THE EDITOR, Sir:IN THE early days of World War II, a young Finnish cabin boy named Leo Fabritius was taken off his ship in the port of Kingston, and interned as an enemy alien at Up Park Camp.
Several other Finnish sailors would later join him there. Later, when Finland became linked to the Allies' cause, the Finns would be moved to Gibraltar Camp where they enjoyed the same freedoms as the Gibraltarian evacuees and the Jewish refugees then in that camp.
Leo Fabritius died in his native Finland last week. He was 93 years old and, as a Finnish friend noted in her e-mail to tell me off his passing, he led a long, rich and adventurous life.
I came to meet Leo Fabritius, at a distance, because of research I am doing on the World War 2 period in Jamaica with a focus on the internment, refugee and evacuee camps established here. Over 2,000 foreigners were brought to live in these camps.
Leo Fabritius had good memories of his time in Jamaica. He even considered staying here after the war, and he shared his memories with others. While he lived, a small piece of our shared history was alive in faraway Finland.
I am, etc.,
SUZANNE FRANCIs BROWN
sfbrownja@yahoo.co.uk
