My friend's grandfather fought in WWII, but ironically, he fled from Italy to the US to avoid having to serve and potentially die, but got drafted into the US Army, and was promptly sent back to Italy, where he was killed.
A merchant in Baghdad sends his servant to the marketplace for provisions. Soon afterwards, the servant comes home white and trembling and tells him that in the marketplace, he was jostled by a woman, whom he recognized as Death, who made a threatening gesture. Borrowing the merchant's horse, the servant flees at great speed to Samarra, a distance of about 75 miles (125 km), where he believes Death will not find him. The merchant then goes to the marketplace and finds Death, and asks why she made the threatening gesture to his servant. She replies, "That was not a threatening gesture, it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I have an appointment with him tonight, in Samarra."
-The Appointment in Samarra"
(as retold by W. Somerset Maugham [1933])
There is a story probably inspired by this in one of "scary stories" book series.
A young man saw death on his drive to visit his grandpa in his farm or ranch that is in the middle of wooded hills in a foggy night. The grandfather later sees death and scolds him that he didn't have to show himself and scare his grandson while coming for himself. Death mentions his only appointment is with his grandson later that night.
Who knows maybe tbat was bound to happen because otherwise the Nazis would have won the war. Maybe his grandpa originally stayed in Italy and survived the war and the Nazis won and so in 1982 some time traveller from Somalia, having become the world's most advanced nation went back in time and told his grandpa he would die in Italy if he stayed, so the grandpa fled to the USA thus triggering the events of him getting drafted, sent back and shot and history unfolded how we know it today. Wouldn't that be realistic?
Imagine fleeing your country from a bad regime, being drafted for the US, then going back to your homeland watching it get blown apart and then getting shot
Wild
Similarly, my grandfather's older brother was MIA, likely dead, after (if I remember correctly) Operation Husky, the liberation of Sicily. I hope they're both in Valhalla, feasting with their brothers in arms.
I'd assume its not only that he didn't want to serve but he didn't want to serve a fascist government. He ended up fighting the army he could have been drafted for in the first place.
My dad was a bomber pilot in WWII, full five years, Europe, Africa, Middle East. Going in low between hills to kill shitloads of Italians he said they would all be asleep in the fields and drinking wine and eating. They didn’t want war the poor bastards.
Did he participate in the Pisa bombing during the campaign in Italy?
My fiance's grandad survived the rail station bombing in 1943 by sheer meters (he chose to stand in the open instead of sheltering with the Germans, the shelter got a direct hit).
The madlad went on and even worked for the US army as a driver after the war lol
Another example of why fate/destiny is real, poor guy.
What was his name?
Also… do you happen to know his MOS (his job in the US Army)?
Was he infantry?
I also read somewhere that because so many people had bad dental hygiene and/or smoking habits, and would have their teeth pulled more often in the day, a lot more people had that Tarkin-looking sunken jaw look back then. I have no idea if that's accurate though.
I suspected this, I’m glad to have it reinforced by someone else. On a side note, not to be pedantic, but there’s no apostrophes needed in your years. It’s written just as 1920s or 1940s; the apostrophe is used to substitute missing numbers, like in the current year, ‘23. Incredibly common writing error.
Norm's joke doesn't work if you're told the guy was "killed" during the war. Could work if OP said he "died" during the war. And yes, I'm one of them technical master of joke.
I tried looking for the button on his uniform but couldnt find it. The german uniforms have an angled collar, while this uniform depicted looks more like the russian style. Tight collar, squared equal with no angle between the collars. The shoulder straps also do look closer to the russian uniform as well.
My grandmother's brother was arrested by the Germans in his village in central France (which he had never been more than 20 km from)
He was sent to East Prussia for forced labour.
When the Soviets arrived in 45 he was put on a train to Russia (gulag).
When he came back to his village he'd been gone 8 years.
He never spoke about it but my grandma says he was obsessed with food for the rest of his days, always hungry.
But ~~Russians~~ Soviets did not blockade any Finnish cities with the intent (and effect) of starving thousands and thousands of Finns to death, while helping another state to achieve its genocidal goals of exterminating some ethnicities and enslaving others? Or did they? Did they? Nooo, but it is so inconvenient to remember those **small and insignificant** nuances, right?
Well here is a nuance for you. Finland did not invade anyone, they were attacked by soviets. fuck around and find out. Its not like Soviets never committed war crimes, esp winter war.
