Thanks to Risto for the original (Danish) fax copies and to Fredrik for the translation into English.

The answers stick quite closely to the standard official biography, but there's some good stuff there - particularly the answer to Q1 !

- I read a lot, and (slowly) I am writing a new book: 'Det herlige Sammenbrud' ['The Glorious Velvet Bride'? - Fredrik]

Once again your books have achieved great success, this time as paperbacks in Finland. Do you have any idea why generation after generation of readers pick your books?

- Because they describe the war as it really was. The New York Times said of my books that finally someone had told the truth about the war.

For many years you have been criticized for the brutality in your books. Brutality seems to be very common now in both the movie and book industries. Do you think that is the reason for your renewed success in the nineties?

- I don’t know any war which isn’t brutal. Just ask the veteran Finnish frontline soldiers.

I read your books on two different levels: a mixture of pacifism and militarism. And it seems that I'm not alone in reading your books that way. Did you deliberately write them like that?

- There aren’t any frontline soldiers, who engaged directly with the enemy, who aren’t pacifists. The military not militaristic belongs to the war. [Not sure about this bit!! - Dan]

The books that have been filmed ['Wheels Of Terror'] don't follow the original text. Are you disappointed that you never had any success in Hollywood?

- Sadly, neither the scriptwriter, the director nor the producer is grown up (mentally). They just didn’t understand the book.

In almost every book you write something about Finland and the Finnish people. Would you describe in more detail your relation to our country [Finland] and to Finnish soldiers?

- We were a group of people in the German army who greatly admired Finland and the Finnish soldiers. They were different and many of them were just what we wished to be like ourselves.

Alte [Old Un], Porta, Lillebror [Tiny], Barcelona, the Legionnaire etc. Are any of them still alive or did they really exist? Are these major characters a mixture of different German soldiers?

- All of my characters lived. Tiny and the Legionnaire are retired from the French Foreign Legion. Gregor Martin is a rich entrepreneur in partnership with an American ex-sergeant. The rest were killed in action or died later.

In the books you are involved in fighting in Poland as well as in the USSR, France, the Balkans and Italy. Did you really do that? According to your portrayal in the books I imagine that you must have been a real professional in the heat of battle. According to other sources you also deserted! What should one believe?

- I was on all fronts except for Africa. I deserted because I found out how horrible war was and that it was based on lies and propaganda. After that I was transferred to a penal regiment.

Julius Heide had a later career in the NVA in East Germany. Do you know many real counterparts to him, the professional soldier who went with the tide of events and joined the army in the DDR?

- There isn't a great difference between national communism and Nazism. Julius Heide never tried to hide the fact that it didn’t matter which badge he wore, just as long as he was a soldier. And there were many others like him.

After the war it took a while before you made a breakthrough on the literary front. What was your previous profession?

- After the war I spent four years in prison, and I started to write The Legion Of The Damned in the prison camps. The book came out in 1953 and at that time I was in the auto business.

How did you feel about the Deutsche Vereinigung [German reunification] in 1990?

- I think that it was right that Germany should become one again. You can’t divide a country or a people in two. I think that Germany has learned by its mistakes and that the vast majority of the people are far away from nationalism and militarism.

The youngest of the WWII veterans are now in their seventies. Is there anything left for you to teach to the younger generation? Do you think that your books have had any peaceful influence?

- I'm sorry that an author cannot prevent war. But those people who have read my books will know what to expect so they won't be such big idiots as those of us who enrolled voluntarily.

In Finland the veterans are now receiving the respect that they never had in the 60s and 70s. In many cases I've felt an almost militaristic format to their memorial services. What do you think about that?

- To pursue veterans could well be compared with pursuing the police who fight criminals. Both have very difficult jobs. Those who criticized us in the 60s and 70s simply hadn't experienced the war. It's not the soldiers you should chase after, but the politicians who caused the wars.

The Finnish "Winterwar" 1939-40 was a defensive action, something you can't say about the continued war from 1941-1944. Do you think that in WWII there were both "good" and "evil" (or "bad") wars, as absurd as it sounds?

- The Winterwar was something that was forced upon Finland, and it was very hard to avoid if you didn't want Finland to become a part of the USSR. The Continued War '41-'44 is somewhat debatable. Mannerheim [the Finnish Commander-in-Chief] had to choose between two devils. He certainly didn't like Hitler but he liked Stalin even less.

Why did you start writing, and did you anticipate such success?

- When I started writing I didn't think about success. I wanted to wash the war away from me with my first book.

Do you regret anything? Is there anything which is missing from your books?

- No.

Your writing has made you millions. Have you ever had the feeling that you are dancing on the graves of your fallen comrades? Would they have wanted you to start writing?

- We promised each other that one of us would tell the world what the damned war was really like. Those of us who fight war without having asked for it are just waste when the war is over.

Now, let's go back to 1939! If you could make your choice again, independent of Hitler and Stalin, what would you do?

- I would want to get away while there was still time.

© 1997 Pekka Holopainen