Sweden's policy towards Jewish refugees before and during the Second World War (1938-1943)

The study discussed the main issues of Sweden’s policy towards Jewish refugees on the eve of and during the Second World War. Initially, fearing a negative reaction from Germany, Sweden’s authorities sought to limit the number of Jews entering the country. In the midst of the crisis of international relations in the late 1930s, the dispute related to the status of German and other refugees was referred to a special government commission which had adopted the Refugee Law. The attitude of the Swedish authorities to the problem of persecution of European Jews finally changed in 1942. This year marked a turning point in the war, and Sweden’s government realized that the state needed to plan its post-war strategy. The desire of Sweden to take an active part in the rescue of Scandinavian Jews led to the fact that almost all Jews in Denmark and Norway had sought asylum in a neighboring country. Thus, Swedish political leaders had confidence that rescue operations in Europe helped restore Sweden’s international authority. To a large extent, the Jewish question made it possible to demonstrate the humanitarian nature of Sweden’s foreign policy symbolized by the famous Swedish mission in Budapest led by R. Wallenberg.