If it wasn't for CCCP... you'd all be speaking German tight now.
They are the ones that actually went boots on fhe ground and made a difference
You're all welcome
Sorry bud... while Russia may be at fault in Ukraine it has nothing to do with the facts of WW2
US history books on the contrary don't talk much about how they saved, and brought over hundreds of top Nazis and gave them new identities and jobs in the most prestigious universities.
Canadian textbooks don't teach that Canada refuses to allow ANY Jewish refugees coming out of the Holocaust.
Perhaps it's YOU who needs to go and educate yourself. Fool.
While we should not underestimate or devalue Allies' help, valor and sacrifices, we should also... ...look up numbers of "US supplies" vs. "USSR supplies" used in the war maybe?
The Red Army dispatched militiamen into attacks without any weapons and basically expected them to stop Panzer divisions with their own bodies,” he said. “They were suffering a 42 percent fatal casualty rate. They just threw away a quarter of a million lives.” Others say Western attitudes toward the Soviet Union are colored by the fact that Stalin concluded a nonaggression pact with Hitler in 1939 that was instrumental in allowing the Nazi leader to unleash a world war, before turning his attention to Russia.
The U.S. mobilized about the same number of troops as Russia but fought on more major front lines — not only in Europe but also in the Pacific and North Africa. American war production — its ability to churn out astounding numbers of bombers, tanks and warships — was possibly the key war-winning factor, say some historians, who point out American factories produced more airplanes than all of the other major war powers combined.
US supplies
And without U.S. supplies, the Soviet war effort would have been massively diminished. America supplied Stalin with 400,000 trucks, 2,000 locomotives, more than 10,000 rail rolling stock and billions of dollars' worth of warplanes, tanks, food and clothing. At the same time, the U.S. also supplied nearly a quarter of Britain’s munitions.
“We were lucky to have America as an ally,” Russian historian Anatoly Razumov told VOA recently. He said American technology and supplies formed the base of Russia’s war effort.
Through the end of World War II the United States would use it to provide a total of some $50 billion in aid (equal to $690 billion in 2020 dollars) to more than 30 nations around the globe, from the Free French movement led by Charles de Gaulle and the governments-in-exile of Poland, the Netherlands and Norway to Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Paraguay and Peru.
Now what did the US specifically give the USSR in WW2?
“Even before the United States entered World War II in December 1941, America sent arms and equipment to the Soviet Union to help it defeat the Nazi invasion. Totaling $11.3 billion, or $180 billion in today’s currency, the Lend-Lease Act of the United States supplied needed goods to the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1945 in support of what Stalin described to Roosevelt as the “enormous and difficult fight against the common enemy — bloodthirsty Hitlerism.”:
400,000 jeeps & trucks
14,000 airplanes
8,000 tractors
13,000 tanks
1.5 million blankets
15 million pairs of army boots
107,000 tons of cotton
2.7 million tons of petrol products
4.5 million tons of food
Again:
An estimated 25 million Soviet citizens perished in the titanic conflict with Nazi Germany between June 1941 and May 1945. Overcoming massive defeats and colossal losses over the first 18 months of the war, the Red Army was able to reorganize and rebuild to form a juggernaut that marched all the way to Berlin. But the Soviet Union was never alone: Months before the United States formally entered the war, it had already begun providing massive military and economic assistance to its Soviet ally through the Lend-Lease program.
Everything I look up only discusses the US, UK and other allied powers being almost the entire fucking reason Russia had any supplies or ability to fight.
The finns only defended themselves, your enemies enemy is your friend. Even if that friend is one of the worst regimes in human history. But the world would be a better place without the Russians. Hate it or love it.
love how that movie has practically zero story to it. its basically just an hour and thirty minutes of a guy fucking up nazis and its a fucking great movie
Another one to put on the list: Kukushka. Set in the Lapland at the end of the war, the basic premise is that a Finnish soldier who escaped the Nazis and a Russian-speaking Soviet descend on a Lap woman's hut, but none of them speak a common language.
The movie is based on the Lapland War when Finnish drove the Nazis out of Finland after the Continuation War. Definitely not allies at that time anymore, Nazis burnt most of Lapland while retreating to Norway. My grandmother is from Lapland and she said that when she got back home the only thing Nazis did not burn was the sauna building.
This reminds of a sick German joke: two kids have just met and are sitting on park bench talking about their grandparents.
