The Saga of A Century

Citizens of Russia, Finns by nationality, born in America, Elmar and Miriam Nousiainen (83 and 73, respectively) have led remarkable lives.

Elmar and Miriam’s parents were ordinary Finns who moved from impoverished Finland to America at the turn of the century. Their families were doing well in the US (Elmar’s father was a miner, Miriam’s a farmer), even after the Great Depression hit, but they were influenced by socialist aspirations. Elmar was 15 and Miriam 8 when their parents left the US separately. On the eve of their departure, Miriam’s father poured her some fresh milk. “Please drink it,” he said. “There will be no milk where we are going.” Why would she want to go where there is no milk, Miriam wondered. She refused to go to the Soviet Union. To her, home was Bondville, Vermont. Her parents had to physically force her on board the ship.

Soviet propaganda had called out to the “best sons and daughters of the Finnish people,” saying that “the world’s first country of workers and peasants” needed their help. Elmar and Miriam’s parents couldn’t not respond to such an ardent appeal—since they left Finland, they had never lost the dream of a country that was fair to working people. Their parents were determined to help build the young Soviet republic. “This is the country of the future,” they told their children. “There will never be any war here...”