Hans Kalm

Hans Kalm (21 April 1889 – 1 February 1981) was an Estonian soldier
and medical doctor who served in the armies of Russian Empire, Finland
and Estonia.
Contents
1 World War I and Finnish Civil War
2 War in Estonia
3 World War II and post-war years
4 References
World War I and Finnish Civil War[edit]
Kalm was born to a farmer's family in the village of Kotsama in
Viljandi County. His last name is connected with the old Finno-Ugric
word "kalma", meaning "death". According to a family legend, one of
Kalm's forefathers survived the
Black Death

Black Death by hiding in a remote
cemetery island and therefore changed his name. Kalm was recruited by
the
Imperial Russian Army

Imperial Russian Army in 1914 and fought in the
First World War

First World War in
the Gulf of Riga. After the 1917
Russian Revolution

Russian Revolution he fled to Finland
and joined the White Guards. In the 1918
Finnish Civil War
.jpg/600px-Tampereen_taistelun_aikana_tuhoutunutta_Tammelan_kaupunginosaa_(26696844330).jpg)
Finnish Civil War he led a
battalion mostly composed of the students of two park ranger colleges
from
Ähtäri

Ähtäri and Evo.[1]
Kalm's battalion became infamous in March as they attacked a Red Guard
sanatorium in the village of Harmoinen in
Kuhmoinen

Kuhmoinen municipality,
killing 11 wounded soldiers and two nurses.[2] After the Battle of
Lahti, his battalion was in charge of the Hennala camp. In a short
period in May, more than 500 Red prisoners were executed, including
some 200 female fighters.[3] Most of them were raped before the
shooting, the youngest being only 14-year-old girls.[citation needed]
It is most likely that Kalm himself shot the Red leader Ali
Aaltonen.[4]
War in Estonia[edit]
Kalm resigned the White Army in July 1918 and left for Estonia, where
he became the commander of the Pohjan Pojat regiment fighting in the
Estonian War of Independence. It was a unit composed of Finnish
volunteers. Pohjan Pojat was disbanded in May 1919 and Kalm returned
Finland. In 1923–1933 he lived in the
United States

United States studying
medicine and working as a doctor in
New Jersey

New Jersey and New York. He was
granted
United States

United States citizenship in 1930. Kalm returned to Finland
again in 1934 and settled in Rauma in Western Finland. He was
interested in alternative medicine like naturopathy, orthopathy, and
homeopathy and even ran a spa.[5]
World War II and post-war years[edit]
As
Finland

Finland joined the Second World War, Kalm was briefly the commander
of a POW camp in Pieksämäki. He was released in October 1941 and
sent to Germany to study military health issues for the Finnish
Army.[5] During the war, Kalm was also active in the Finnish Nazi
organization Suomen Kansallissosialistinen Työjärjestö (KTJ).[6] To
avoid being arrested for his misconduct at the
Pieksämäki

Pieksämäki prison
camp, Kalm fled to the
United States

United States via Sweden in 1946. According to
his own story, Kalm worked as a cardiac specialist in Aiken County,
South Carolina and later studied surgery in Mexico.[5]
In 1957 Kalm returned to
Finland

Finland to practice homeopathic medicine. His
doctor's license was finally cancelled in 1974 as Finnish authorities
found out that Mid-West Medical College, where Kalm had graduated in
1933, was not approved by the American Medical Association. Hans Kalm
spent his last years with his son's family in
Jyväskylä

Jyväskylä and died in
1981.[5]
References[edit]
^ Heinämäki, Jaakko: ″Hans Kalm: vapaussoturi ja
vaihtoehtolääkäri″, p. 11–13. Minerva Kustannus, 2007.
ISBN 978-952-492-003-2.
^ Kalm, Hans (1889 - 1981) (in Finnish). Finnish National Biography.
Retrieved 10 July 2015.
^ Tepora, Tuomas: ″The
Finnish Civil War
.jpg/600px-Tampereen_taistelun_aikana_tuhoutunutta_Tammelan_kaupunginosaa_(26696844330).jpg)
Finnish Civil War 1918: History, Memory,
Legacy″, p. 110. Brill Academic Publishers, 2014.
ISBN 978-900-42436-6-8. Google Books
^ Korjus, Olli: ″Kuusi kuolemaantuomittua″, Atena Kustannus, 2014.
ISBN 978-952-30002-4-7. Google Books (in Finnish)
^ a b c d
Hans Kalm

Hans Kalm (1889–1981) – virolaissuomalainen sotilas ja
vaihtoehtolääkäri (in Finnish). Arno Forsius. Retrieved 10 July
2015.
^ Ekberg, Henrik: ″Führerns trogna följeslagare. Den finländska
nazismen 1932–1944″, p. 172–174. Schildts, 1991. 951-50-0522-1.
Authority control
WorldCat Identities
VIAF: 24192310
LCCN: no96025168
GN