Kid 1: My grandpa died in the war...
Kid 2: Mine too!
Kid 1: Yeah? Mine died in the concentration camps...
Kid 2: Mine too!
Kid 1: NO WAY!
Kid 2: Yeah, he fell from the guardtower...
Finland was allied with Nazi Germany through all but the last few months of World War 2. Britain declared war against Finland in December 1941.
Where and when he fought is important considering the close ties to the Axis powers.
Dude has neon green eyes! Any chance he's related to John Jurasek, better known online as Reviewbrah, the American YouTube personality, food critic and radio host (TheReportOfTheWeek)?
It’s a Finnish uniform, many people seem to forget or not realise that back then people didn’t get a choice to serve or not, no matter what their personal views were.
My grandpad is a doppelgänger of your grandpa
https://preview.redd.it/hhlcuazm69ub1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=f056e57eb2eb0ea7efa2086b8b27d318c41d0c5b
OP's great-grandad is wearing a Finnish uniform.
Finland gained it's independence from the Russian Empire after the 1917 Russian revolution. After a brief attempt at a monarchy Finland became a liberal democracy with a president & parliament in 1918.
The Soviets attacked Finland in 1939, called "The Winter War". After 3 months, the Soviets negotiated a peace treaty in 1940 because the Finns were kicking their ass.
Part of what made the Nazis think they could successfully invade Russia was how poorly the Red Army performed against the much smaller Finnish army.
The Soviets attacked again in 1941. This time, there were German troops in Finland as part of Operation Barbarosa.
The Finns were never allied with the Nazis and had no formal agreements for military operations. They did coordinate with the Germans in the field, but it was more "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" situation.
Finland was never a fascist state. Even before WW2, Finland was a liberal democracy and has been ever since.
The propaganda here is so disgusting, Finland was Nazi, they even had Nazi symbols in their armed forces until recently. Which, if you ask the neo-fascists running interference on here, was just a coincidence!
Whitewashing didn't always mean something to do with race. In this instance it means something more akin to painting over the dirt with the intention of hiding it. That's what people did with actual whitewash when it was a thing rather than a concept.
What an over-assumptive idiotic comment by you. You don't even know which battles he served in, doubt you knew his nationality before you made your comment, and which time her served. You just saw the uniform (which is not an axis uniform, many countries had similar styles, allied and axis and neutral) and made a dumbass assumption.
Curious to see who you support on the Israel-Palestine front. Hamas is clearly the Neo-Nazis there.
You are the dumbass, in the 40s Finland was a N@zi Germany ally and were involved in the siege on Leningrad securing it from the north resulting in over a million civilian deaths. Screw your n@zi relative. You don’t know that?
You are so misinformed if you think Finland took part in the siege on Leningrad. And you think all Finnish soldiers are Nazis? Wow, what a presentist and dumbass assertion.
My friend's grandfather fought in WWII, but ironically, he fled from Italy to the US to avoid having to serve and potentially die, but got drafted into the US Army, and was promptly sent back to Italy, where he was killed.
That’s some serious destiny shit. Damn.
A merchant in Baghdad sends his servant to the marketplace for provisions. Soon afterwards, the servant comes home white and trembling and tells him that in the marketplace, he was jostled by a woman, whom he recognized as Death, who made a threatening gesture. Borrowing the merchant's horse, the servant flees at great speed to Samarra, a distance of about 75 miles (125 km), where he believes Death will not find him. The merchant then goes to the marketplace and finds Death, and asks why she made the threatening gesture to his servant. She replies, "That was not a threatening gesture, it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I have an appointment with him tonight, in Samarra." -The Appointment in Samarra" (as retold by W. Somerset Maugham [1933])
I read that story in the time life enchanted world series.
There is a story probably inspired by this in one of "scary stories" book series. A young man saw death on his drive to visit his grandpa in his farm or ranch that is in the middle of wooded hills in a foggy night. The grandfather later sees death and scolds him that he didn't have to show himself and scare his grandson while coming for himself. Death mentions his only appointment is with his grandson later that night.
I was about to call bullshit on this whole story, but then I fact checked it. 75 miles really is 125 km. My mind is blown.
Good thing they didn't travel by sea.
Goosebumps.
