English: Finnish SS-Scharführer Olavi Karpalo (1916-1988) during World War II
Olavi Karpalo was a Finnish SS volunteer and set designer born in 1916 in Helsinki. At age 20, he volunteered to fight for Franco's Falangist forces in the Spanish Civil War, deceiving his guardians by claiming he was going on a Hitler Youth trip to Germany. Karpalo later published a book about his experiences in Spain.
During World War II, Karpalo joined the Finnish SS volunteers in 1941 and was sent to the Eastern Front (World War II with the SS Division Wiking. In a letter from July 1941, he admitted to participating in executions of Jews with other Finnish volunteers. After serving with the Waffen-SS until May 1942, he returned to Finland and served in Flight Squadron 32 for the remainder of the war.
Following the war, Karpalo moved to Venezuela, circumventing travel restrictions on former SS members by obtaining a falsified passport. He spent the rest of his life in Venezuela, where he died in 1988.
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