Neutral Sweden allowed Nazis to use their railways to occupy Norway… and transfer Jews to death camps, new book claims

Relations between Norway and Sweden are being strained with the publication of a new book, which details how Stockholm aided the Nazis during WW2 as their neighbours fought and lost a decisive battle against the German invaders

Sweden stayed neutral in the war but Norway was among the first conquests of Hitler.

Now a new book shows how Sweden let the Germans use its efficient rail network to transport men and materials to the battle of Narvik, where British troops were deployed in a bid to stave off the Nazi hordes.

Narvik-based journalist Espen Eidum spent three years sifting through Norwegian, Swedish and German archives to discover how the Nazis had managed to get troops and supplies to the front lines in Narvik in 1940, enabling them to turn a losing battle into a decisive victory that led to the conquest and brutal occupation of the whole country.

Sweden, although neutral, had in fact gone out of its way to aid the Germans, who would rely on the country for much of its iron ore during the war.

After the publication of his book Blodsporet – The Blood Track – Mr Eidum said: ‘The Germans used the Swedish rail network on a large scale during the fighting. The operation was much more extensive than historians have previously realised.’

The book details how, in October 1940 – four months after Narvik had turned into a crushing defeat for both the Norwegians and Winston Churchill, who had sent British forces there – Swedish diplomats in London lied to Norwegian government-in-exile representatives that it had not allowed any Nazi soldiers or weaponry to use its railway network to get to the front.

Mr Eidum said: ‘The German foreign ministry had earlier summoned the Swedish ambassador in Berlin to inform him that Adolf Hitler had personally requested for the Nazis to be permitted to send three trains with 30 to 40 sealed carriages through Sweden to the far north of Norway.

‘Hitler’s representatives told the Swedes that the Germans had a number of wounded soldiers at the front and urgently needed to send in medical officers and food.

‘The Germans also made no secret of the fact that winning the battle in Narvik was a matter of some pride for Hitler.’

Once the permission was given Germany sent in combat troops disguised as medical personnel.

Mr Eidum said: ‘For every actual medical officer or orderly, the trains carried 17 infantrymen.

‘A report sent by a Swedish representative in Berlin, who watched the officers board the train, left little doubt that the Swedes knew the trains were being used for troop movements.’

In addition, according to the book, the trains carried heavy artillery, anti-aircraft guns, ammo and a plethora of communications and supply equipment.

And, once the swastika flew over Narvik, Sweden allowed German trains to run to the port – taking Swedish iron ore back to Germany, where it was used to fuel the war machine.

Norway’s wartime prime minister, Johan Nygaardsvold, wrote about Swedish prime minister Per Albin Hansson: ‘There is nothing, nothing, nothing I hate with such passion and wild abandon as Sweden – and it is his fault’

Mr Eidum said: ‘Sweden’s railway network was used extensively to aid the German occupation of Norway. This included sending Norwegians to Germany, many of them bound for concentration camps.

‘And hundreds of thousands of Germans passed through Sweden on their way to the eastern front. This made a great deal of money for Swedish rail operator SJ over a three year period.’

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