The Murder Friday (Finnish: Murhaperjantai) of September 29, 1714 was a massacre in the island of Hailuoto (Karlö), Finland, then part of the Kingdom of Sweden. It was the deadliest single act of Russian terrorism against the civilian population during the Great Wrath, which was part of the Great Northern War (1713–1721).[1] On that Friday, about 200 Cossacks killed almost all the civilians who had fled to the island from the Russian troops. The civilians had fled to the island mainly from the towns of Nykarleby, Jakobstad, Kokkola and Raahe, as well as from coastal areas. Their intention was to escape the Russians to Sweden.[2] According to tradition, there were about 800 victims;[3][4] also, according to same tradition, the bells of Hailuoto Church were drowned in Lake Kirkonjärvi, where they were never found again.[5]
The massacre began when a few galley-mounted Cossacks spotted numerous boats on the island's shore, which led them to land. The massacre was carried out with swords and axes. The people who had fled to the island were sleeping crammed into boats and houses when the bloodbath began. The Russians murdered almost all the men and most of the children. Only one house with men was spared to dig graves for the dead. At the time, there were about 300 official residents in Hailuoto, meaning most of the victims were forced refugees. The Cossacks looted all valuables and the children who were in the best condition. The boats of the refugees were burned. The women who had been left on the island managed to escape to the Västerbotten after the Gulf of Bothnia froze.[2][6]
The Russians repeated the bloody attack in early January 1715 and again after that. As a result of these events, the island of Hailuoto became an uninhabited wilderness for years.[2][6]
See also
[edit]Sources
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- Rauhut, Claudia; Zeuske, Michael; Conermann, Stephan; Schmieder, Ulrike (2023). Cultural Heritage and Slavery: Perspectives from Europe. De Gruyter. p. 237. ISBN 9783111331492.
References
[edit]- ^ Kaitasuo, Pia (15 August 2015). "Pietari Suuren synkkä tuhon kylvö". Kaleva (in Finnish). No. 221. Oulu: Kaleva Oy. pp. 34–35. ISSN 0356-1356.
- ^ a b c Vilkuna, Kustaa H. J. (2005). Viha. Perikato, katkeruus ja kertomus isostavihasta (in Finnish). Finnish Literature Society. pp. 65–66.
- ^ "Hailuodon murhaperjantai oli poikkeuksellinen verilöyly – vanhat tarinat isostavihasta elävät vielä 300 vuotta rauhan jälkeenkin" [The "Hailuoto Murder Friday" was an exceptional massacre: old stories of the Great Wrath still live on 300 years after peace]. Yle (in Finnish). 30 August 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2025.
- ^ Hiltunen, Simo (6 May 2019). "Huuto Hailuodon helvetinyöstä kaikuu nykypäivään" [The Cry from the "Hell Night" of Hailuoto Echoes to the Present Day]. Kaleva (in Finnish). Retrieved 28 September 2025.
- ^ Hannu Tarmio, Pentti Papunen & Kalevi Korpela: Suomenmaa 1: maantieteellis-yhteiskunnallinen tieto- ja hakuteos, p. 217–220. Porvoo-Helsinki: WSOY, 1967. (in Finnish)
- ^ a b Heikkilä, Lauri (4 October 2024). "Venäjän terrorin jälkeen elämää sykkinyt saari jäi kokonaan autioksi – aikansa suurvaltapolitiikka jätti suomalaiset kahden tulen väliin" [After the Russian terror, the island that once teemed with life was left completely deserted: the great power politics of the time left the Finns caught between two fires]. Suomenmaa (in Finnish). Retrieved 28 September 2025.
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