Post by pershainovitsh on May 23, 2012 13:46:45 GMT 1
I hope you haven't gotten bored of all these threads about Finnish things yet. But sisu is something that needs explaining. I was just reading an article about Simo Häyhä, who is claimed to be the best sniper ever, and there I saw the best examples of sisu.
www.mosinnagant.net/finland/simohayha.asp
Quote from the page:
I have to add that I don't think sisu can just be translated to "having guts", (hence the use of the word "roughly") I think it's more like what the Finnish saying says: "A Finn will go even through a grey rock". Especially in WWII the Finns showed what that means. Who gets his rifle back after getting shot with an explosive bullet in the cheek and shoots the guy? A Finn with sisu.
According to some sources, Simo Häyhä killed 500 Soviet soldiers during his time. This created fear in the Soviet troops. Häyhä was given the nickname "White Death". While he mostly used a Mosin Nagant rifle without a scope, he also used a Suomi SMG (Finland SMG). He was in the war only for about 100 days. Five Soviets per day?
Simo Häyhä died in 2002.
Another quote:
The whole Winter War showed what Finns are made of. We didn't lose our independence to Soviet Union. We did lose some land area though. After that there was a peace for a while, but the became the Continuation War. We started taking the land we lost back and moving almost to Leningrad. At some point the Soviet offensive began and we had to retreat. In the end we had to give lots of land (most of Karelia and some parts of Northern Finland) to Soviet union after peace negotiations. Another thing the Soviet Union order us to do was to get rid of the German troops in Finland. Somehow we ended up fighting them in the Lapland War, where the Germans retreaded North to Norway. We were allied with Germany, but that was a pratical necessity. I don't think there was anything releated to nazism in Finland in WWII, before it or after it.
A question for you English speakers: do you see the two dots on top of the a's in the name Häyhä? I'd just like to know if you can see them on an English-language computer. Ä is the sound that can be heard in the word "man" for example. A is the sound that can be found in the word "gun". Finnish is pronounced just like it's written but I don't think that makes it any easier to read Finnish for you. I guess you could think Finnish is phonetic writing. I'll show you how to read the Finnish name "Simo". The "s" in the beginning is just a normal "s". The "i" is read like "sea" (without the s in the beginning) but without extending it so much. The "m" is a normal "m". The "o" is like the "o" in the word "rock".
www.mosinnagant.net/finland/simohayha.asp
Quote from the page:
The Finnish word Sisu roughly translates to guts in English, and this man was the embodiment of the word. The true sprit of Finland and the Finnish people lives in this quiet man. A perfect example of this was that Simo Häyhä told us that after he was shot in the face (this was a wound that took years to recover from) he still found his rifle and killed the Soviet that had wounded him. If there was ever a doubt about just how tough this man is/was, I think this story leaves little doubt in one's mind.
I have to add that I don't think sisu can just be translated to "having guts", (hence the use of the word "roughly") I think it's more like what the Finnish saying says: "A Finn will go even through a grey rock". Especially in WWII the Finns showed what that means. Who gets his rifle back after getting shot with an explosive bullet in the cheek and shoots the guy? A Finn with sisu.
According to some sources, Simo Häyhä killed 500 Soviet soldiers during his time. This created fear in the Soviet troops. Häyhä was given the nickname "White Death". While he mostly used a Mosin Nagant rifle without a scope, he also used a Suomi SMG (Finland SMG). He was in the war only for about 100 days. Five Soviets per day?
Simo Häyhä died in 2002.
Another quote:
Simo Häyhä was called into action during the Winter War with his service under the 6th Company of JR 34 on the Kollaa River. The Finnish stand at Kollaa is often referred to as "The miracle of Kollaa," as the Finnish action here was most heroic. The Finnish forces in the region were under the command of Major General Uiluo Tuompo and they faced the 9th and 14th Soviet Armies. At one point the Finns at Kollaa were facing 12 divisions, some 160,000 men. The Red Army losses in this arena were staggering as the brave Finns took their toll on the communist invaders. There have been those that called the Finnish defense of this key region "fanatical", and it was in the Kollaa area were the famous battle of "Killer Hill" took place with 32 Finns battling 4,000 Soviet soldiers. These were the hunting grounds of Simo Häyhä and it should be noted that even against massive odds the Kollaa positions were still in Finnish hands at the end of the war (March 1940).
The whole Winter War showed what Finns are made of. We didn't lose our independence to Soviet Union. We did lose some land area though. After that there was a peace for a while, but the became the Continuation War. We started taking the land we lost back and moving almost to Leningrad. At some point the Soviet offensive began and we had to retreat. In the end we had to give lots of land (most of Karelia and some parts of Northern Finland) to Soviet union after peace negotiations. Another thing the Soviet Union order us to do was to get rid of the German troops in Finland. Somehow we ended up fighting them in the Lapland War, where the Germans retreaded North to Norway. We were allied with Germany, but that was a pratical necessity. I don't think there was anything releated to nazism in Finland in WWII, before it or after it.
A question for you English speakers: do you see the two dots on top of the a's in the name Häyhä? I'd just like to know if you can see them on an English-language computer. Ä is the sound that can be heard in the word "man" for example. A is the sound that can be found in the word "gun". Finnish is pronounced just like it's written but I don't think that makes it any easier to read Finnish for you. I guess you could think Finnish is phonetic writing. I'll show you how to read the Finnish name "Simo". The "s" in the beginning is just a normal "s". The "i" is read like "sea" (without the s in the beginning) but without extending it so much. The "m" is a normal "m". The "o" is like the "o" in the word "rock".
