Aarne Emil Kauhanen was a Finnish officer of the Central Detective Police and its successor, the State Police, with special responsibility for aliens in the 1930s and 1940s.
13 Facts About Aarne Kauhanen
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Aarne Kauhanen's parents were the merchants Antti Kauhanen and Alma Sundsten.
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Aarne Kauhanen attended seven classes at the Finnish Normal Lyceum in Helsinki, and continued at the Finnish Business School, where he received his diploma in 1928.
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Aarne Kauhanen initially worked as an office clerk in Helsinki until he became an EK clerk in 1933.
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Fluent in German, Aarne Kauhanen later acted as a liaison between Valpo and the Kriegsorganisation Finnland of the German military intelligence department, making several trips to German-occupied Estonia and Latvia on Horelli's order.
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Aarne Kauhanen participated in the recruitment for the Finnish SS Battalion as the office manager of Insinooritoimisto Ratas, a cover organization that recruited volunteers.
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In 1944, Aarne Kauhanen escorted 11 deportees to Tallinn, when a Czech man reportedly died during a voyage in unclear circumstances.
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Shortly after the Moscow armistice was concluded in September 1944, Aarne Kauhanen fled to Sweden.
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In February 1945, Aarne Kauhanen announced that he did not intend to return to Finland for fear of Allied Control Commission, where he was accused of several beatings during interrogations.
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Aarne Kauhanen did not receive asylum from Sweden but continued with a refugee passport issued in Stockholm to Venezuela, where several other Finns had fled after the war.
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Aarne Kauhanen is said to have earned his living by trading with Arvid Ojasti.
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The Venezuelan authorities interrogated Aarne Kauhanen, waiting for more information from Finland as to whether he was considered a war criminal.
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However, Aarne Kauhanen was not handed over to Finland, but he died in unclear conditions in Venezuela in October 1949.