About the Posters
The exhibition presents ten posters produced in Norwegian, Finnish and Russian. The posters act as a traveling exhibition, and showcases the story of the Murman coast, past and present. Below we present the main texts from these posters.
Poster 1
Murman – the coast of hope
What did they come from – what did they come to?
In the 1860’s a wave of migration started from Finland and Norway to the Murman coast, that is, the northern coast of the Kola Peninsula. Many were familiar with the area, as they had fished in these waters earlier. The main Finnish settlement was at Uraguba, west of the Kola fjord, while the Norwegians settled in Tsypnavolok, on the Rybachy peninsula. Most of the Finnish and Norwegian settlements were to be found between the Norwegian-Russian border and the Kola Fjord, but a few Norwegian families together with most Russians and Karelians settled east of the Kola Fjord. The Russian authorities wanted to populate the coast, and in exchange for Russian citizenships they granted privileges to the immigrants. Settling along the Murman coast was seen as a chance to change life for the better. This migration was part of an extensive pattern of migration in the19th century, which also had branches across the Atlantic. Many of the settlers migrated in stages before reaching their final destination.
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Poster 2
Ethnic groups
Who were they – where did they live?
“In the north my nest is made” (A.Tennyson)
The Murman Coast became a new home for many people from Northern Russia, Finland and Norway. They all came hoping for a new and better life. The colonization of the Murman Coast went on for a period of 80 years (1860-1940), and about a hundred settlements or colonies were established. Apart from the Sami groups the Murman Coast was virtually uninhabited when the colonists arrived. The colonists were Finns, Norwegians, Russians (Pomors, Russians stemming from the coast of the White Sea) and Karelians.
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Poster 3
Daily life and livelihood
People of different nationalities and creeds lived peacefully together in the colonies along the Murman coast. Lutheran Norwegians, Finns and Filmans settled on the west coast of Murman. The Orthodox – Russians, Karelians and Kola Sami lived on the east coast of Murman and in Pechenga Bay. Orthodox churches and congregations were found in the large colonies along the coast. The Lutheran religious center became Ura-Guba, where a chapel (meeting house) was built in 1874. In 1899 the city Aleksandrovsk was founded as a new administration center. Hospitals, schools and a biological research station were built. An Orthodox cathedral dedicated to St. Nicholas and a Lutheran church were built, the latter in which the first independent Lutheran congregation was formed. The colonists’ children were taught at the convent schools or at home. Wealthy parents could send their children to school in the Norwegian towns of Vardø, Vadsø, or in Arkangelsk or Aleksandrovsk in Russia. The harsh northern climate brought with it a number of diseases; and many fishermen lost their lives during the season. Thus, hospitals and rescue stations were kept open throughout the fishing season that lasted from the spring until the autumn. In wintertime, life on Murman was a challenge. The naval connections and communication between the colonies stopped, most hospitals were closed, and the colonists stood alone with the elements.
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Poster 4
Culture, religion and education
People of different nationalities and creeds lived peacefully together in the colonies along the Murman coast. Lutheran Norwegians, Finns and Filmans settled on the west coast of Murman. The Orthodox – Russians, Karelians and Kola Sami lived on the east coast of Murman and in Pechenga Bay. Orthodox churches and congregations were found in the large colonies along the coast. The Lutheran religious center became Ura-Guba, where a chapel (meeting house) was built in 1874. In 1899 the city Aleksandrovsk was founded as a new administration center. Hospitals, schools and a biological research station were built. An Orthodox cathedral dedicated to St. Nicholas and a Lutheran church were built, the latter in which the first independent Lutheran congregation was formed. The colonists’ children were taught at the convent schools or at home. Wealthy parents could send their children to school in the Norwegian towns of Vardø, Vadsø, or in Arkangelsk or Aleksandrovsk in Russia. The harsh northern climate brought with it a number of diseases; and many fishermen lost their lives during the season. Thus, hospitals and rescue stations were kept open throughout the fishing season that lasted from the spring until the autumn. In wintertime, life on Murman was a challenge. The naval connections and communication between the colonies stopped, most hospitals were closed, and the colonists stood alone with the elements.
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Poster 5
Petsamo 1920 – 1944
Daily life
Finland acquired the Petsamo area as a result of the peace negotiations in the autumn of 1920. At the time, the following nationalities resided in the area: Skolt Sami, Sea Sami, Filmans, Finns, Russians, Karelians and a few Komi. There were around 1500 people living in the area. Initially Petsamo was a county, but that status was soon withdrawn. As time went by, Petsamo became wealthier. The road from Ivalo was completed, resulting in a significant influx of tourists. Four or five buses came to Petsamo from Rovaniemi every day, and flights commenced between Helsinki and Petsamo just before the Winter War. The opening of the nickel mine was very important for the economy. Production started in 1940 and reached its maximum potential in 1943. The main livelihood in Petsamo was fishing and reindeer herding, but in the 1920s the fishing industry experienced severe difficulties due to the trade eastwards being curtailed.
