MP30 – Winter War bombing and Rauma’s Bad Friday

Old Rauma, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2021. Old Rauma was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1991 as a unique example of a living and well-preserved old Nordic tree city.

The sixth part of the 30 Years of Old Rauma as a World Heritage Site series tells the story of the Winter War bombing of Rauma.

Winter War bombing and Rauma’s Bad Friday 2.2.1940

The Winter War began on 30 November 1939. The first alarm of the Winter War was sounded in Rauma on 1 December 1939. The people of Rauma survived the first alarm with a scare, as the planes continued on without dropping bombs towards Mäntyluoto in Pori.

Bombers were seen in Rauma’s skies six times in December, ten times in January and five times in February. Over 3000 bombs were dropped on Rauma during the Winter War. Three men and one woman were killed in the bombings.

The most devastating bombing of Rauma during the Winter War was on Friday 2 February 1940. The day of the bombings came to be known in Rauma as Bad Friday. The first bombers appeared over the city at noon.

In total, there were 5 alarms during the day. The bombs fell in the city centre, destroying 18 buildings. Among other things, a primary school, a library, a cinema and several residential buildings were destroyed.

In addition, the bombs set fire to a ferry yard and destroyed warehouses in the port. In Petjerjak, the bombs hit the Ammus Ltd. trotyl warehouse in the boathouse of the Sjöblom villa, destroying not only it but also three neighbouring villas.

On Good Friday, the Kirsti, now a museum in Rauma, was also hit. A blast wave from a bomb dropped on Pohjankatu street damaged the western end of the Kirsti residential building. As a result, the fireplace in the west end of the Kirsti is newer than the other fireplaces in the building. The neighbouring house, Knapp, was even more severely damaged.

A shell casing found in the collection of the Rauma Museum in Kirst’s outbuilding probably fell into Pohjankatu at some time.

Minna-Liisa Salonsaari, Deputy Director of Museums at Rauma Museum