On December 8, 2019, at 7:30 PM, I interviewed my grandmother, Eva Hansen.

She was
born on April 6, 1939 in Småland, Sweden on an expansive farm. Her father worked in Chicago
for about ten years, trying to escape the farm and earn enough money to buy a store. Sadly he
lost all of his savings at the start of the Great Depression and returned with nothing to show for
all his hard work to life as a farmer. While Mrs. Hansen was a very young child during World
War II, she has vivid memories of the effects of the war on her family and her small village.
“If you are Swedish, the great behemoth to the east is Russia, or the Soviet Union; the
great behemoth to the south is Germany. Those two countries were in an alliance, until June
1941. Sweden was a country of 6 million people, and hardly military power”(5). When the war
began in 1939 Sweden was placed in a difficult situation. Since 1815 Sweden had been neutral in
world affairs. But on April 9, 1940, Germany invaded both its neighbors, Norway and Denmark,
leaving the country surrounded by German rule. A small, militarily weak country Sweden was
afraid that it would also become occupied by the Germans. Later in 1941, Finland, its neighbor
to the east became a co-belligerent with Germany due to the fact that they had the common
enemy, Russia. Historically Russia was also an enemy of Sweden. These two countries fought
for the control of Finland over hundreds of years. Sweden was opposed to joining forces with
Germany but also was not willing to fight with the Allies due to the threats imposed on them by
Russia. “On whom should they have declared war? The Soviet Union? Germany? Both? At what
point in time, exactly? When should they have been crushed like a bug?” (5). The relatively
small weak country, Sweden tried to remain neutral but on the right side of history in World War
II due to the fact that it was positioned between two opposing superpowers, Russia and
Germany.
Even as a very young child Mrs. Hansen recalls having a constant fear of both the
Russians and the Germans. Although Sweden had not fought with Russia since 1809, there was a
historical fear of this large, powerful neighbor. During World War II Sweden did not help
Finland when the Soviet Union attacked, but as ​many as 8,000 Swedes voluntarily went to
Finland​ to fight. The Swedish government and public also sent food, clothing, medicine and
weapons to help the Finnish people.
“Ya, during the war we were scared. We were scared of Russia, as long as I can
remember we were scared of Russia. And at night we closed the shades so the Russians
wouldn’t see that we were living there. And until I was pretty old I had that fear. Because
the parents and the neighbors put that fear into us because Russia was terrible at that
time, and it still is”(2).
Along with this historical fear, there was also anxiety because currently Russia was at war with
Finland and Germany. The Germans also made her life difficult and fearful. Because of the
threat of invasion by the Germans, her father was drafted into the Swedish army to help protect
the border. She remembers,
“The government took my dad away from the farm and my mother had to take care of
three babies really and the farm with say ten-fifteen cows, pigs, and chickens. The
 winters in Sweden at this time were much, much cooler than it has been lately. So
everything froze and I don’t know how my mother could go and milk the cows and all the
animals and have three underage kids in the house” (2).
Many Swedes were drafted or volunteered to help defend the borders and guard the country
against invasion. Even though Sweden was neutral, Germany was close to its borders and always
a possible threat. There was much fear and waiting to see what would happen to Sweden.
Although Sweden was surrounded by chaotic war, its citizens led relatively normal lives.
However, every Swedish family was affected by it because so many civilians were called into the
military reserves (3). Luckily Sweden was able to maintain its neutrality throughout the war but
not without some difficulties.
Although Sweden was neutral during World War II, the country faced many adversities
in the war. The ​Swedish Government​ made a few concessions, and sometimes breached the
nation's neutrality in favor of both ​Germany​ and the ​Western Allies​ (6). Sweden benefited from
the selling of iron ore to Germany, an act supported by the international laws. This trade was
criticized by others because of its benefit to Germany’s military development. Sweden also
allowed German soldiers to travel to and from Norway and Germany through Sweden when
going on or returning from leave. This act, although there was no weapons or military equipment
involved, was a violation of the neutrality act. Sweden only allowed Germany to cross through
its borders once as a military transport using its railway lines. In the summer of 1941 Sweden’s
neutrality was put to the test. Nazi Germany was planning Operation Barbarossa, an invasion of
the Soviet Union, a historic enemy of Sweden. This proposal put the Swedish government in a
difficult position known as the “Midsummer Crisis.” “This was the first point in the war where
the Swedish government itself, as opposed to simply the people, was asked to reject its foreign
policy of six hindered years.” (5) After intense debate Sweden went against their foreign policy
and decided to let the Germans through to Finland. Germany pressured Sweden to stay neutral,
but "pro-German," having to abide by Germany’s demands. The Swedes would not listen to
Germany’s threats, warning they would blow up its iron ore mines if invaded. Despite threats
from Germany, Sweden still decided to remain neutral. They would not let Germany use their
airspace to fly to Norway. Mrs. Hansen recalled how scary and wrong it felt for the Germans to
be in Sweden during the war as was clear from the following conversation:
“Ella: Wait was this Germany they were worried about?
Eva: No. But they went through Sweden to go to Norway. Which was … they shouldn’t
be able to do that. They went through Sweden. Right, where we lived. I remember sitting
