The Winter War began on 30 November 1939 when the Soviet Union attacked Finland. Civilian fates are always part of war. Civilians were among those who suffered on the first day of this war; they were the targets of severe aerial bombings. On the first day of the war, seven-year old Armi Metsäpelo died in an air raid conducted on Helsinki. 

This vitrine displays some of Armi’s belongings: the dress she may have been wearing when the air raid took place, a doll that got broken in it, and a bracelet her mother had given her. Armi, just like other people living in Helsinki heard the air raid sirens in the morning. When the first air alert was sounded, schools were emptied. The sirens were not sounded early enough for the second raid. There hadn’t been enough time to empty the bus station, which got hit by bombs. Armi was fleeing Helsinki with her mother. Armi died instantly and her mother lost consciousness. Armi became a symbol of the war. 

The portrait in the vitrine was made from a photo in a veterans’ art competition in 1942. Armi’s picture was published in Suomen Kuvalehti the next day. After the war, her picture was also published in a number of other works. This story reminds us of the horrors of war and civilian casualties. These objects were donated to the Military Museum by Armi’s family. The objects are in gossamer. The family used to light up a candle on Armi’s birthday and the day she died.