HS Pajala|Bengt Niska had to change his name and was openly discriminated against at school. The history of Finland and the Finnish language in Sweden is painful, and the present is not easy either.
One memory is particularly bitter. It’s from Bengt Niska’s first years at school and in it the teacher, “häijy ämä”, was handing out fruit to the children.
For those who spoke Swedish and were from better families, the teacher gave out bananas and “äpyl”, apples, every morning. Gave small tasks and the children got a prize for them.
#Pajala #Bengt #Niska #openly #discriminated #school #staff #part #teachers #words #forgotten
