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The reason for swastika removal
The decoration granted to Voroshilov was the third Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland granted to a foreign head of state after the second world war. French president, Gen. Charles de Gaulle, was the eleventh to receive the Grand Cross with its swastika chain, as president Kekkonen handed it over to him in Paris during a state visit end October 1962. Kekkonen told in a private letter 15 years later that de Gaulle appeared to be distressed by the chain and had attempted to cover it up under his other decorations. This gave the impetus to remove the swastika from the chain of the Grand Cross of the White Rose of Finland. The proof from the state visit consists of a photo taken by Mr. Kalle Kultala. In it Gen. de Gaulle is wearing the Grand Cross with its chain during a dinner in honour of president Kekkonen in the Elyseé palace, but the chain was under the jacket of the French general, so that only a couple of the chain swastikas together with the cross were visible.
The wish of the President of the republic to replace the swastika was expressed more than six months after his visit in Paris and a fortnight after visiting Tito. Why did Kekkonen hesitate to express his wish for more than half a year? He was uncertain!
After the year 1978 Kekkonen’s archives have been declassified. Information from them has been conveyed by Mr. Juhani Suomi. The details of information do not appear to fit together if we start with the assumption presented by Kekkonen: the behaviour of de Gaulle. But maybe Kekkonen misinterpreted? Maybe the behaviour of his host was an expression of courtesy? There is only one Grand Cross of the Legion d’Honneur chain in existence, and it is worn by the president of France. Kekkonen could not have it. That is why de Gaulle did not want to be overdecorated in comparison with his guest by carrying the chain his shoulders; he half-hid it under his jacket. If we take this view, the details fall in place. It appears that the removal of the swastika was a result of misunderstood friendly gesture of de Gaulle and our feeling of inferiority basing on co-belligerence with Germans.
Was the swastika chain really such a compromising matter that it had to be removed ? In advance of every state visit also the decorations to be granted are discussed. After the second world war the swastika chain may have been under discussion but the story of the historical background always settled the eventual matter. A total of 13 heads of state were granted and accepted the Grand Cross before the Independence day of 1963. Judging the matter and taking these facts into account, in hindsight it appears that there was no factual reason to replace the symbol.
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