not only quite legal but also very well-known among the populace. The first group of SS volunteers left Finland on the 6th of May, 1941, and the last left its coast on June 5th of that same year.

To be an SS-man of the Reich

Törni enlisted on May 13th, 1941, when "Rastas Engineering Company" recruited Finns to go into the military service in Germany. Their boat left from Vaskiluoto, the harbour town of Vaasa, on June 2nd, 1941.

Because too many officers had entered the Finnish volunteer battalion (SS Freiwilligen Nordost), many of them had no meaningful service duties to perform, ending up in passive non-commanding positions. In spite of this setback, all officers received the equivalent ranks they had previously held in the Finnish service. From May 18th, 1941 Törni held the rank of SS-Untersturmführer (the equivalent of a Wehrmacht Leutnant or a US 2nd Lieutenant). According to contemporary sources, Törni found his stay of garrison duty in Schönbrunn (Fasangartenkaserne), Vienna frustrating. On hearing the news of a Finnish engagement to attack Soviet Russia, he returned to Finland along with 15 of his fellow Finnish officers on July, 23rd, 1941 before pledging the required German military oath. Although Finnish SS-men were required to pledge their oath before entering the front, Törni was nonetheless awarded the Iron Cross Second Class on December 12th, 1943.

Törni starts his odyssey

Törni was honorably discharged from the Finnish army with the rank of captain and as a holder of the prestigious Knight of Mannerheim Cross (the highest military award in Finland) on December 4th, 1944. It is interesting to note that Finnish SS-men were not allowed to partake in Lapland's war against Germany due to the former oath taken as protectors of the Reich (which Törni never gave). After his discharge, Törni lived with his parents in Vaasa where he met a fellow SS-Kamerad, Jalo Korpela, (also honorably discharged at that time from the Finnish army as a lieutenant). With him Törni agreed to go to Germany on the 21st of January, 1945 where both had been recruited by Finnish ex-commando John Arthur Hjörklund.

They sneaked out of Finland in secrecy, with Liutenant-Colonel Fabritius, by German U-boat, from Kaskinen at night of 23.1.1945. U-boat were loaded in Swinemünde specifically for this Finnish operation. Their torpedo sections was fully loaded with pistols, submachine guns, ammunition, explosives, radio equipment and batteries, all that intended for the Finnish resistance movement. A resistance that had already been planned out and was to be led by the "Shadow Government of Free Finland.” The U-boots made a stop in Libau, Latvia to fill their
petrol tanks, and their huge plan was underway, a plan of which Törni unsuspectingly knew nothing.

Make Finland Free!

The "brain" of military takeover in Finland was German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Joachim von Ribbentrop, but the idea had originally been created much earlier by both the SS and the Central Office of Security (RSHA) at a time when intelligence information had been gathered for Finland's secret attempts of peace with the Soviets.

The Germans took over Hungary on 19.3.1944 when Hungary attempted to make peace with the Soviet Union and installed a shadow government, which had been modelled after the Norwegian/Quisling dictatorship regime. (Hungarian Prime Minister, F.Szalási, as well as other collaborating Hungarian cabinet ministers sympathetic to the Germans, were subsequently hanged after the war in 1946.) Plan was to arm and support a small German-minded "elite" group who could seize power from strategic locations as had been done in Hungary two months earlier; only this time, no German troops to support the takeover were needed/available. The nearest German troops in Finland were in Lapland, 800km away from the capital Preparations for the “new” Finland were started soon after signing a treaty of armament support with von Ribbentrop at end of June 1944. Germany wanted to assure an alliance with Finland as a counterpart to the armament aid they had given, which had been crucial in stopping the Red-army's final attack in Kannas in the summer of 1944.

From the Finnish side, the entire conspiracy had been organized by Lieutenant-Colonel Fabritius along with espionage operations organized by chief engineer K.J. Sundholm. The German’s had planned their side of the takeover under the leadership of Fregattenkapitän Cellarius and SS-Sturmbannführer Bross.

