Angels With Diamond Rings

   In April-May 1945 Sweden orchestrated a series of rescue and evacuation operations that transported around 20,000 Jewish survivors from concentration camps in Germany to safety in Sweden. One of those rescued, from Bergen-Belsen, was Carl’s cousin's mother. Welcomed by the Swedes, she stayed, met her husband who had come separately from Poland, and gave birth there to his cousin. Until our trip to Sweden, Carl did not know that his cousin had this Swedish "back story."

   Frida described the Swedish relief workers as “angels, well-dressed, mostly blonde, tall women with diamonds on their fingers that sparkled so brightly they hurt her eyes.” Some were killed in allied bombing raids (the war was still going on).

 

   One of the rescue operations came to be known as the “White Buses” because it used buses and trucks painted white with red crosses to make them easily identifiable as neutral, humanitarian vehicles. Others were rescued and brought to Sweden on ships, often supported by UNRRA (United Nations Rescue and Rehabilitation Administration). The missions faced numerous dangers, including ongoing warfare, bureaucratic obstacles, and the chaotic conditions in Germany near the end of the war.

The White Busses with rescued survivors ready to leave Germany (Yad Vashem)

   Most of those rescued were young women often suffering from severe starvation, malnutrition and disease. Emergency hospitals and refugee camps were established around Sweden but primarily in Malmö where they provided medical and psychological support to help the survivors recover from their ordeal. Many, however, did not survive the journey or died after a short time in Sweden.  We visited Stockholm’s Northern Jewish Cemetery, where a small section is devoted to these victims, with very simple matzevot. The ongoing “Lost Voices” project is dedicated to them.

Section of the NOrthern Jewish Cemetery in Solna (near Stockholm) dedicated to those who died during or shortly after their rescue. (From Holocaust Museum)

   During the Holocaust, Sweden was not always so welcoming to Jews. In the 1930s, affected by antisemitism it denied entry to Jewish refugees from Germany (except for children with guaranteed support by Swedes), and its policy of neutrality entailed major concessions to Nazi Germany. Attitudes began to change, however, after Jews were sent to the death camps from occupied Norway (1942-43). By the summer of 1944, Sweden was heavily engaged in saving Hungarian Jews (led by Raoul Wallenberg), and in 1945 helped organize the White Buses and other rescue operations. It allowed all those rescued to remain in Sweden if they wanted, and many did.