“When, after the end of the evacuation period, on the morning of March 18th, the last members of the monastery brotherhood we left the monastery, it was the last day of old Valaam. To mark it, the monastery’s 16-ton main bell struck 12 times.”

"There was no bomb shelter, but there was a vault under the church, the passages leading to which were so low in places due to the unevenness of the rock that the men had to crawl while carrying goods to safety. The men also slept in the vaults, although they felt their safety was very limited: a hit on the church would have buried them in the vaults. ... The men had to be changed every half hour when the goods were brought out from under the church, because there was so little air in the vaults."

“I took with me a picture of the abbot standing on the steps of the monastery with Marshal Mannerheim, General Valve and Colonel Järvinen.” - Sulo Venho

"We entered the large domed Konevitsa monastery church. Oh, the splendor and beauty that opened before us: icons, gold, silver, art everywhere. We looked at each other and said, I guess, at the same time: Couldn't something from this be saved for Finland?" - Anna Venho