On May 19, 1943, Adolf Hitler awarded Fanni Luukkonen the Grand Cross of the Order of the German Eagle (Verdienstorden vom Deutschen Adler), one of Nazi Germany's highest decorations for foreign nationals. She was among the very few women ever to receive it. Luukkonen (1882–1947) was the long-serving leader of Lotta Svärd, Finland's voluntary women's auxiliary organization. Founded in 1921 and named after a character in Johan Ludvig Runeberg's poem cycle "The Tales of Ensign Stål," Lotta Svärd grew during the 1930s and the war years into one of the largest women's organizations in the world relative to national population. By the time of the award, it had around 240,000 members who worked in nursing, air-raid warning, anti-aircraft spotting, canteen and supply services, communications, and other support roles for the Finnish armed forces. Luukkonen had led the organization since 1929 and was its public face throughout the Winter War (1939–40) and the Continuation War (1941–44). The award reflected the political situation at the time. Finland was a co-belligerent (not formally an ally) with Germany against the Soviet Union during the Continuation War, and German leadership used decorations to acknowledge prominent Finns who contributed to the war effort. Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Risto Ryti, and several Finnish generals received German honors during the same period; Luukkonen's decoration recognized the scale of the logistical and home-front work organized through Lotta Svärd. The decoration became a problem after the war. Under the terms of the Moscow Armistice of September 1944, Finland was required to dissolve "fascist-type" organizations, and Lotta Svärd was disbanded in November 1944 at Soviet insistence, despite its non-political and largely humanitarian character. Luukkonen's wartime ties to Germany, including the Order of the German Eagle, were cited in Soviet criticism of the organization. She lived quietly after the war and died in 1947. The Lotta Svärd Foundation, which continues charitable work today, was established in 1946 to preserve the organization's legacy in a permissible form.