Eino Tainio
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8 September 1905
Eino Tainio | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Parliament of Finland | |
| In office 6 April 1945 – 22 March 1970 | |
| Constituency | Lapland Province |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Eino Alfred Tainio 8 September 1905 Kemi, Russian Empire |
| Died | 23 July 1970 (aged 64) Petrozavodsk, Soviet Union |
| Party | Communist Party of Finland |
| Other political affiliations | Finnish People's Democratic League |
| Occupation | Printer |
Eino Alfred Tainio (8 September 1905 – 23 July 1970) was a Finnish printer, politician and member of the Parliament of Finland, the national legislature of Finland. A member of the Communist Party of Finland (SKP) and the Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL), he represented Lapland Province between April 1945 and March 1970.[1] Prior to being elected, he was imprisoned for twelve years for political reasons.[1]
Tainio was born on 8 September 1905 in Kemi in the north-west of the Grand Duchy of Finland.[1][2] He attended folk school and artisan school.[1][2] He was a printer at Pohjolan Sanomat (1919-1921), Yhtyneet Painot OY (1921-1923) and the labour movement's printing house in Oulu (1923-1925).[1] Following military service, he was Pohjan Voima's editor and office manager in Kemi and Rovaniemi from November 1926 to July 1929.[1][3][4] Pohjan Voima was banned following the introduction of anti-communist laws in 1930.[4]
Tainio worked in the gymnastics and sports club in Kemi.[3] He was secretary of the Lapland branch of the Finnish Workers' Sports Federation from 1928 to 1929.[1]
Politics and imprisonment
Tainio joined the Finnish Social Democratic Youth Union (SSN) in 1923 and was elected treasurer of its Karjalahti branch.[3][5] He joined the banned Communist Party of Finland (SKP) in 1926.[3] Tainio's first encounter with the Etsivä keskuspoliisi (EK) secret police (also known as Ohrana) was whilst he was carrying out military service in Oulu with the Pohja Jaeger Brigade (Pohjan jääkäripataljoona).[6] On 28 June 1926 Tainio and fellow soldier Ahti Näykki were arrested and accused of military espionage but were released after interrogation in Helsinki.[6][7][8] He and two other men were arrested in autumn 1928 by border guards in Kuusamo.[6] They were accused of trying to defect to the Soviet Union but were released after interrogation.[6]
In the early hours of 31 July 1929 the EK secret police raided Tainio's home in Kemi and arrested him.[9][10] On 1 November 1929 the Court of Appeal in Vaasa convicted Tainio of preparing for treason and sentenced him to three years imprisonment with loss of civic rights for a further six years.[11][12] He was imprisoned in Tammisaari concentration camp before being released in August 1932.[3][13] He was placed under surveillance by the EK secret police and blacklisted, preventing him from obtaining employment.[3] He was arrested by the secret police on 18 November 1933 for attending a clandestine meeting on the island of Kuivanuoro in Kemi.[14][15] On 28 March 1934 the Court of Appeal in Vaasa convicted Tainio of preparing for treason and sentenced him to five years imprisonment.[16][17] He was imprisoned in Tammisaari and Riihimäki Prison before being released on 31 October 1938.[3][18]
When the Winter War started in November 1939, Tainio condemned the Soviet attack on Finland.[19] Despite this, he was amongst hundreds of leftists who were imprisoned without charge by the state police (Valtiollinen poliisi) starting in December 1939.[3][20] After being released in May 1940 he worked for the Finland–Soviet Union Peace and Friendship Society (SNS).[3][19][21] He was arrested and imprisoned without charge again in September 1940.[3][19][21] With the outbreak of the Continuation War in June 1941, Tainio and other imprisoned leftist were forcibly conscripted into the Pärm battalion and sent to the front line.[3][21][22] He and others who refused to fight were sent back to the labour camps (Erillinen työkomppania) in Kangasjärvi and Koveri.[3][23] Following the defeat of the right-wing Finnish government by the Allies in 1944, the SKP was legalised and all political prisoners released in accordance with the Moscow Armistice. Tainio was released on 24 September 1944.[3][19][21] He had spent more than twelve years in prison for political reasons.[1][3]