While the story of Häyhä's diary being found is well-known and publicized in Finland I think it is interesting also that no English news outlet has picked up the news during the years.

The diary can nowadays be read for free online. As it has been translated, visualized and contextualized to make it more understandable for non-Finnish readers.

https://whitedeathdiary.com/

A man so badass they had to put two umlauts in his name.

"dear diary, Froze my balls off again. Also killed every Russian within a 10 kilometer radius. Bored now."

That's actually very common in Finland and even more than 2 isn't rare. But I can say that 40% (2/5) is a bit much, even by local standards. ;)

It's not an umlaut, it's the letter ä.

I checked if there are any Häyhäkäinen in Finland for more Ä's but no only Häyhänens besides Häyhäs apparently.

Finns, do you carry a picture of Simo in your wallet?

"Even if I were to fall on the fields of battle, the image of you will be my last."

Guess who wrote that down in his diary.

Albert Einstein

Hmm this gives me ideas. Löylyläinen? Hölmäkääpä? Köljönhöyry? Ryönämöinen? Vääräkääpä? So many possibilites for when I change my surname as an old man.

Damn his rifle was left behind when he got injured. It's probably been destroyed but imagine if it's still out there somewhere in Russia.

Finish Mosin Nagant m28/30 serial number S60974.

ï_cüm_whïlë_pööpïng

I think it is speculated that the wooden parts would not have held up with the elements so it would be mainly metal remains.

There have been some search parties in the area which is quite swampy but nothing has been found.

There is atleast a completely unverified rumor that a gun collector in Espoo, Finland would have Häyhä's rifle.

Michael Scott?

Probably found by some local and has been harvesting boar for generations.

"I am torn. Do I let some Russians escape so they can bring more Russians to my location to look for me? Or do I continue my streak?"

This one's even got underscores

“You mean those two dots, man?” - Mark Borchardt

"...during his Civil Guard training, Häyhä once hit a target 16 times from 150 metres away in just one minute. "This was an unbelievable accomplishment with a bolt action rifle, considering that each cartridge had to be manually fed with a fixed magazine that held together five cartridges."[12]"

Bananas

I purchased a Mosin M39 pretty much just because of of Simo, and I suppose my Finnish ancestry. I know it is not the "correct" rifle but it is the one I prefer.

I'm continually amazed with Hollywood hasn't done a movie about the White Death.

This is great. Thank you.

Wayne Gretzky

"I call it lucky cuz I misfired it once and it hit a boar anyway."

"Dear diary my balls have completely frozen off plz send help"

Because they wouldnt do his name justice

They had a Russian White Death in Bullet Train...

The director of Rukajärven tie, one of the better Finnish WW2 movies, tried to make a Finnish-funded one about Häyhä in about 2015 but nothing resulted of that project.

That director had some personal troubles that made him a regular in misbehaving celebrity watch so maybe that contributed as well to the decision to not grant any Finnish film institute funds to the project.

He preferred iron sights over telescopic sights. Amazing.

I think this was mainly to avoid lense glare which would give away his position, dude must’ve had eagle eyes tho

This feels like the intro to an interesting fact, but there's not really a whole lot of interesting information in this post.

TIL that a guy had a diary.
Great.

It was forbidden to link straight to the diary which has been completely unknown to the English-speaking world.

Which I think would have made for a better discussion as it is something completely new. Rather than just another rehashing of common Häyhä talking points. As that source is in his words.

The diary is available to be read for free online with all the context including the story of the diary being found.

Depends on how big the target was. The British had the mad minute drill that sounds similar:

>The exercise formally known as "Practice number 22, Rapid Fire, The Musketry Regulations, Part I, 1909", required the rifleman to fire 15 rounds at a "Second Class Figure" target at 300 yd (270 m). The practice was described as; "Lying. Rifle to be loaded and 4 rounds in the magazine before the target appears. Loading to be from the pouch or bandolier by 5 rounds afterwards. One minute allowed".