 Cover of the newspaper,30 June 1939: "Strike now for the Fatherland!" | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Editor-in-chief | Arne Somersalo (1932–1935) Rauno Kallia (1935–1939) Niilo Vapaavuori (1940–1944) |
| Founded | 1932 (1932) |
| Political alignment | Patriotic People's Movement |
| Language | Finnish language |
| Ceased publication | 4 October 1944 (1944-10-04) |
| Country | Finland |
| Circulation | +30,000 |
Ajan Suunta (Direction of Time) was the newspaper of theFinnishPatriotic People's Movement (IKL) that ran from 1932 to 1944. IKL published thirty newspapers and magazines, but the daily newspaperAjan Suunta was the main organ of the party.[1]Ajan Suunta was preceded by the newspaperAjan Sana (Word of Time) published from 1930 to 1932.[2]
Our faith and trust in the historical mission of the National Socialist Germany is unshakable. If it were to shake, then so would shake the foundation on which we stand, and we would deny the achievements and victories which we have fought with great sacrifices in loyal brotherhood-in-arms with the soldiers of the mighty German army.
The newspaper was aggressive in its style, referring to itself as a "fighting journal", "weapon in the combat against un-Finnish forces". This was especially true underArne Somersalo, when the magazine got in trouble with censors multiple times.[4]Ajan Suunta was also deeply hostile to Jews, published anti-Semitic caricatures and connected Judaism to everything the IKL stood against likeMarxism,freemasonry andliberalism.Ajan Suunta in general praised Hitler, taking the side of the Nazi government, blaming the anti-Semitic measures and theNight of Broken Glass on the "Jewish parasites", noting the restrain shown by the Nazis.Ajan Suunta would also frequently refer to and quote theProtocols of the Elders of Zion. Editor-in-chief Arne Somersalo even visited Hitler and Mussolini and gifted themOstrobothnian knives.[5][4][1]
In addition to strong antisemitism,Ajan Suunta was also anti-Swedish and anti-Russian. As the Jews in Finland mostly spoke either Russian or Swedish, the anti-Swedishness, Russophobia and antisemitism all complemented one another, leadingAjan Suunta to rail against "Swede-kikes" and "Russkie-loving Judeo-internationale".[4][1] However,Ajan Suunta was not the most extreme newspaper published in Finland, for example the newspaper's competitorsHakaristi (Swastika) andTyörintama (Labor Front) continuously agitated for a "solution" to theJewish Question,Työrintama publishing "humorous" cartoons of Jews digging their own graves. During theContinuation War the magazine reported ecstatically on the Finnish-German cooperation and brotherhood in arms.[1][4]
Ajan Suuntaconsistently caused problems for the authorities and censors both home and abroad. As IKL was close allies with theEstonianVaps Movement,Ajan Suunta published critical articles aboutKonstantin Päts'Estonia. For example, the following was published in 1933: "Estonia's government and center parties have sold themselves to the Marxists."[6] As a response,Ajan Suunta was banned in Estonia for two years.[7] On 22 December 1936,Ajan Suunta announced that 18 Estonian politicians, including ministers and leading politicians, had submitted a highly critical memorandum to Prime MinisterKonstantin Päts. Päts responded that if the memorandum was to be published, he would imprison all 18.[8]
The newspaper was finally banned for good after theMoscow Armistice in 1944, a week and a half after the party itself.Pavel Orlov, a political adviser to theAllied Control Commission, had demanded that the Finnish government shut down the magazine immediately, and the newspaper's board was contacted. The printing presses were stopped voluntarily after the government warned that otherwise there might be force measures against the entire Finnish press.[9]