The Winter Warriors
The “Winter War” of 1939-40—pitting the Goliath of the Soviet Union against the David of tiny, peace-loving Finland—receives its most dramatic representation yet in Olivier Norek’s masterful The Winter Warriors.
Translated from French, Norek’s story centers on a band of Finnish friends whose lives are forever altered by the invasion of Russian soldiers in November 1939. Based on real people who answered the call to resist, the novel focuses on Simo Häyhä—whose sniper skills and kill count earned him the nickname “the White Death” by the Russians—and his best friends who melt into the frozen, snowy landscape on skis to slow down and sabotage the invaders. Along with a female nurse, Leena, they witness and suffer untold horrors of the Winter War that are some of the book’s most unforgettable scenes. Norek’s knowledge of the conflict, along with photographs of key characters, makes the story read as both history and fiction to great impact.
Also known as the Russo-Finnish War, the conflict spanned November 1939 to March 1940 and showcased the sterling character of Finland in the face of overwhelming odds. Though Finland ceded large portions of territory in the peace negotiations, Finnish soldiers and their savvy guerrilla tactics were responsible for 350,000 Russian casualties. The battle scenes etch themselves into the reader’s mind, especially the Soviet attempt to flank the Mannerheim Line by crossing the not-completely frozen Gulf of Finland. Images of bodies, horses, and weapons jutting half in and half out of the expanse is a vision of icy Hell not soon forgotten.
This is historical fiction at its best, simply put. In The Winter Warriors, Norek puts the reader deep into the snow drifts, deep space cold, and resilient hearts of the men and women who refused to roll over to unprovoked aggression.