Sonderkommando Nord

German U-boat went to Libau, then Danzig, and finally on to Schwinemünde where Fabritius, Törni, and Korpela were then transported to baden-town of Heringsdorf, at the North Sea island of Üsedom. It was here that a headquarter and communication center for the "Sonderkommando Nord" had been established, where all large-scale resistance, espionage, and sabotage activity on Finnish and Russian soil was to be planned.

In February, Törni and Korpela were sent to Neusterlitz, 150km from Berlin, to a special skill’s
course where around ten other Finnish SS-men were being trained, (all Finns were using SS-uniforms). Instructors at Neusterlitz were German engineers and other specialists who trained SS men to handle extremely effective explosive devices (i.e. hair-trigger pens and cigars), as well as honing their skills in marksmanship and horseback-riding. Courses usually lasted two weeks where thereafter their training continued at Heringsdorf. As the front came closer with every day, these courses were transferred to Flensburg near the Danish border.

Air-raids hindered relocation by one week, and to kill time, Törni and Korpela drank dozens of bottles of cognac, they had been conveniently placed in the same rail car as the Kommando Nord’s liquor storage. (Writers note: If you put a Finnish man near free
booze, you're always asking for trouble!)

Does Germany Hold?

According to the interrogation records of the Finnish Supreme Court (I.1.3.46), Törni had a conversation with Fabritius at Heringsdorf about Germany's impending military situation. Fabritius had expressed his view that Germany's situation was inevitably hopeless and that the Reich would eventually collapse.

During a short visit to Berlin in February, (10-11th). Fabritius had been asked to take part in several sabotage and espionage missions within Finland. He turned each of them down, also urging Törni to decline taking a part in other same kind of sabotage or espionage operations within their homeland. However, the trip gave Fabritius the opportunity to express a plan for an armed resistance movement against the Soviet and Finnish army to Gen. Kaltenbrunner and his staff, who were a part of Hitler's inner circle. Soon after Fabritius returned, he was then delivered back to Finland where he parachuted with his German contact person near Pori on the night of Feb. 21, 1945. Both implemented their plans immediately.

Inside Russian encirclement

In the middle of March 1945, Cellarius suggested to Törni and Korpela, to go to Finland, via Norway to carry out espionage and sabotage missions against enemy positions (Finnish), again both declined saying firmly they would never take part in any action against Finland. Cellarius became furious, spelling out German marshal law and ordering both staright to the front. Although they requested an assignment to the western front, (most likely in order to desert), their request had been denied due to general feelings of unreliability against the Finns. Instead, both men were ordered directly to the front of Berlin, which they eagerly saw as yet another chance to fight the Russians. After receiving new uniforms and 6.35 cal pistols, the two men reported themselves to the headquarters of SS-Obergruppenführer (SS-General) Felix Steiner, who immediately promoted Törni to the rank of SS-Hauptsturmführer and issued him a military passport and a command of 200-300 men, Korpela stayed with him as an Untersturmführer. Soon afterwards Gen. Steiner was dishonourably-discharged for disobeying Hitler's direct orders. Törni led his men for only around two weeks, before surrendering.

Törni surrenders

Törni and his men fought against Russians near town of Schwerin, At that time he witnessed/realized the total collapse of German army. 25.4.1945 he was in Nauen. Berlin with its nearest provinces were encircled by Russians. Törni engaged enemy near the small town of Pritzwalk. Russian breakthrough caused a chaos amongst Germans, in the middle of that chaos Törni and his men tried to getaway from Russian encirclement. 3.5.1945 Törni and his men were near Hagenow, surrounded by Russians, when they heard about Hitler's suicide. Hitler killed himself 30.4.1945. The group fought their way through Russian lines and surrendered themselves to American paratroopers later that same day. Five days later, Germany surrender unconditionally.

Escaping from a prison camp

Americans gave prisoners to British, who escorted them to a prison camp of Oldenburg. Törni wanted to join in British forces, but he was turned down because officially Finland and Britain were in war against each other. The camp was very open, so Törni and Korpela escaped together. They end up in Denmark where they got a fake ID:s from Finnish ambassador. With those ID:s they managed to come back to Finland. They landed in harbour of Turku, Finland, where they managed to avoid a customs check and disappear.

