There are Skinhead groups in several Finnish cities - Helsinki, Turku, Tampere, Lahti, Oulu, Pori - with a membership of between 10 and 50 in each.

Asked for a view of Finland's Skinhead scene in 1992, a member of the Finnish Skin band Mistreat spoke of "a relatively strong scene" in the major cities, "at least a few hundred people who are real Skinheads and many more with a similar attitude."

On the 12th of November, 1992, police arrested a small group of Skinheads for smashing the windows of the Jewish synagogue in Turku. A year later a Finnish Skinhead was quoted in the British skinzine Last Chance bragging that Skinheads had attacked refugee centers in Helsinki and in Tampere, and that the movement had "gathered new members fast."

In Helsinki, a Skinhead group fired the editor of its magazine, Skullhead-Skinhead, for having written articles condemning Nazi crimes against humanity. As of late 1993, there were skinzines published in at least two Finnish cities, Pori and Vantaa. (Anti-Defamation League, 30)

Work Cited

Anti-Defamation League. The Skinhead International: A Worldwide Survey of Neo-Nazi Skinheads. New York: Anti-Defamation League, 1995. Anti-Defamation League, 823 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017.

Disclaimer: not all skinheads are neo-nazis or white supremacists. There are many skinheads who are non- or anti-racist, and who come from a variety of different religious and cultural backgrounds. Nizkor recognizes their achievements in anti-racism: they are part of the traditional, non-racist skinhead subculture and are not the perpetrators of the hate crimes discussed here.

Unless otherwise specified, the word "skinhead" within these pages refers only to neo-Nazi and white supremacist skinheads, the perpetrators of hate crimes and participants in racist organizations. We cannot edit the body of the text above, because it was not written by Nizkor, and to change the wording would be fraudulent. Please keep in mind that not all skinheads are racist.

The original plaintext version of this file is available via ftp.

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