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The Famous Bootlegger

What a life this man lived. Algoth Niska. Famous bootlegger from Finland. He played football for Finland in the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm. He fought in the Finnish War. He smuggled illegal liquor between Finland, Sweden and the Baltic states. He had his headquarters in Tyresta here in Haninge. He served time both in Finland and Sweden. He also smuggled out Jewish refugees from Germany to Finland between 1938 and 1939. He was married twice and had two kids. He died poor and alone in 1952 from a brain tumour. Yesterday while enjoying coffee at the cafe I noticed this truck driving by and had time to take this photo that shows Algoth Niska. The paint brush is based on a photo that belongs to the Finnish Customs Museum.

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Uploaded on June 12, 2014
Taken on June 11, 2014