New Generation Thinkers: Sweden and the Holocaust

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Historian Daniel Lee examines how the Holocaust is remembered in Sweden today, on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Officially Sweden was neutral in World War II. However, historical research has revealed evidence of the country's substantial cooperation with Nazi Germany - including the trading of military goods that were vital to the German war effort. Sweden adopted a restrictive policy towards Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany in the late 1930s. Its humanitarian efforts, that allowed some Jews entry to the country, didn't take off until the final years of the war, once the tide had turned against the Nazis. Lee speaks with Livia Fränkel, a 97-year-old survivor of Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, who rebuilt her life in post-war Sweden. He also hears from Sweden’s former prime minister, Stefan Löfvén, who played a key role in creating Sweden’s first Holocaust Museum. When visiting the new museum in Stockholm, Lee looks at objects and documents that shed new light on the little known stories of thousands of Jews who came to Sweden, and speaks to the curators who have been collecting and preserving these histories. He learns about the Swedes who volunteered to provide aid to refugees and survivors of the Nazi concentration camps. Presenter: Daniel Lee, Reader in Modern History at Queen Mary University of London and Visiting Research Fellow at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS), Uppsala. Contributors: Livia Fränkel, a Holocaust survivor living in Sweden Stefan Löfvén, former Prime Minister of Sweden Yael Fried, curator at the Swedish Holocaust Museum With thanks to Diana Chafik Producer: Becca Bryers