Ski.Sniper-ALiAS Tool
Fatima Rubalcava
Hyh estimated in his private war memoir that he shot around 500 Soviet soldiers.[5][6] The memoir, titled Sotamuistoja (War memoirs), was written in 1940, a few months after he was wounded, and described his experiences in the Winter War from 30 November 1939 to 13 March 1940. Hidden for decades, the memoir was discovered in 2017.[5]
Hyh was born in the Kiiskinen hamlet of the Rautjrvi municipality in the Viipuri Province of southern Finland, near the border with Russia.[7] He was the seventh of eight children in a Lutheran family of farmers.[8] His father, Juho Hyh, was the owner of the Mattila farm, while his mother, Katriina (ne Vilkko), was a loving and hard-working farmer's wife.[7] He attended school in the village of Miettil in Kivennapa parish and helped cultivate the home farm alongside his eldest brother. Before his military service, he was a farmer and enjoyed hunting and skiing.
Hyh joined the Finnish voluntary militia, the Civil Guard (Suojeluskunta), at the age of 17. He excelled in shooting competitions in the Viipuri Province, and his home was reportedly filled with trophies for marksmanship.[9] Not keen to hog the spotlight, he usually stood at the back in group photos during his youth, until his later successes forced him to take centre stage.[10]
In 1925, at the age of 19, Hyh began his 15-month compulsory military service in the Bicycle Battalion 2 in Raivola, Viipuri Province. He attended the Non-Commissioned Officer School and served as a conscript officer in the Bicycle Battalion 1 in Terijoki. However, he did not receive formal sniper training until 1938, a year before the war, at a training centre in Utti.[7]
Hyh's war memoir states that they captured a Soviet soldier, blindfolded him, spun him around until he was disoriented, and then took him to a party in the tent of Hyh's company Lieutenant Aarne "The Terror of Morocco" Juutilainen. The Soviet soldier was overjoyed by the carousing and was disappointed when he was released.[6][5]
All of Hyh's kills were accomplished in less than 100 days, an average of five per day at a time of year with very few daylight hours.[16][17][18] His kill count as a sniper was based on his own reporting, with the confirmation of his comrades, and only those who were verified to be dead were counted. No count was taken when several snipers shot at the same target. Enemy soldiers killed with a submachine gun with Hyh as a group leader were not counted.[19]
Hyh's division commander Antero Svensson credited him with 219 confirmed kills with a rifle and an equal number of kills by submachine gun, when he awarded Hyh with an honorary rifle on 17 February 1940.[20] On 21 December 1939, Hyh achieved his highest daily count of 25 kills. In his diary, military chaplain Antti Rantamaa reported 259 confirmed kills made by rifle and an equal number of kills by submachine gun from the beginning of the war until 7 March 1940, one day after Hyh was severely wounded. [7]
Hyh never discussed it publicly, but his own private memoir, discovered in 2017, states a number. He begins by stating that "this is his sin list", and estimates the total number he shot to be around 500.[6][5]
Finnish historian Risto Marjomaa questions the large number, as confirmation of casualties was difficult due to the absence of the bodies. In his article, published by the National Biography of Finland, Marjomaa credited Hyh with the total number of "more than two hundred" kills.[23] Complicating matters further is the use of Hyh's achievements as a tool of propaganda: the Finnish press built a hero's myth around Hyh at the early stage of the war.[24]
Hyh preferred iron sights over telescopic sights, as they enable a sniper to present a smaller target for the enemy (a sniper must raise his head a few centimetres higher when using a telescopic sight), and can be relied on even in extreme cold, unlike telescopic sights which tend to cloud up in cold weather. Another disadvantage of telescopic sights is that sunlight may reflect off the lenses and reveal the sniper's position. Hyh did not have prior training with scoped rifles, and therefore preferred not to switch to the Soviet scoped rifle (M/91-30 PE or PEM).[citation needed]
Hyh dealt with the intense cold by dressing properly with multiple layers of clothing. He kept sugar and bread in his pockets, consuming them for the calories necessary to keep his body warm. His slight stature of 160 centimetres (5 ft 3 in) assisted him in disguising his position. Hidden in a snow pit, he could lie still and observe the enemy for long periods of time.[20] It was Hyh's custom to move, well before daybreak, to the position he had prepared, and stay there until after sunset.[20] He would frequently pack dense mounds of snow in front of his position to conceal himself, provide padding for his rifle, and reduce the characteristic puff of snow stirred up by the muzzle blast. He was known to keep snow in his mouth while sniping to prevent his breath in the cold air from giving away his position.[25]
On 6 March 1940, Hyh was severely wounded after an explosive bullet fired by a Red Army soldier hit his lower left jaw.[26] After the battle, as he appeared to be dead, he was placed on a pile of dead bodies.
