Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1940, Page 165
FINLAND AND THE XII OLYMPIC GAMES 159
peaceful by February 1940. A result of the cutting down of
preparations was that 95 members of the Olympic Bureau staff
were given notice on September ijth.
The international situation, however, failed to improve. In
October, Finland herself was in a state of emergency and on
November 30th she was compelled to take up the defence of
her independence, arms in hand. Even while the war was pro-
ceeding the Organization Committee met to consider questions
connected with the Games. One meeting was held during an
alert on the day Helsinki for the first time was bombarded from
the air. At this meeting the prizes were awarded in the com-
petition for an Olympic fanfare — while the winning composer
was fighting on the Lapland front.
After the restoration of peace in Finland on March i3th
1940, the question of the Olympic Games was again taken up.
It is worth mentioning that in spite of the havoc caused by
the war and the severe peace terms, belief in the 1940 Olympic
Games still survived in the nation. As a characteristic example
may be mentioned a letter from a soldier at the front, sent through
the field mail, in which he apologised to the Olympic Bureau
for not having sent payment for the tickets he had ordered
within the specified period. Enclosed in the letter was the money
for the tickets. Messages urging that the Games should be held
were received also from abroad.
After the Organization Committee had inquired of the vari-
ous nations regarding the possibilities of their participation, it
decided at a meeting held on April 23 to refrain from further
preparations for the 1940 Olympic Games, as the world situation
gave no hopes that the Games could be held. However, the
Organization Committee proposed to the International Olympic
Committee that the first post-war Olympic Games should be
given to Helsinki, as the preparations for the Games were far
advanced and enthusiasm for the Olympic Games was still strong
in Finland.
As it happened in 1916, a world war draws a thick black
^nark over the Olympic Games. Nevertheless, on July 2oth, the
day when the Games were to be opened if everything had gone
according to plan, an athletic meeting dedicated to the memory
Finnish athletes, who fell in the war, was held in the Helsinki
htadium. This memorial occasion, for all its simplicity, appears
to nave powerfully affected the foreign guests present. With