During and after the Second World War, i.e. between 1940 and 1958, Finnish war orphans received
letters from sponsors both in Finland and abroad in addition to material and financial aid. The aim
of this article is to present some preliminary results of a study that attempts to find out how the
translation of these letters was organized, and what kind of problems and challenges the organization
and the translators were faced with. The research is based not only on information offered by
archives and literature but also on private, authentic letters preserved from that time. The presentation
is focused on Switzerland and includes authentic letters written in German and sent to a Finnish
family by a Swiss sponsor. The research shows that the translation of the correspondence between
the sponsor and the families required extensive and systematic organization. It also shows that the
resources of the aid organization (Mannerheim League Committee for the Sponsoring of War Orphans)
responsible for the correspondence could neither cope with the number of letters nor meet
the high standards and ideals set for the translations. As a result many letters were translated by ordinary
volunteers outside the organization, and in many cases the responsibility for the translation
was left with the receiving families.