Hanko 1941-1944

A webpage  about the ongoing multidisciplinary  Conflict- and Battlefield Archaeology research project ”Hanko 1941-1944”. 

The project surveys, documents and excavates remains  from the Second World War in Hanko S. Finland .

All photos copyright Hanko 1941-1944 .

Extensive pedagogic WW2 Battlefield Archaeology excavations of the Hanko front planned for 2025!

 

  • In May of 2025 we will continue to excavate the front lines of the battles of 1941 in the surroundings of the Hanko Front Museum. The excavations with schools will continue for two weeks in September.  Swedish speaking schoolchildren can participate for free in the excavations thanks to a grant from Thure Galléns stiftelse and in co-operation with SFVs sommaruni and Hanko Front museum. 
  • The scientific work ”on site” in 2025 will be led by conflict archaeologist, PhD Jan Fast and  Hanko 1941 team members MA Elisa Melasniemi and archaeology student Jemina Rajamäki (University of Hesinki). 
  • Please send us a letter of interest to [email protected] if you think your school would be interested in spending a day as a conflict archaeologist!

Academic works

The authors are responsible for the contents in their respective works and the texts do not necessary represent the views or general research results of the ”Hanko 1941-1944” project. Please feel free to contact the authors directly if you have ay questions or disagree with issues that are presented in the papers. Your input is valuable for the students and helps them to advance on their scientific journey.

The "Urlauberlager" of "Deutsches Lager Hanko" in 1943

Deutsches Lager Hanko 1942-1944

Doctoral thesis about the Modern Conflict Archaeology research of a German transit camp.

Jan Fast

University of Helsnki 12.10.2024.

PhD thesis Jan Fast
Deutsches Lager Hanko 1942-1944 PhD research 2014-2024. Wehrmacht porcelain bowl fragments. The bowl was made in Kolmar in occupied Poland in 1940.

"Bakom främsta linjen - Militärläger i Hangö från II:a världskriget som konfliktarkeologiska objekt"

BA thesis about the materiality of a DRK dumpsite inside the German WW2 transition camp on Cape Tulliniemi, Hanko S. Finland.

​Fanny Fagerholm

Umeå Universitet 24.9.2019 (in Swedish)

BA thesis Fanny Fagerholm
Hanko 1941 project 2018-2025. A Swedish volunteer photographed outside the "Ragnarök" shelter in 1941.

Fantastic new webpage about ”Svenska Frivilligbatajonen” on the Hanko front

Scroll through over 900 pictures and other interesting archive material about the Swedish volunteer troops on the Hanko front! 

Our team member Mr. Fredrik Creutz has started work on an extremely interesting new website with a massive amount of archive material about the battles on the Hanko front in 1941.

At this stage the focus is to try to identify the people in the pictures. The webpage will gradually include wartime diaries by Swedish soldiers as well as other interesting stuff!

Photo: Riksarkivet, Nils Östbergs arkiv, 4a Fotografier, Volym 1

Click here to get to the Svenska Frivilligbataljonen webpage

Finding the fallen of the Hanko front 2017-2030

Our forensic team has discovered remains of several war dead during coordinated surveys of the battlefields on the mainland and in the Hanko archipelago.

At the moment sites containing human remains of fallen Soviet soldiers are only mapped and documented so that repatriation of the fallen can be done in the future.

The plans for making Kabanovs undergrpound command post visible are steadily advancing in 2025.

The search for war dead in the Hanko archipelago and on the mainland continues in May 2025.