Sisu, &quote;Even Through a Stone Wall&quote;

Originally published in 1957, Sisu, “Even Through a Stone Wall” is the English-language edition of the memoirs of the Social Democratic premier of Finland of 1917, Oskari Tokoi. Included are his account of events in Helsinki and Russo-Finnish relations during 1917, the Finnish civil war, and the little-known story of the Finnish Legion’s role in the Allied intervention in North Russia.

“‘sisu’…something that ‘surpasses fearlessness and extraordinary endurance...a kind of inner fire or superhuman nerve force....courage, tenacity, stubborn determination, energy and a will and an ability to get things done.’

“The record is now before us, and it constitutes, in my opinion, an inspiring revelation of Finnish sisu. It took real bravery for a young country lad of eighteen to emigrate to the New World in 1891 and to toil long hours in the eerie half-darkness of Wyoming and Colorado mines, disdainful of the large chunks of rock and ore hanging overhead which seemed to warn: “Beware! Someday we’ll fall and bury you!”—John I. Kolehmainen