Stories of connections you probably didn’t hear about in history class

And how the book “Mannerheim: The Polish Years” came to the Polish market

History is full of surprising connections that often go unnoticed, linking people and places in unexpected ways. One such story revolves around Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, a Finnish military leader, statesman, and President of Finland, whose formative years in Poland remain an intriguing yet lesser-known chapter of his life.

The book “Mannerheim: The Polish Years” has been published in both Finnish and Polish. Plans are already in motion to release a Swedish edition as well. Given that Mannerheim belonged to Finland’s Swedish-speaking minority, it is only natural to publish the book in his mother tongue. Additionally, part of the Mannerheim family still resides in Sweden, making this edition especially relevant.

The Polish edition owes much to the efforts of FTG during Tuomas Asunmaa’s presidency. Securing advance orders was crucial to moving the project forward. The publisher, Muzeum Ziemi Mińskiej w Mińsku Mazowieckim, stepped in after discussions with several publishers who questioned the book’s potential success, claiming “nobody” in Poland knew of Mannerheim. However, for the museum, the project made perfect sense.

The Polish edition closely follows the Finnish version, but includes several additional articles tailored for a Polish audience, providing greater insight into Finnish history. Among these new articles is a piece on Finland’s Jewish community during World War II, highlighting how Finnish Jews were not handed over to Nazi Germany.

When producing the Polish version, a remarkable discovery was made, including an account of a Finnish Red Cross military hospital for the Russian army, operating in Warsaw from October 1914 to August 1915. This hospital, located in the Royal Castle, was a revelation even to the castle’s current director.

One of the book’s articles, Niespodziewany list z Polski (An Unexpected Letter from Poland), explores the story of Lucyna Messal, a renowned operetta and tango singer. Before World War I, she performed at Mannerheim’s residence in Warsaw. Interestingly, a recent meeting with some of Mannerheim’s relatives in Helsinki revealed his fondness for dancing tango—but only with Polish women!

However, the most interesting information the authors received while researching the book was from a former member of the Finnish Parliament, Ilkka-Christian Björklund. His grandfather’s cousin was Colonel Alexander Björklund who served in the lejb-guardia Litewska in Warsaw in the 20 years before WWI. Björklund was counted among the friends of Mannerheim, with Count Adam Zamoyski a common friend for them.

Colonel Björklund stayed in Warsaw after the war and he was in service of Finnish and Swedish  business there. He belonged to the committee that, in the summer of 1919, established the Scandinavian-Polish Chamber of Commerce. That same year, in December, Björklund organized a banquet in Hotel Bristol in honor of Mannerheim, who was visiting Warsaw. There is a picture with Björklund, Mannerheim and Adam Zamoyski standing together in the middle.

The colonel lived in Warsaw until the uprising in August 1944. There was one frightening incident when the family saw soldiers with Russian fur hats outside and believed the Soviet ”liberator” was there. However, what they saw were Russian POWs recruited from German camps under the SS-division of General Heinz Reinefarth and let loose on the city, killing and destroying. They even came to the Björklund residence, where they seized the colonel’s granddaughter Ingrid. Fortunately, her mother managed to get her daughter back in exchange for a bottle of vodka.

With help from the Swedish Embassy in Berlin, the family was evacuated to Sweden, from where they moved to Switzerland after the war. 

By the 1960s, little Ingrid had grown into a beautiful young lady. In Switzerland, she met another refugee, namely Prince Jan Leon Lubomirski, and married him. Ingrid later moved back to Poland and is buried in Warsaw.

Some relatives of Björklund from Lausanne provided very interesting material. There is a letter from Mannerheim to Colonel Björklund in which Mannerheim thanks the colonel for a letter he received in 1948 from the Zamoyski family from England. The colonel personally delivered the letter to Mannerheim.