|
|
|
|
Danish
refugees
|
Sweden was involved in many efforts to save Jews from
Nazi brutality and murder. In 1942, Sweden allowed the
immigration of 900 Norwegian Jews. In October 1943,
Sweden gave asylum to more than 8,000 Danish Jews, the
whole Danish Jewish community, which came to Sweden
via small fishing boats. Swedish diplomat Raoul
Wallenberg saved thousands of Hungarian Jews in
Budapest. Also, Count Folke Bernadotte helped bring
Jews and non-Jews out of concentration
camps.
Sweden also
profited from the Holocaust. It is known that
Wallenberg's relatives made money converting Nazi gold
into Swedish crowns and that Sweden provided iron ore
and ball bearings to the Nazis. Swedish documents
reveal that some Swedes actually sided with the Nazis
and volunteered to fight for Hitler. Some Swedes were
members of the Waffen SS and served in police
batallions.
|
|
|
|
Wallenberg
|
A committee was established by the Swedish government
in 1997 to investigate the transfer of Nazi gold to
Sweden during the war. It is reported that Sweden
received 38 tons of gold from Nazi Germany (worth
today US $430 million). Many Swedish companies, such
as Ericsson, AGA and Hasselblad Cameras, as well as
the country's paper and wood industries traded with
Nazi Germany. Swedish jewelers bought stolen diamonds,
which were smuggled into Sweden by civil servants
working at the German legation in
Stockholm.
From:
The Virtual Jewish
History Tour: Sweden
By Rebecca Weiner
<.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Sweden.html#Holocaust>
.
