1 / 20

Swedish Extradition of Baltic Soldiers

A dark history from Sweden

Dernback
Download Presentation

Swedish Extradition of Baltic Soldiers

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. History On 2 June 1945, the Soviet Union demanded that Sweden extradite all Axis soldiers. The government protocol from 15 June was kept secret until it became public on 19 November. It was supported by most of parliament and the Swedish Communist Party wanted to go further, by extraditing all civilian refugees from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The majority of the Baltic soldiers extradited were Latvians who had escaped from the Courland Pocket. When the refugees reached Sweden, those in uniform were detained in detention camps. The extradition to the Soviets took place on 25 January 1946 in the port of Trelleborg for transportation on the steamer Beloostrov. A memorial, "stranded refugee ship" (1999-2000) by Christer Bording, has been erected in Trelleborg. On return they were briefly put in a camp in Liepaja and later released. According to one source at least 50 of the Latvians were arrested between 1947 and 1954 and were sentenced, often to 10–15 years in prison

  2. Sweden also extradited about 3,000 German soldiers, according to laws on prisoners of war. The people from the Baltic states were however more controversial since the Soviet authorities viewed them as Soviet citizens (the Soviet Union had occupied the independent Baltic states in 1940) and therefore regarded the people from the Baltic states as traitors, and the internees feared death sentences. Two Latvian officers committed suicide and several others attempted suicide. Of the prisoners, Lieutenant Colonel Kārlis Gailītis and Captain Ernsts Keselis were sentenced to death, but had their sentences changed to 17 years hard labour. Three others of lower ranks were sentenced to death and executed in 1946.

  3. In 1970, Johan Bergenstråhle made a film, Baltutlämningen (English title: A Baltic Tragedy), about the subject. The film is based on Per Olov Enquist’s Legionärerna: En roman om baltutlämningen (1968) (English title: The Legionnaires: A Documentary Novel) which had won the Nordic Council's Literature Prize and Enquist collaborated on the script. On 20 June 1994, 40 of the 44 surviving extradited (35 Latvians, 4 Estonians, and 1 Lithuanian) accepted an invitation to visit Sweden. They were received by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at the Royal Palace in Stockholm. The Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Margaretha af Ugglas said that the Swedish government agreed with the criticism of the decision and regretted the injustice

  4. June 24 1994 ..we are very sorry! Stockholm, Sweden

  5. Totaly extraction 2500 persons to USSR from Sweden 1945-1946.

  6. Baltic and German soldiers being extradited from a detention camp in Eksjö. The Swedish officers in black are militarised Police/Gendarmerie, and the men in the foreground wearing tan are army soldiers.

  7. Camp ”Ränneslätt”

  8. Swedish police almost looks like Gestapo?

  9. Rinkaby Sweden? No, KC camp in Germany

  10. Estonia

  11. Estonia

  12. Tallin Estonia

More Related