Rumours of Hyh's death spread around in Finland and the Soviet Union. He regained consciousness a week later on 13 March, the day that peace was declared. He read about his own death in a newspaper, and sent a letter to the paper to correct the misunderstanding.[10]
Shortly after the Winter War, on 28 August 1940, Finnish Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim promoted Hyh straight from alikersantti (the lowest military rank of a non-commissioned officer) to vnrikki (the first military rank of an officer).[30] In 1941, Hyh was also nominated as a Knight of the Mannerheim Cross, the most distinguished Finnish military honour. However, the nomination remained "under consideration".[31] He also received the Kollaa fighters' medal, the silver version of the Cross of Kollaa Battle, number 4.[1]
The Kollaa and Simo Hyh Museum (Kollaa ja Simo Hyh -museo) is located in the village of Miettil at Rautjrvi, in a former infirmary. The museum, opened in 1983, covers the Battle of Kollaa, and features a special permanent exhibition dedicated to the life of Simo Hyh.[32]
It took several years for Hyh to recuperate from his wound which required lengthy treatments and several surgeries.[10] Although his face remained disfigured, he otherwise made a full recovery. After World War II, he was given a farm in Valkjrvi ("Whitelake"), Ruokolahti, a small municipality located in southeastern Finland near the Russian border. He became a successful moose hunter and dog breeder.[25] In addition to farming, he enjoyed hunting,[28] and his hunting parties over the years included the President of Finland, Urho Kekkonen.[25]
However, some people did not approve of his actions during the Winter War; he was met with hate and even death threats.[10][27] The injuries he sustained in the war left recognizable facial scars, so as a well-known person, he avoided large groups of people. He never married, and lived as a bachelor.[28] He enjoyed working, but he suffered from loneliness and fear; nights were especially difficult for him. However, he had friends and also spent time at his parents' and siblings' homes after the war.[27] Eventually farm work became too difficult, so he put the farm up for rent, and moved to an apartment building in the centre of Ruokolahti.[28]
Hyh was known as a modest man who never boasted of his wartime merits. He rarely spoke of the war and his experiences.[10] When asked in 1998 how he had become such a good sniper, he replied simply: "Practice". In an Independence Day interview with Helsingin Sanomat in December 2001, shortly before his 96th birthday, Hyh opened up about his war experiences.[1] He was asked if he felt remorse for having killed so many people. He replied, "I did what I was told, as well as I could. There would be no Finland unless everyone had done the same."[7][33]
Swedish heavy metal band Sabaton composed the song "White Death" in honor of Hyh, which was released in 2010 on their album Coat of Arms.[35] Scottish black/thrash metal band Achren's three-song The White Death EP from 2014 is dedicated entirely to Hyh, right down to the cover art.[35][36][37] Japanese metal band To Mega Therion has made a song called "Simo Hayha", which appears on the 2015 Yog = Sothoth album.[35][38]
In 2011, Philip Kaufman began filming HBO's Hemingway & Gellhorn (first airdate 28 May 2012), which features Martha Gellhorn (played by Nicole Kidman) reporting from Finland during the Winter War. In this section, Steven Wiig portrays Hyh, leading a group of Finnish soldiers to shelter.[35][39] A film about Hyh called The White Death has also been planned since 2017.[40] The film is directed by David McElroy and written by James Poirier.[40][41]
3.2.3. Final Consideration Concerning
Attribution of Acts to the Respondent .................577....3.3. Acts Alleged by the Applicant Cannot be
Qualified as Genocidal Acts or Other Acts
Prohibited by the Genocide Convention ........................
historieal purposes (..), but will also be indipensable in the
reconciliation process, which is slowly developing in the region. If
the Coud estab/ishes, and IegaLlydefines, the relevant facts and
1.8. It seems the Applicant believes it is not obliged to prove its
allegations. In para. 26, p.962 of the Reply, the Applicant "fully
maintains its conviction that this is not a criminal th1 and that
1.10. As the Counter-Claim of the Respondent has a function to
deny the Claim of the Applicant and goes further to establish the
responsibility of the Applicant for the breaches of the Genocide
Convention, Part One of the Rejoinder refutes the allegations of
the Applicant that the Counter-Claim is not based on fact andlaw
and proves that it is. Part Two of the Rejoinder, supplementing