Sweden During World War II - Humanitarian Effort

Humanitarian Effort

In 1943, Sweden received nearly all of Denmark's 8,000 Jews. With the dissolution of the Danish government in the summer of 1943, the German authorities had decided to deport Denmark's Jewish population to concentration camps. However, the Danes successfully ferried all but 450 of the Jews across the straits between Copenhagen and the Swedish mainland, across waters that were patrolled by German Schnellboots, in an unprecedented rescue effort. Once in Sweden, the Danish Jews were granted asylum and taken in by Swedish families. Many stayed in Sweden after the war. Sweden also received refugees from Finland and Norway, including some of Norway's Jews. All this, as well as the protection of Sweden's own Jewish population, was made possible by Sweden's neutrality. A daily newspaper in Sweden, the Svenska Dagbladet said that Sweden did more to assist and save Jews than any other country.

Neutrality also made it possible for Sweden to have physical access to Germany, which was not only useful to Swedish intelligence but to Allied intelligence as well. Employees at Asea, LM Ericsson and the Swedish Match Factory (Svenska Tändsticksfabriken) acted as couriers for the Polish resistance. King Gustav V of Sweden attempted to use his diplomatic connections with German leaders to convince them to treat Jews more humanely, as evidenced through his correspondence, although to little effect. Count Folke Bernadotte, a relative of the Swedish royal family, was able to communicate with the German government and relay information back to Sweden, as did other diplomats. He also contributed to saving 15,000 prisoners from concentration camps, as did Valdemar Langlet and the famous diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who may have saved up to 100,000 Hungarian Jews.

Many Swedish noblemen used their personal connections and wealth to take in and find temporary Swedish homes for children from neighboring countries, mainly Denmark and Finland. Werner Dankwort served as the first secretary for the German legation in Stockholm during the German Nazi regime and secretly helped Jewish children to escape from Germany into Sweden inside wooden crates.