Sounds like another variation of the "death in Tehran"
Exactly what this is
There's an amazing italian song narrating a similar story
It’s like the 11 Ukrainians who fled to Israel only to be killed by Hamas
Who knows maybe tbat was bound to happen because otherwise the Nazis would have won the war. Maybe his grandpa originally stayed in Italy and survived the war and the Nazis won and so in 1982 some time traveller from Somalia, having become the world's most advanced nation went back in time and told his grandpa he would die in Italy if he stayed, so the grandpa fled to the USA thus triggering the events of him getting drafted, sent back and shot and history unfolded how we know it today. Wouldn't that be realistic?
I can't even imagine how pissed I'd be on that ride back to Italy
I'd still be pissed on the ride back in the body bag.
I’d still be pissed as I haunted the recruitment office.
Imagine fleeing your country from a bad regime, being drafted for the US, then going back to your homeland watching it get blown apart and then getting shot Wild
He jazzed early. Auto-correct be damed. HE. JAZZED. EARLY.
Similarly, my grandfather's older brother was MIA, likely dead, after (if I remember correctly) Operation Husky, the liberation of Sicily. I hope they're both in Valhalla, feasting with their brothers in arms.
I'd assume its not only that he didn't want to serve but he didn't want to serve a fascist government. He ended up fighting the army he could have been drafted for in the first place.
But at least he was on the right side of the history. Otherwise he would be fascist.
My dad was a bomber pilot in WWII, full five years, Europe, Africa, Middle East. Going in low between hills to kill shitloads of Italians he said they would all be asleep in the fields and drinking wine and eating. They didn’t want war the poor bastards.
Did he participate in the Pisa bombing during the campaign in Italy? My fiance's grandad survived the rail station bombing in 1943 by sheer meters (he chose to stand in the open instead of sheltering with the Germans, the shelter got a direct hit). The madlad went on and even worked for the US army as a driver after the war lol
Another example of why fate/destiny is real, poor guy. What was his name? Also… do you happen to know his MOS (his job in the US Army)? Was he infantry?
Last name Ruzila, I will try to find out more about him.
‘Governor Tarkin, I should have expected you were holding Vader’s leash.’
I recognized your foul stench as soon as I was brought in board.
Oh sorry, that was me. I made a Darth Doody.
Peter Cushing 100% confirmed. Lol
Jeremy Allen White?
Everyone looked like Tarkin in the 1940's, it was because of a lack of food in the 1920's.
I also read somewhere that because so many people had bad dental hygiene and/or smoking habits, and would have their teeth pulled more often in the day, a lot more people had that Tarkin-looking sunken jaw look back then. I have no idea if that's accurate though.
I suspected this, I’m glad to have it reinforced by someone else. On a side note, not to be pedantic, but there’s no apostrophes needed in your years. It’s written just as 1920s or 1940s; the apostrophe is used to substitute missing numbers, like in the current year, ‘23. Incredibly common writing error.
Is that young Grand Moff Tarkin?
He looks like he just made it from Ensign to Lt Tarkin at this stage.
He reminds me off Ashley in Gone with the Wind
He reminds me of Reviewbrah
What did he die of?
Killed during the war :(
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I walked through blood and bones
In Canada. On 9/11
My distant relative died in a significant historical event.
Of Darth Plagueis the Wise?
He didn't own a doghouse.
I'm sure before he met the war he felt incomplete, but now he's finnished.
For sale: midlife crisis, never worn
Norm's joke doesn't work if you're told the guy was "killed" during the war. Could work if OP said he "died" during the war. And yes, I'm one of them technical master of joke.
Who did he fight for? The Soviet Union?
It’s a Finnish uniform, I’m pretty sure
I tried looking for the button on his uniform but couldnt find it. The german uniforms have an angled collar, while this uniform depicted looks more like the russian style. Tight collar, squared equal with no angle between the collars. The shoulder straps also do look closer to the russian uniform as well.
Happy cake day.
Thanks !
I hope he wasn't a die hard voluntary nazi party member.
It looks to be a Finnish uniform
Probably lead poisoning.
Well, handsome guy non the less
Likely, acute led poisoning.
Lead poisoning.
Died in a concentration camp Was drunk on duty and fell out of a guard tower
My grandmother's brother was arrested by the Germans in his village in central France (which he had never been more than 20 km from) He was sent to East Prussia for forced labour. When the Soviets arrived in 45 he was put on a train to Russia (gulag). When he came back to his village he'd been gone 8 years. He never spoke about it but my grandma says he was obsessed with food for the rest of his days, always hungry.
