Because of the culture of silence, the traumas of Finland’s war orphans can still be seen in today’s children. Anne Berner wants to apply the results of a recent project in her Ukrainian children’s hospital project.
Former Minister of Transport and Communications Anne Berner is planning a children’s hospital in Ukraine and plans to use the results of a recent Finnish project.
– War traumas are inherited. How to break the cycle and make war orphans grow into functioning adults is an important question, says Berner in the announcement of the Union of the Fallen’s Relatives.
Berner, who is known as the head of Helsinki’s New Children’s Hospital, did not want to comment to in more detail about what the Ukrainian children’s hospital is all about.
– Our project is still in the early stages and I would be happy to provide more information about it a little later, Berner communicated via email.
Not speaking up transfers the traumas of Finnish war orphans to future generations
When Finnish men fell on the war front decades ago, around 55,000 children were left as war orphans. Now many Ukrainian children are experiencing the same fate.
In Finland in the middle of the last century, there was a culture of silence, when traumas remained unaddressed. When war orphans had children of their own, the traumas could be passed on from generation to generation. Such a so-called burden shift can extend up to four generations.
– I guess not everyone even has an idea that their own behavior pattern can be caused by things from several generations ago, says the head of the War Orphans Support project Marianne Nylund.
In the project implemented between 2020 and 2023, Finnish war orphans were given the opportunity to deal with trauma after more than 80 years of silence. The means were, among other things, emotional art and music therapy.
– Mere speech is not enough. Emotions and traumas accumulate in the body. Movement and some activity are needed so that the body can also be freed. Body and mind work together, says Nylund.
The experiences of the orphans who participated in the project highlight how important it would be for the children who now become war orphans in Ukraine to deal with their trauma not only now but also in the future.
– During the childhood of Finnish war orphans, modern working methods, i.e. therapy and crisis assistance, were not available. And when the children get older, they become the parents of the children. As you get older, the importance of peer support increases, says Nylund.