Stone of suspicion
“There is a dog buried in here!” might any Finn exclaim when suspecting there is something fishy going on. The saying originates to the stone in the image, located in a park in Helsinki. There is no dog buried beneath it, however.
In the first years of the 20th century Finland was autonomous grand duchy of Russia with a strong opposition towards the current imperial govern, which had stripped off many privileges granted to the duchy by the previous tsars. Current tsar, however, had granted dictatorship to local governor-general, who, fearing agitation by Finnish nationalists, had decreed acts suppressing civil rights, e.g. the prohibition of assembly.
To counteract, nationalists founded a secret society called Kagal, which used to gather around this particular stone. Should a militia ask the reason for the gathering, participants had agreed to tell him they were attending a memorial, which was one of the few forms of assembly allowed. Should the militia then ask why they were gathering around an unmarked stone, they'd tell him there was a dog buried in there.
A date was engraved to the stone later; it is still clearly visible, and happens to be the date Kagal was founded. Finland gained independence in 1917, two months before the civil war erupted.
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Taken on Thursday May 7, 2015
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Posted on Thursday May 7, 2015
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