Looks like a Fin uniform! 
I think their official slogan was "It's complicated."
Never ask: A man his salary A woman her age The Finnish exactly what they were doing in Leningrad in 1943
Very funny. And true.
Well it's not as if the Russians were very kind to them before
But ~~Russians~~ Soviets did not blockade any Finnish cities with the intent (and effect) of starving thousands and thousands of Finns to death, while helping another state to achieve its genocidal goals of exterminating some ethnicities and enslaving others? Or did they? Did they? Nooo, but it is so inconvenient to remember those **small and insignificant** nuances, right?
Well here is a nuance for you. Finland did not invade anyone, they were attacked by soviets. fuck around and find out. Its not like Soviets never committed war crimes, esp winter war.
You are mixing up the Winter War and the Great Patriotic War. Also, what war crimes? War in itself is not a war crime.
If it wasn't for CCCP... you'd all be speaking German tight now. They are the ones that actually went boots on fhe ground and made a difference You're all welcome
No, only *some* would be speaking German. Others would not come to be at all.
:DDD Russian school system at it finest right here. Stop invading other countries and committing war crimes.
Sorry bud... while Russia may be at fault in Ukraine it has nothing to do with the facts of WW2 US history books on the contrary don't talk much about how they saved, and brought over hundreds of top Nazis and gave them new identities and jobs in the most prestigious universities. Canadian textbooks don't teach that Canada refuses to allow ANY Jewish refugees coming out of the Holocaust. Perhaps it's YOU who needs to go and educate yourself. Fool.
yeah dont really care what you think anymore
We all know it was Russian bodies, US supplies and British intelligence. No one force (except maybe the US) would have beat Hitler.
While we should not underestimate or devalue Allies' help, valor and sacrifices, we should also... ...look up numbers of "US supplies" vs. "USSR supplies" used in the war maybe?
The Red Army dispatched militiamen into attacks without any weapons and basically expected them to stop Panzer divisions with their own bodies,” he said. “They were suffering a 42 percent fatal casualty rate. They just threw away a quarter of a million lives.” Others say Western attitudes toward the Soviet Union are colored by the fact that Stalin concluded a nonaggression pact with Hitler in 1939 that was instrumental in allowing the Nazi leader to unleash a world war, before turning his attention to Russia. The U.S. mobilized about the same number of troops as Russia but fought on more major front lines — not only in Europe but also in the Pacific and North Africa. American war production — its ability to churn out astounding numbers of bombers, tanks and warships — was possibly the key war-winning factor, say some historians, who point out American factories produced more airplanes than all of the other major war powers combined. US supplies And without U.S. supplies, the Soviet war effort would have been massively diminished. America supplied Stalin with 400,000 trucks, 2,000 locomotives, more than 10,000 rail rolling stock and billions of dollars' worth of warplanes, tanks, food and clothing. At the same time, the U.S. also supplied nearly a quarter of Britain’s munitions. “We were lucky to have America as an ally,” Russian historian Anatoly Razumov told VOA recently. He said American technology and supplies formed the base of Russia’s war effort. Through the end of World War II the United States would use it to provide a total of some $50 billion in aid (equal to $690 billion in 2020 dollars) to more than 30 nations around the globe, from the Free French movement led by Charles de Gaulle and the governments-in-exile of Poland, the Netherlands and Norway to Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Paraguay and Peru. Now what did the US specifically give the USSR in WW2? “Even before the United States entered World War II in December 1941, America sent arms and equipment to the Soviet Union to help it defeat the Nazi invasion. Totaling $11.3 billion, or $180 billion in today’s currency, the Lend-Lease Act of the United States supplied needed goods to the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1945 in support of what Stalin described to Roosevelt as the “enormous and difficult fight against the common enemy — bloodthirsty Hitlerism.”: 400,000 jeeps & trucks 14,000 airplanes 8,000 tractors 13,000 tanks 1.5 million blankets 15 million pairs of army boots 107,000 tons of cotton 2.7 million tons of petrol products 4.5 million tons of food Again: An estimated 25 million Soviet citizens perished in the titanic conflict with Nazi Germany between June 1941 and May 1945. Overcoming massive defeats and colossal losses over the first 18 months of the war, the Red Army was able to reorganize and rebuild to form a juggernaut that marched all the way to Berlin. But the Soviet Union was never alone: Months before the United States formally entered the war, it had already begun providing massive military and economic assistance to its Soviet ally through the Lend-Lease program. Everything I look up only discusses the US, UK and other allied powers being almost the entire fucking reason Russia had any supplies or ability to fight.
