Prime minister who declared Finland at war in 1941 and was later convicted in the war-responsibility trials
On the evening of 25 June 1941, Rangell told parliament: 'Finland has become the object of an attack by the Soviet Union, which has started acts of war against Finland.'
A Bank of Finland executive and close associate of Risto Ryti, Rangell was elevated to prime minister when Ryti became president in 1940. During his tenure Finland fought the Continuation War alongside Germany and occupied East Karelia, though foreign policy and military power rested with Mannerheim, Ryti, and Foreign Minister Witting rather than with Rangell. When Himmler visited in August 1942, Rangell famously silenced talk of Finland's Jewish minority with the words 'Wir haben keine Judenfrage.' Convicted to six years in the 1946 war-responsibility trials and pardoned in 1949, he left politics and served as an IOC member until 1967.
Career Timeline
- 1912–1913Two-time Finnish triple jump champion and national record holder
- 1925–1933Legal department head and managing director, OKO cooperative bank
- 1937–1945Board member, Bank of Finland
- 1939–1940, 1943–1944Acting governor and governor, Bank of Finland
- 1941–1943Prime Minister of Finland (Continuation War)
- 1938–1967IOC member; president, Finnish Olympic Committee (1961–1963)