Helmer Kalas
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Kaarlo Helmer Kalas (former surname Kilkki ; 1 July 1921 – 1976)[1] was a Finnish soldier, memoirist and spy.
Kalas' parents were police constable August Evald Kilkki and Martta Huopalainen. Kalas graduated from high school in 1940 (transferred to the VII grade from Mikkeli Lyceum ).[1] He participated in the Winter War as a corporal and in the Continuation War as a second lieutenant after attending cadet school during the inter-peace period.[2] His last military rank was lieutenant.[1] During the Lapland war, in late October 1944, Kalas defected from his unit JR 57 located near Tornio through Sweden to the German side in Norway. After spending a couple of months in a German prison camp, he volunteered to join the SS forces on the condition that he would not have to fight against Finland or the Western powers, and received the rank of SS-Obersturmführer. From March 1945, he was on the German Eastern Front as the head of a tank company and later as a battalion commander. Right at the end of the war, his company broke through the blockade of the Red Army to the side of the Western Allies and surrendered to the British forces on May 13.