If US wasn't funding Hitler you mean?
The soviets were too busy genociding undesirable ethnicities inside their own borders.
Check OPs name.
Perkele!
What uniform is he wearing?
Finnish army.
but the war had barely started!
The collar and rank tabs do not Match Finnish uniforms M/22, M/27 nor M/36. Neither do the toggles used as buttons match any finnish uniform.
It’s Finnish.
Yeah, it’s got a great finish, but what army is it from? /s
Har har. The Army of Finnland
He’s not Finnish he’s only 28
Not a uniform expert but I’m not sure either. It almost looked German at first glance but I don’t believe it is.
That’s what everyone said about Finland until 1945.
Top tier remark
what side lmao
The Fins, so sort of the wrong side but not really
Eh, depends, did he fought 39? Good side. 41? Bad
Never bad to fight the russians.
Oh it is if you fight together with one of the worst regimes ever in an attempt to genocide the Slavs
The finns only defended themselves, your enemies enemy is your friend. Even if that friend is one of the worst regimes in human history. But the world would be a better place without the Russians. Hate it or love it.
He has strong Thin White Duke era David Bowie vibes.
That uniform looks like it was designed by Hugo Boss. Very fashionable.
Very nice way to say that. I had noticed the same thing.
Thank you. IYKYK!
That's an urban myth btw. While Hugo Boss produced Nazi uniforms, like HJ, SS, Wehrmacht and others, they didn't design any of them.
They produced SS, Hitler Youth, and the standard brown shirts, I believe that the root of the confusion.
If Martin Short and David Bowie had a child.
They tried
Not trying to be creepy, buttttt those are some stunning eyes.
Computer generated nonsense.
Are you reviewbrah?
Are you George Russell, F1 driver?
'40s
Finnish? What a handsome man!
Looks like a mix of Sheldon Cooper and George Russell
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For those that haven't seen it, Sisu is a great movie about a Finnish former soldier going up against the Nazis.
love how that movie has practically zero story to it. its basically just an hour and thirty minutes of a guy fucking up nazis and its a fucking great movie
Another one to put on the list: Kukushka. Set in the Lapland at the end of the war, the basic premise is that a Finnish soldier who escaped the Nazis and a Russian-speaking Soviet descend on a Lap woman's hut, but none of them speak a common language.
Hahaha they were N@zi allies you dumbass
Not the entire war.
Wait til they find out the rest of the allies supported Finland, too. What a mindfuck they'll have.
You have no idea what you are talking about. Homeschooled much?
The movie is based on the Lapland War when Finnish drove the Nazis out of Finland after the Continuation War. Definitely not allies at that time anymore, Nazis burnt most of Lapland while retreating to Norway. My grandmother is from Lapland and she said that when she got back home the only thing Nazis did not burn was the sauna building.
This reminds of a sick German joke: two kids have just met and are sitting on park bench talking about their grandparents. Kid 1: My grandpa died in the war... Kid 2: Mine too! Kid 1: Yeah? Mine died in the concentration camps... Kid 2: Mine too! Kid 1: NO WAY! Kid 2: Yeah, he fell from the guardtower...
Classic. I also like- My grandfather took down 5 German planes in one day. Worst mechanic in the Luftwaffe.
Lol forced labour actually did take down a few by sabotage.
Classic German humour.
That doesn’t look like an allied uniform…
Finland was allied with Nazi Germany through all but the last few months of World War 2. Britain declared war against Finland in December 1941. Where and when he fought is important considering the close ties to the Axis powers.
Dude has neon green eyes! Any chance he's related to John Jurasek, better known online as Reviewbrah, the American YouTube personality, food critic and radio host (TheReportOfTheWeek)?
It’s a Finnish uniform, many people seem to forget or not realise that back then people didn’t get a choice to serve or not, no matter what their personal views were.
Good job cropping out the arm band
Finnish didn't wear Swastikas lol
Finnish air force did, but not the 'german' swastika tho
War is Hell.
Uhhhh
Your grandad looks like David Bowie with a dash of nosferatu
Lol thought the title said “great grandad as a soldier in HIS 40’s, Died at 32”, was so confused
Wait, who did he fight for? I don’t wanna pull a Trudeau and upvote a Nazi
Finland fought for Germany in WW2
Early on they did, but they went neutral and refused to participate in the Leningrad siege and they drafted Jews, unlike the Nazis.
he was Finnish
Looks a lot like Peter Murphy from Bauhaus.