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Poster 6
Petsamo 1920 – 1944
Wars and evacuation
The agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union, i.e. the Molotov – Ribbentrop pact in August 1939, had a secret protocol, which made it possible for the Soviet Union to attack Finland if the Finns would not accept the Soviet claims. The attack came on November 30, 1939. The Winter War began so suddenly that about 300 inhabitants of Petsamo did not manage to leave Petsamo, and in February 1940 they were interned and sent to the village of Pulozero south of Murmansk. They were only allowed to return to Finland after the Winter War ended. The Soviet troops occupied all Petsamo but in the peace agreement in March 1940, the Soviet Union gave back the Petsamo area except the Rybachy Peninsula. The inhabitants, who had fled to Norway, returned to Petsamo after the Winter War. Germany occupied Denmark and Norway in April 1940, and Finland and Sweden were surrounded. The Liinahamari harbor in Petsamo was Finland´s only way out to the outside world. During 1940 and 1941 there was an enormous lorry traffic from Sweden and Finland to the harbor of Liinahamari. Many civilians escaped through Liinahamari to the United States, and among them were members of the Norwegian royal family.
The traffic came to an end in June 1941 when Germany attacked the Soviet Union. In the south the Germans proceeded thousands of kilometers, while in the north the attack was stopped after a few days. Finland took part in the war on the German side, but made a separate cease fire agreement with the Soviet Union in September 1944. The Petsamo area had to be given back to the Soviet Union. The inhabitants were evacuated to the south, after some time they were given new farmlands between Kemi and Rovaniemi, in an area called Varejoki. The Finnish state built new homes for the Petsamo Skolt Sami population in Sevettijärvi and Nellim, where they could begin their new life in 1948. Only about ten Finns remained for different reasons in Petsamo, and the last one returned to Finland in 1990.
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Poster 7
The Soviet era
War and revolution – all became Soviet citizens
Russia participated in the First World War from 1914 to 1918. The Murman Railway was built between 1915 and 1916 in order to connect the central regions of Russia to the Kola fjord, which was ice-free the whole year round. The new town of Romanov-on-Murmane (the present-day Murmansk) was established at the end of the railway line. Russia depended on the transport route over the Barents Sea to maintain contact with their allies: Britain, France and the United States. October 25th, 1917 a socialist revolution took place in Russia: The Bolsheviks (Communists) came to power and established the Soviet Republic. Many governments did not recognize this republic, and in 1918 the allied governments decided to intervene to remove the Bolsheviks from power. This led to a civil war in Russia from 1918-1920; a war that altered the borders, social development and economic structures, leading to great suffering for the population. However on the Kola Peninsula, conditions were not as bad as elsewhere in Russia. Most of the colonists were not involved in the war. The Soviets regained power on Murman in February 1920, nationalizing large and medium-sized companies. However the colonists were not rich, and nationalization did not affect them to any great extent. They continued to engage in fishing and farming until the late twenties, when the first fishing cooperatives were established.
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Poster 8
The beginning of the end
Economic and political changes
At the end of the 1920s mass collectivization and industrialization was set in motion in the Soviet Union. These events contributed to radically change the situation on the Kola Peninsula, and meant the end of the unique history of the colonists there. They were drawn into the process of collectivization, and as a result established several fishery collectives. In the 1930s, hundreds of thousands of new migrants came to the Kola Peninsula from other parts of the Soviet Union. Nearly three thousand of the old colonists were swallowed by this wave, and also lost their former privileges. Their children left the colonies and moved to the growing cities either to study, to work in factories, the new modern fishing fleet, the mining industry or to serve in the military. Some of the settlers on the Kola Peninsula were, like many other Soviet citizens, arrested during the great terror. Several of them were killed or sent to consentration camps. In the years 1939-1941 many of them were forcibly moved from the border areas and war zones. They suffered from hunger and disease, which particularly affected the children. Many of them died. Towards the end of the 1930s there was no longer room in the new Soviet political, economic and social system for such a specific group as the Murman coast colonists had become during the past 80 years.
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Poster 9
Family histories
Norwegian families
Most of the Norwegians settlers on the Murman Coast had first travelled from Southern Norway to Vardø and Vadsø, before moving on, hoping for good fishing and better opportunities for farming and trade. Many of those who travelled east had earlier come from Finland. About 400-500 Norwegians divided between approximately 74 families moved to the Murman Coast between 1860 and 1917. Families became related through marriage, and most had a good life there until the end of the 1920s. Several families returned to Norway after the revolution in 1917. Those who remained became Soviet citizens. Following the revolution, society changed and the borders were closed. In the 1930s, many Norwegians, as with other Soviet citizens, became victims of “the great terror” and were deported or received death sentences. In 1940, everyone was forcibly deported from the coast, due to militarization. They were sent to Karelia and Arkhangelsk County, where many died of starvation. After the war most of those who survived, returned to the Murmansk region, but some were scattered throughout the Soviet Union. Some returned to Norway in 1990’S and 2000’s.
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Poster 10
Coast of hope – today
Today, Murmansk County is one of the largest and most developed regions in the European segment of the Russian North. The basis of Murmansk county’s economy is the rich mineral and raw material resources of the Kola peninsula, the natural resources in the Barents Sea, as well as the Northern Sea Route, which is open all year round. The county is comprised of 5 districts, 16 cities, 12 towns, 13 rural areas and 117 villages. Today, over 170.000 people live in the areas where the colonies were located. Murmansk has 300.000 inhabitants. Murmansk County cooperates with Norway and Finland in several areas of commerce: fisheries, petroleum, tourism, culture and education.
Kola Norwegians returning to Norway
After the war, the history of the Murman Coast was forgotten for a period; a history unknown to most Norwegians. However, families in Norway tried to locate their relatives when the border was opened, and from the 1990s it became possible for the Kola Norwegians and their descendants to return to Norway. No exact figure of the number of returnees exists. Today, they mostly live in East Finnmark, but some reside in southern Norway. Kola Norwegians meet regularly, for instance in Vardø.
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