Törni end up to Helsinki (Capital of Finland). For a while Törni lived a "normal" life. He worked as an electrician, in a electrical supplies retailer firm, which were owned by couple of activists of "SS-conspiracy".

This electrical supplies retailer were located just two blocks a away from Hotel Torni (Tower Hotel), where Russian control commission stayed. Much later information came to a day light that German minded activists taped all, phone conversations from and to a hotel... Much before our country's security officials started that. Sometime during summer of -45 Törni contacted Fabritius. During war time Gestapo organised a money stash somewhere in southern Sweden , Törni wanted to take currency in use for a Finnish SS-men, but Fabritius disapproved an idea to be much too risky, Törni's plan was buried.

Verdict

Red Valpo (Soviet oriented Finnish Security Police) arrested Törni at his flat in Helsinki, during house search 12.4.1946. Törni  were ordered to a protective custody 12.6.1946. First he was hold in Valpo's holding cell in Helsinki and afterwards in Western Finland's county prison, in Turku. Interrogations were mainly conducted there.

Törni claimed, that all his sayings were distort. Törni asked to be let write his own version of interrogation records, because he claimed official record to be colorized and incorrect in many part. Törni's version of interrogation records have never been able to found amongst his trial documents, even there are thousands of pages of those documents, total weight over 7,5kg.

Records of Hi-court "case 1283" are very impressive. It include even original radio code keys. Verdicts were based of confessions and evidences. Törni were convicted as a participant of "Great espionage case". There were 150 people under the investigation, which 50 were arrested and 23 of those put to court.

Törni's co-conspirator and friend Fabritius died during the trial. 10.1.1947 Törni were sentenced to 6 year in hard labour prison, which was minimum sentence of high treason. Hi-court confirmed the sentence in 21.5.1947. Verdict were based on Törni's crimes: enlistment to enemy's service, after Finland and Germany were officially in war with each other and being an acting member of creating resistance movement in Finland.

Sentence were quite mild if you compare that to sentences which were given for espionage for Soviet Union (1939-1946), 681 people were convicted to death, and at least 528 people were shot. On the other hand, if you compare the sentence with the verdict of Head minister of Finland, Väinö Tanner, who was convicted as a war criminal, he got only five and half years. In that point of view, Törni's verdict were quite hard.

Escape attempts and extra sentences

Törni escaped, with the help of guards, already 17.7.1947. The back gate of the prison were hold open for unloading of goods. Guards let Törni walk out of the gate and vanish to town of Turku. Törni was arrested 31.7.1947 in Oulu, together with another ss-man, Korpela. They planned to leave Finland. Hi-court gave Törni six months more. Despite of that, Törni made two more escape attempts, from central prison of Riihimäki, were he was transfer after the first escape. One guard equipped Törni with the hook, rope, guard's coat and even with machine gun. Same time the Valpo tried find more evidences against Törni. Valpo investigated an information it had received. According one informant Törni gave order to kill some soviet POW:s they captured during the fights of spring 1944. At that time Törni were conducting a commando raids behind enemy lines. They engaged enemy and got 10-15 prisoners, which most were wounded. According informant Törni said "there is no use to waste bandages for Rusian prisoners" and told his men to shoot them, and they did. According same informant there were five witnesses, which this informant named, who knew about another same kind of incidents.  Valpo was never able to get any evidence to support these allegations.

To abroad

President Paasikivi pardoned Törni 13.12.1948 to be release parole. At same day his civic confidence were restored, this enabled a possibility to get a passport and leaving country. His military rank was removed, because of treason verdict. By president's order, 6.10.1950, he was removed from the list of Finnish army officers, as he would never exist there. His medals of honour were never cancelled.

In February 1949 Törni travelled to southern Sweden and 1950 to Venezuela and to USA. In August of 1953 US government made emergency law, which allowed former ss-men to join US army. Larry A Thorne started his US military career as a recruit 28.1.1954.

Service Record

Adventure Continues...

Many thanks for Suomen Kuvalehti magazine, to Markku Salomaa (SK) and Pekka Lehtinen (SK) (37/2003) who's material I have ruthlessly borrowed and translated to create this page.

Special thanks to Lori Sundberg, who cared to check English grammar.

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