Kärkölä Church

Kärkölä is a small municipality to the southwest of Lahti. Its current population is about 4,500. I wanted to take some pictures of the church because it was on my way from taking my daughter to a friend of hers. There was a small military cemetery in the front yard of the church. I didn't look at every tombstone but from the dates of death it appeared that they were all fallen in the Continuation War. It looked as if there were about a hundred or so graves. There were graves of young men in their early twenties and some who were in their late thirties when they were killed in action. Non-commissioned officers were over-represented among the fallen.

Finland had a unique custom of bringing home the remains of every single soldier fallen in WW II if it was possible to recover them. This is why there are so many graves of soldiers here and in cemeteries all over the country. It was a bit unusual to bury all the war dead in the front yard of the church. Normally, the graves would be in the backyard or around the church where the rest of the graves normally are.

This is for those who were left behind (fallen) in the lost region of Karelia.