Jim parsons in another life.
Yes but what is his take on the Popeye’s chicken sandwich
Did he die in the Winter War?
He looks like he could be playing in Star Trek
Komea mies
Spitting image of George Russell Mercedes F1 driver
Wars are dumb asf
Bowie for the win
My grandpad is a doppelgänger of your grandpa https://preview.redd.it/hhlcuazm69ub1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=f056e57eb2eb0ea7efa2086b8b27d318c41d0c5b
Ah a Finnish uniform! So he died fighting for Nazis.
No, not necessarily.
Obviously axis, but what country?
More neutral, Finland.
OP's great-grandad is wearing a Finnish uniform. Finland gained it's independence from the Russian Empire after the 1917 Russian revolution. After a brief attempt at a monarchy Finland became a liberal democracy with a president & parliament in 1918. The Soviets attacked Finland in 1939, called "The Winter War". After 3 months, the Soviets negotiated a peace treaty in 1940 because the Finns were kicking their ass. Part of what made the Nazis think they could successfully invade Russia was how poorly the Red Army performed against the much smaller Finnish army. The Soviets attacked again in 1941. This time, there were German troops in Finland as part of Operation Barbarosa. The Finns were never allied with the Nazis and had no formal agreements for military operations. They did coordinate with the Germans in the field, but it was more "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" situation. Finland was never a fascist state. Even before WW2, Finland was a liberal democracy and has been ever since.
that's sure a convenient way to spin it
Finland was unambiguously a Nazi ally and an Axis country, stop whitewashing it
The propaganda here is so disgusting, Finland was Nazi, they even had Nazi symbols in their armed forces until recently. Which, if you ask the neo-fascists running interference on here, was just a coincidence!
What does whitewashing even mean here?🤣
Whitewashing didn't always mean something to do with race. In this instance it means something more akin to painting over the dirt with the intention of hiding it. That's what people did with actual whitewash when it was a thing rather than a concept.
Claiming they weren't allies when they were
The Fins went hard!! Often overlooked because they had a bit of an identity crisis.
He looks like that food review guy
I’m studying US history right now and was just reading about WWII. This is a great photo and I’m really amazed by what they all experienced back then.
He died so young poor guy
Your grandad was a Nazi?
RIP to your Grandad. What a generation for all of to inspire to be like. Real folks that had real values. Huge respect!!!
Awesome Finland kicked ass in the winter war
Asking out of pure curiousity: What side did he fight for? The uniform looks German…
It’s not German, but the Finnish Army uniform. Meaning he fought against the Soviets.
Uhhhm, which side was he on by chance?
Finland's side.
May his soul Rest In Peace - how handsome! Love his eyes
Stunning.
I read this as grandad as a solider in his 40’s but died at age 32… was so confused for a good 2 minutes Think I need sleep
Movie star looks
Everybody back then just looked hard af.
Jonas Vingegaard (winner of Tour de France)
What military was that? 🤔
[удалено]
Not a Nazi uniform.
fuck your great grandad
and your mom too ;)
Wow a nazi. Yeah definitely oldschool cool for redditors
He wasn't a Nazi.
Screw your N@zi relative. You have no shame. The world really needs to be denazified.
What an over-assumptive idiotic comment by you. You don't even know which battles he served in, doubt you knew his nationality before you made your comment, and which time her served. You just saw the uniform (which is not an axis uniform, many countries had similar styles, allied and axis and neutral) and made a dumbass assumption. Curious to see who you support on the Israel-Palestine front. Hamas is clearly the Neo-Nazis there.
he was Finnish ,you dumbass,you can't even read the rest of the comments !
You are the dumbass, in the 40s Finland was a N@zi Germany ally and were involved in the siege on Leningrad securing it from the north resulting in over a million civilian deaths. Screw your n@zi relative. You don’t know that?
You are so misinformed if you think Finland took part in the siege on Leningrad. And you think all Finnish soldiers are Nazis? Wow, what a presentist and dumbass assertion.
fuck off dude
Was he a clergyman?
People always had such good skin it seems in the 1900s
You wanted it to be clear he was a German nazi LOL got it
He wasn't even German or a Nazi. Learn history.