Karelians (Carelians)?

Question:

Karelians (Carelians)?

There was a mass influx of Karelians (from Finland) between 1890 - 1910 into Canada. At that time a section of Finland was under the control of the USSR. Since the greatest majority were not allowed to leave there freely they fled by stating they belonged to a particular religious group that was encouraged to leave. My grandparents even altered their name by, I am guessing, stringing together the names of cities and possibly townships. I am unable to get a detailed map of Karelia of that time period but the city of Sousa still exists. Since they altered their names there is no way of my finding out what the real one was, but if I could find a detailed map of Karelia for that time period I may be able to learn more. If anyone can assist me in this then I thank you in advance.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: First off, there was no "USSR" in that time frame. It was czarist Russia until 1917 when the Russian Revolution ended and the Romanovs were executed. So your premise that they were being held under the Communists and couldn't leave isn't quite true. Russia wasn't letting many of their subjugated people leaving until the end of the 1800s, and that includes not only Finland, but also Poland, Lithuania and the Ukraine.

There are two places I would strongly suggest you contact (especially in the summer when things are slow and quiet) and get more background, good resources, and a little help figuring out what your grandparents were thinking.

The best resource on Scandinavia is the Center for Scandinavian Studies at North Park University in Chicago. The university was founded by Swedes and is heavily involved with a sister school in Sweden. They have an excellent library and resource base on the entire Scandinavian history, emigration and politics.
https://www.northpark.edu/centers/scandi...

The second resource is Finlandia University in Hancock, Michigan. They also received a huge influx of Finnish immigrants, including Karelians, in the UP. You'll find their Finnish-American Heritage Center is a treasure trove of Finnish research resources.
http://www.finlandia.edu/department/fahc...

Hope this helps.