A number of internment camps were operated by Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. These camps were used for interment of, among others, suspected criminals, German refugees and Swedish communists. In recent years, some debaters have termed these camps "concentration camps" (not to be confused with extermination camps). This label has been highly controversial.

The camps were claimed to have been a decision necessary in the ambition to keep Sweden out of the war. It was made by the then-ruling grand coalition government

Third cabinet of Per Albin Hansson

The third cabinet of Per Albin Hansson was the cabinet of Sweden between 13 December 1939 and 31 July 1945. It consisted of members from the Social Democratic Party, the Farmers' League, the People's Party and the National Organization of the Right....

 under social democrat prime minister Per Albin Hansson

Per Albin Hansson

Per Albin Hansson , was a Swedish politician, chairman of the Social Democrats from 1925 and two-time Prime Minister in four governments between 1932 and 1946, governing all that period save for a short-lived crisis in the summer of 1936, which he ended by forming a coalition government with his...

, which all parties Parliament of Sweden

Parliament of Sweden

The Riksdag is the national legislative assembly of Sweden. The riksdag is a unicameral assembly with 349 members , who are elected on a proportional basis to serve fixed terms of four years...

 with the exception of the Communists.

Camps during the war

In February 1940, the decision was made to build fourteen internment camps, which are believed to have held around 3000 inmates between the years 1940-1948.

- Axmar (1945)

- Ede (1943–1948)

- Florsberg (1943–1948)

- Hälsingmo (1943–1948)

- Ingels (1942–1946)

- Kusfors (1944–1945)

- Långmora (March 1940-1945)

- Rengsjö (1942–1945)

- Smedsbo (March 1940-1945)

- Sunnerstaholm (1945–1946)

- Säter (1943–1946)

- Sörbyn (1944–1945)

- Tjörnarp (1945–1946)

- Vägershult (1942–1945)

Internees

Internees were commonly suspected criminals, German refugees, left-wing activists or anti-Nazis. They were imprisoned without trial and without being informed of the accusations made against them. Most of these were foreigners.

Treatment

Wardens were instructed to ensure humane treatment of internees.
All internees were forced to wear certain uniform and submit daily routines.
Internees in Smedsbo concentration camp had a typical daily routine of being woken up at 7.15, they were then escorted to the dining room where they were expected to have their breakfast in complete silence followed by working passes. They were not permitted to leave their working station at any time. Jobs like road building, repair duty and woodcutting were commonly adopted. With one break for lunch, work proceeded until 14.45, after which internees were more or less free for the rest of the day.

“Disclosure”

In 2008, Swedish journalist Niclas Sennerteg and researcher Tobias Berglund published “Swedish Concentration Camps in the Shadow of the Third Reich” (Swedish title: “Svenska koncentrationsläger i tredje rikets skugga”), where they claim to be exposing what the government had kept secret regarding the presence of Swedish concentration camps. After the discovery was brought to media and thus public attention, the use of the term concentration camp has been highly debated.

Post-war use of Swedish internment camps

After the war the internment camps were used to store foreigners that the Swedish government deemed dubious. However, details regarding much of this have still not been uncovered.

Quotes

"Den svenska staten använder sig av brutala tvångs- och våldsmetoder för att eftertryckligt trampa ned den utländska antifascisten som likt en vrakspillra efter den tyska demokratins skeppsbrott kastats upp på svensk strand"

Translation:

"The Swedish government is using brutal methods to forcefully crush the foreign anti-fascist who like the remnants of a wrecked ship after the shipwreck of the German democracy was washed upon Swedish shores.”

"Det svenska folket får inte tolerera att oskyldiga människor kastas i fängelse och kvarhålles där på obestämd tid.”

Translation:

”The Swedish people must not tolerate the fact that innocent people are imprisoned and retained indefinitely.”

External links

• http://www.bt.se/nyheter/boras/bt-journalist-avslojar-svenska-koncentrationslager-i-ny-bok(823045).gm#comments