on my couch and seeing them go through. And that had to do with something… the
princess of Sweden was German so they did allow them to go which was unethical. But
they did it. And I remember… we were so young we didn’t know what was happening”
(2).
Even though the Swedish government decided to allow the Germans to go through Sweden,
many of the Swedes felt it was wrong for the Germans to be in their country. However Sweden
felt that in order to survive, it was necessary to collaborate with Germany to some degree.
Although Sweden had some allegiance to Germany, Sweden also did much to help the
Allied forces. ​Sweden’s neutrality allowed it to gain and share military intelligence. It
intercepted and deciphered German telegrams on Swedish leased cable lines. Many Swedish
businessmen and diplomats spied for the Allies when they were in Germany. They also helped to
train soldiers made up of refugees from Denmark and Norway, to be used in the liberation of
their home countries. 300 Swedes helped the Nrowegians fight during the German invasion. ​ In
addition, Swedish air bases were used by the Allies during the last two years of the war,
1944-1945. ​The Swedish intelligence informed Britian of an upcoming attack from Germany
who was planning to ambush the Atlantic convoys with their battleship Bismark. The Swedes
also loaned the Britains many ships and 8,000 sailors. Swedish factories helped the Polish
resistance fight their oppressors. They allowed the Allies to eavesdrop on German radio signals
on the island of Oland. Even though Sweden remained neutral, they used their resources to help
the Allies defeat the Germans.
Sweden’s greatest contribution to the war was sheltering refugees. They took in nearly all
of Denmark’s 8,000 Jews in 1943 when Germany ordered all of the Danish Jews to be deported
to concentration camps. A vast majority of Norwegian and Finnish Jews also fled to the safety of
its neutral neighbor. Ordinary children trying to escape the difficulties of war also came to
Sweden. Many Swedish nobles used their wealth and connections to find temporary homes for
children refugees. “​There were a lot of Finnish kids coming to Sweden as summer kids. Maybe
for a year or sometimes two because Russia was so bad. But then Russia gave Finland back”(2).
The King of Sweden, Gustav V tried to reason with Germany about treating the Jews more
humanely. Many Swedish diplomats saved Jew from concentration camps. Count Folke
Bernadotte saved the lives of 15,000 Jews. Raoul Wallenberg rescued the lives of up to 100,000
Hungarian Jews. Mrs. Hansen also remembered many Hungarians coming to her region of
Sweden. In addition, Werner Dankwort helped to secretly smuggle Jewish children into Sweden
using wooden crates. Until World War II,
“​Sweden...when I grew up it was only Swedes. There were only blonde-haired
blue-eyed kids and then when you come back a little later on its ehh.. I was fifteen
years old before I saw a black person. I thought it was somebody from outer
space. And they came, they were playing in a theater in the biggest hotel where I
lived. And that was so… can you see that? You’ve never seen a black person
before, it’s unbelievable really"(2).
Even though it was a small and isolated country, Sweden did what it could to help many
thousands of people to start over after the war.
Although Sweden tried to remain neutral during World War II, many would argue
differently.
 “​ ​Arne Ruth argues that ‘Sweden was not neutral, Sweden was weak,’ and
Winston Churchill believed that Sweden ‘ignored the greater moral issues of the
war and played both sides for profit,’ although this could perhaps be discredited
due to the evidence that points to the country’s immense help in saving so many
victims of the Nazi regime” (4).
These two different perspectives shed light on how complicated the situation was.“Our vision of
wartime ''neutrality'' was an illusion. But so, too, in some ways, was our vision of ourselves. The
neutral countries were imperfect, but perhaps we were all less perfect than we believed.”(1)
While Sweden’s main concern was its own safety and economic security, it also worked to help
others. Even though it benefited both the Axis and the Allies, its predominant aim was to be on
the right side of history by sheltering innocent lives from the perils of war and the Holocaust.
At the end of the war, Sweden remained a neutral country. They joined the United
Nations in 1946 but they never belonged to NATO. Sweden continued to take in foreigners after
the war but as workers instead of as refugees. In the late 1960s Sweden’s immigration policy
began to change. It wanted a more inclusive and diverse population. It once again became a
sanctuary for refugees. Since 2008 more and more people have been coming from non-European
countries. In recent years there have been record breaking numbers of refugees. “In 2009,
Sweden had the fourth largest number of asylum applications in the EU and the largest number
per capita after Cyprus and Malta.” (6). Currently most of the immigrants are from Syria,
Finland, Iraq, Poland and Iran. Since 2015 Sweden has reduced its intake of immigrants trying to
provide a better life for those who are already in the country. Taking in refugees has remained an
important but more complex issue in Sweden and throughout the world.
1) ​Cohen, Roger. "The (Not So) Neutrals of World War II B." ​The New York Times​, January 26, 1997,
sec. 4, 1. Accessed January 7, 2020.

2) ​Hansen, Eva Marie Lousie. Interview by the author. Guilford, CT. December 8, 2019.

3) ​Larsmo, Ola. "The great emigration." Sweden Sverige. Last modified July 17, 2019. Accessed January
7, 2020. ​https://sweden.se/migration/​.

4) ​Levrier-Jones, George. "Was Sweden really neutral in World War Two?" ​History is Now​. Accessed
January 7, 2020.

5) ​Nordlinger, Jay. "Sweden and World War II." ​National Review​, August 6, 2019. Accessed January 7,
2020. ​https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/sweden-and-world-war-ii/​.

6) ​———. "Sweden during World War II." Wikipedia. Last modified January 5, 2020. Accessed January
7, 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden_during_World_War_II.