The restrictions of the corona pandemic and the war in Ukraine remind Aira Samulin of the uncertain times of childhood.
Aira Samulin emphasizes that in an uncertain time, it is important to live a normal life and everyday life. Pete Anikari
Dance teacher and entrepreneur Aira Samulin, 95, talks about her own childhood in an interview with Iltalehti. Modern insecurity, such as the corona pandemic and the shadow of war in Europe, have brought old memories to the surface.
Aira’s childhood in the late 1930s felt similar to modern times. Uncertainty about the future brought fear into everyday life. The uncertainty in Europe brought about by the Ukrainian war reminds Aira of the Winter War.
– Now, as I follow Ukraine, I go through those moods of war, Aira describes.
Evacuation and everyday changes are the most discussed topics in Aira’s conversation. Little Aira had a big responsibility at home: her father fell on the front, she took care of her sister while her mother was at work and went to school at the same time.
Concern for young people
Aira feels that her 13-year-old grandchild is in a similar situation to her own age. Aira’s childhood was overshadowed by the atmosphere of the war and the end of school. He describes that in modern times the situation in young people is almost the same.
Schooling for children and young people today has been intermittent with the pandemic, and the climate of war in Ukraine is causing uncertainty. Aira hopes that these issues will be discussed openly to young people.
– Things weren’t talked about then, and I haven’t talked about these before.
Through her own experience, Aira wants to say that it is worth talking about her experiences. She hopes that parents will be open to the situation of their children.
– Children should be talked about as adults. Without fear or secrecy. Yes, children adapt.
Ragged school years
Aira Samulin was born in 1927 in the village of Ignoila Viktor and To Anna-Liisa Suvio. Due to his father’s border guard work, the family moved a lot inside Karelia during Aira’s childhood. Aira has had the most memorable school time in her daily life during the war years.
The constant change significantly disrupted the daily life of Aira, who kept school. Going to school during that time was not a matter of course anyway. In the border region, some children did not get to school due to poverty.
In 1933, the six-year-old girl was to start school at the Vyborg Co-educational School. However, with the father’s secondment, the family moved to Pitkäranta, where Aira started in first grade.
At the bend of Hyrsylä he was in school for two years, in Kotajärvi for a while and in the autumn of 1939 he had two months at the Välikylä school. Then came the mobilization, and the school was completely out of Aira’s life.
– Leaving school during the evacuation was a tough place, Aira says.
Picture from Aira’s photo album. Matti Matikainen
Everyday life in the middle of a war
After the end of the Winter War, the family moved to Tuupvaara. Aira moved in with a foreign family to attend school in Joensuu. There he finally received his first testimony.
The Continuation War totally changed family life. The father fell on the front during 1941. Aira was left with her mother and little sister, and everyday life was challenging in times of scarcity.
– Now I think how wonderfully the atmosphere at home has been so wise. There has been no fear or anger, Aira describes how the family went about their daily lives without their father.
The family moved to Helsinki, where the relatives who came under evacuation lived. In addition to Aira’s schooling, there was more responsibility. She cared for both her mother and her little sister and attended school in the evenings after the housework had been taken care of.
– I was out. No one encouraged me to go to high school. I was just expected to graduate from high school and then go to work.
For Airra, her youth and life in Karelia have been a great wealth and resource. Pete Anikari
The road to performing
Aira eventually attended Kallio High School for Expression, along with which she began performing. He had performed for the first time at the age of 2.5 in the border regions. He has inherited his talent from his parents.
In addition to her studies, Aira’s career began with performances. Dancing was forbidden in Finland for a long time, but in the end, after the Aseveli evenings, I got to dance for an hour. There Aira got to dance after the wars.
He knew how to quilt, which was a rare skill at the time. Because of his talent, he was in demand after just a few appearances.
– I earned well that night, and I stayed that way.
However, he had another 20 years of sleep at school. Aira says she always liked school, and she was always the first class in the new school in the spring when she had adapted.
The corona era brought peace
Going to school was important for Aira at a young age, as she was the first in the class and liked school. That’s why he talks about young people and the importance of discussing limitations and fears together. He also understands how young people feel in uncertain times.
Aira says that after the wars, the atmosphere of fear has always been present to some degree. After years, however, the corona period brought rest to everyday life.
– The Corona Age brought rest and peace to life. No need to run from alarms to bomb shelters.
-And there is food, he emphasizes.
The lively Aira emphasizes that everything is clear when she dares to speak openly about her experiences and dares to seize opportunities.
– When you find good things in life, even though everything is hell, you have a good attitude to life.
Aira wants to live smartly, because based on their choices, it is better to be and live to be old. ANNA JOUSILAHTI