Pekka Siitoin

1. Early Life and Education

Timo Pekka Olavi Siitoin was born on 20 May 1944, in Varkaus, Finland. His parentage has been a subject of conflicting accounts. Siitoin himself claimed to have been born to a German military officer and a Finnish-Russian woman, and stated he was adopted shortly after his birth. However, a report by the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service indicated that he was born to Hulde Sifia Rissanen and Olavi Valdemar Siitoin, a financially well-off married couple. Olavi Valdemar Siitoin had been a member of the Nazi Finnish People's Organisation, and Pekka Siitoin claimed to have embraced Nazi ideology from childhood.

Siitoin completed his conscription service in Niinisalo within the Artillery Brigade, where he was discharged with the rank of corporal. He pursued studies at a business school in Turku before establishing his own photography and filming company, Siitoin-Filmi. Initially, this company focused on producing advertising and travel films. Over time, Siitoin-Filmi expanded its operations to publish literature on occultism, ufology, and politics, much of which Siitoin authored himself under various pseudonyms, including Peter Siitoin, Jonathan Shedd, Hesiodos Foinix, Peter von Weltheim, Edgar Bock, and Cassius Maximanus.

In his youth, Siitoin also studied at the Theatre Academy of Finland. During this period, he became a disciple of Aino Kassinen, Finland's most renowned clairvoyant, who Siitoin credited with introducing him to Satanism.

2. Political Career and Ideology

Siitoin's political career was marked by a progression through various far-right organizations, the founding of his own extremist groups, and the development of a unique, controversial ideology. He actively sought to establish a neo-Nazi movement in Finland and cultivated international connections with other extremist figures and organizations.

2.3. International Network and Collaborations

Siitoin actively cultivated a network of connections with international extremist groups and figures. He was associated with Boris Popper, a White Emigre Satanist, who allegedly supplied Siitoin's organizations with guns and explosives stolen from the Finnish Defence Forces. The Patriotic Popular Front also corresponded with CEDADE, a Spanish neo-Nazi organization that counted the prominent Fascist Leon Degrelle among its members.

Siitoin maintained contacts with the National Renaissance Party (United States) led by James Hartung Madole, an American group that similarly blended Satanism and Nazism. He collaborated with Nils Mandell, a leader in the Nordic Reich Party, who introduced Siitoin to the World Union of National Socialists, which subsequently accepted the National Democratic Party (KDP) as a member. Siitoin's connections extended to prominent American white supremacists, including KKK Grand Wizard David Duke and J. B. Stoner, as well as the French far-right group Fédération d'action nationale et européenne.

His international reach also included invitations to events at the Iraqi embassy by Baathist General Salih Mahdi Ammash, known for his strong antisemitism, which likely motivated the invitations. Siitoin used his party's magazine to recruit Finns to fight in the Rhodesian Bush War. He also maintained contact with various terrorist groups, such as Manfred Roeder's German Action Group, responsible for firebomb attacks in Germany that resulted in the deaths of Vietnamese refugees, and Jan Øregård of the Norwegian Front, who bombed a mosque and a communist event. Siitoin's groups cooperated with the Order of Flemish Militants, led by the half-Finnish Bert Eriksson, which carried out multiple firebomb attacks against minorities.

In 1994, for a brief period, the KDP joined an umbrella organization called the National Union Council, chaired by Väinö Kuisma (activist). Other member organizations included the Aryan Germanic Brotherhood, the Union of Aryan Blood, and the Finnish National Front.

In 1996, Siitoin ran for the city council of Naantali under the provocative slogan "Elect Siitoin the Nazi to the council". Despite being the fifth most popular candidate, he was not elected due to the D'Hondt method, as he ran on his own independent list.

3. Publications and Writings

Timo Pekka Olavi Siitoin authored and published numerous works through his company, Siitoin-Filmi, and later through organizations like the Turku Society for the Spiritual Sciences and the National-Mythological Association. These publications served as a primary means for him to disseminate his extremist, occult, and political ideologies to his followers and the wider public. His significant published works include:

• Musta Magia I^Finnish (Black Magic I), 1974
• Musta Magia II^Finnish (Black Magic II), 1975
• Työväenluokan tulevaisuus^Finnish (Future of the Working Class), 1975
• Paholaisen Katekismus^Finnish (Devil's Catechism), 1977
• Laillinen laittomuus Suomessa^Finnish (Legal Illegality in Finland), 1979
• Rotu-oppi^Finnish (The Race Doctrine), 1983
• Demokratia vaiko Fasismi?^Finnish (Democracy or Fascism?), 1984

4. Legal Issues and Government Sanctions

Timo Pekka Olavi Siitoin faced multiple criminal convictions and government sanctions throughout his life due to his extremist activities. In 1977, he was convicted of inciting the arson of the printing house Kursiivi, which printed the Communist newspaper Tiedonantaja. He was also convicted for founding an organization that was forbidden under the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty. For these offenses, he was sentenced to five years and seven months in prison, though he ultimately served three and a half years.

Prior to these convictions, Siitoin had already been fined for cruelty to animals and for vandalism against the Turku Synagogue. In November 1977, the Finnish Ministry of the Interior took decisive action, closing down four of the organizations he had founded, deeming them neo-Fascist and in violation of the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty. Later in his life, Siitoin was convicted again for operating a private militia and for illegal possession of automatic firearms, further demonstrating his persistent engagement in unlawful and dangerous activities.

5. Death

Timo Pekka Olavi Siitoin died on 8 December 2003, in Vehmaa, Finland, at the age of 59. The cause of his death was esophageal cancer. He was buried in Hakapelto Cemetery in Naantali. A documentary film titled Sieg Heil Suomi was later made, chronicling the neo-Nazi activities led by Siitoin and Väinö Kuisma.

6. Assessment and Legacy

Timo Pekka Olavi Siitoin's life and activities left a lasting, negative impact on Finnish society and its political discourse, particularly concerning the far-right. His actions and ideology were widely condemned for their anti-democratic, violent, and hateful nature.