"the Russian red flag was flying high in the sky"

Gideon Hulterstrom's arrival at Rajajoki in 1929

The Sestra is a river that runs across the Karelian Isthmus in Northern Europe. For many years it served as a natural border between Finland and Russia. In the winter of 1939-40, Soviet forces invaded Finland. After a costly and destructive 3.5 months, the Soviet Union and Finland signed a peace deal which saw most of Finland’s Karelia region being surr…