Pre-war "democracies" of Scandinavia and the Baltic states
A bunch of Danish Nazis
Scandinavia now appears as a boarding house for aesthetes of northern landscapes. However, before the Second World War, no one with such "scientific" pedantry did not translate racial theories into reality like Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Of course, the Nazis in white coats and with scientific degrees did not wander around Oslo or Copenhagen, illuminating the ancient streets with torchlight, but their loyalty to Nazi ideas was undeniable.
From the end of the 20s until the outbreak of the war, in one form or another, the so-called laws on race purity were adopted in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. People “inferior” (according to these laws) were forcedly sterilized, and sometimes without their knowledge. Bans on interracial marriages were introduced, etc. All this went smoothly, without odiousness and systematic, only then did the most ardent Nazis decide to traverse the organizational and heraldic part of Nazism with swastika, marches and more.
Our Scandinavian "friends"
In Denmark, in the homeland of Hans Christian Andersen, a friend from childhood, before the Second World War, power was a kind of puppet parliamentarism. When the Prime Minister did not suit the King of Denmark, he collected things and set off on his own. At the same time, the composition of the parliament was unusually colorful and consistent with the spirit of the times of Europe.
Fritz Clausen
Founded in 1930 by Kai Lembke and Fritz Clausen, the National Socialist Workers Party of Denmark grew into a major movement in five years. In the 1935 election, the Nazis almost got into parliament. But in 1939, three representatives went to parliament from the Danish Nazis. Five thousand active party members were supported by another 30 thousand citizens of this sweet "democracy." Later, the most irreconcilable Danish Nazis will become the backbone of the SS Danmark’s volunteer corps. The piquancy of the situation is that the heirs of that Danish movement have not disappeared. To this day, the National Socialist Movement of Denmark officially unites up to 1000 democratic Europeans.
And now we will be transported to the homeland of the most smelly "delicacy" fish in the world - to Norway. If you start to consider the political life of Norway before the war, then the image of the occupied unhappy country begins to fade. In 1933, Vidkun Quisling, Minister of Defense of Norway, founded and led the National Unity party. Frank Nazis from this party did not hide their plans in principle. Vidkun himself in his book “Russia and We” of 1930 openly wrote about the “yoke of Jewish power” in the USSR.
Poster of the norwegian nazis
By 1933, in the one and a half million Norway, the Nazis gathered 33 thousand votes, and in 1936 there were over 50 thousand fans of the local Fuhrer. By 1940, only the number of party members exceeded 40 thousand people. During the "occupation", which, however, was accepted practically without resistance, Vidkun became the Minister-President of the country. This native Norwegian with his like-minded people, without any initiative from the Germans, rolled up their sleeves and began to solve the “Jewish question”, sending without the Gestapo and the SS up to half of the Jews to the camps. After the "liberation" of Norway, almost all members of the "National Unity" were amnestied. For all, only Quisling puffed out, who was tried and shot for a look.
But the cornerstone of Nazi Germany in Scandinavia was Sweden. Formally adhering to neutrality, Sweden was actually on the side of Hitler. Millions of tons of ore and metal were sent to Germany in Swedish naval convoys, which were accompanied by ... Swedish warships. Also in support of Germany was formed Svenska frivilligbataljonen, i.e. Swedish volunteer battalion. The “neutral” king of Sweden, Gustav V., appeared at the shows of this “neutral” formation. How can one not visit those close in spirit? The king, as a caring friend, even sent the Fuhrer letters of congratulations on the victories of Germany in the territory of the Union.
King Gustav V (right) and Hermann Goering
Back in 1922, the State Institute of Racial Biology was founded in Sweden. From a “scientific” point of view, he substantiated the need for racial laws. For several years, "scientists" have measured about 150 thousand skulls of citizens of Sweden in order to find "high-quality racial material." At the same time, the Swedish Racial Hygiene Society was actively functioning. The crown of this action was the frankly racial law of 1934. During the validity of this law, which, incidentally, was repealed only in 1976 (!), Over 30 thousand (according to other sources, over 60 thousand) people were sterilized for a variety of reasons, including belonging to national minorities like the Sami.
Cute grandpa Kamprad
Such state eugenic Nazism survived even World War II behind a screen of "neutrality." But quite odious Nazis felt themselves quite freely in Sweden. In 1930, Uppsala students organized the Det Nya Sverige movement, i.e. "New Sweden". In a matter of years, the movement brought together about 10 thousand members who actively participated in pro-German positions even during the war. The scale of this movement was such that Ingvar Kamprad, the world-famous founder of Ikea, took part in the recruitment of new members. Until 1945, the future tycoon campaigned among young people and raised money for his brothers in mind.
Swedish Race Institute Visual Aid
But this "democratic" Sweden of the 30s and 40s was not enough. In 1915, the National Union of Sweden was founded, which in turn was the youth wing of the Right Party. Over time, "youth" grew and finally separated from its mother's office, becoming ardent Nazi radicals. In the mid-30s, the Nazis were even able to nominate three of their representatives in the Riksdag (Swedish Parliament).
Later, all these movements and parties assisted the former Nazis. Some were transported to the West, others were put on the shield of the struggle against communist despotism, and, of course, in every possible way opposed the extradition of collaborators and Nazi criminals of all stripes to the authorities of the USSR. And the race institute of Sweden was abolished only in 1958. True, the abolition was very peculiar - research was continued within the walls of Uppsala University.
Baltic states - totalitarian farm of pre-war Europe
Of the three Baltic countries throughout the thirty years since independence, enviable constancy has been heard with a nostalgic moan over the pre-war “democracy” and “freedom” that the bloody Russian Bolsheviks have taken. So what kind of freedom and European democracy are we talking about?
In fact, all three Baltic countries were vivid examples of a typical Eastern European dictatorship with a tilt towards terry cave nationalism. At the same time, these dictatorships were farmers. There was no industrial brilliance of the monstrous Nazi Germany. The difficult economic, epidemiological and social situations became a springboard for any ultra-right populist, who succeeded each other at an astonishing speed, not disdaining any military coups, no cruel repressions, or a colossal denunciation institution that even the Gestapo would envy.
Estonian "Vapses"
In 1934, the leader of Estonia with the official title of elder Konstantin Päts, together with General Johan Laidoner, organized and carried out a military coup, which led to the so-called Päts dictatorship. A one-party system, strict censorship of the media was instantly introduced and the “Estonization” of the country's population began. Terry Nazism has become a reality. The evil irony of fate is that the Estonian people had no alternative. After all, the main opponents of Pats were no less Nazis from the party of “Vapses” (League of Veterans of the Liberation War). These young men built their party following the example of Finnish and German Nazis, having deep ties with them. Later, using precisely these connections, the leader of the “Vapses” Arthur Sirk was able to flee abroad from the followers of Päts. In general, the assortment of the Fuhrer in the “democratic” Estonia was rich.
Estonian Nazis and their older comrades
Latvia did not lag behind. In the same 1934, when the Päts coup took place in Estonia, in Latvia Karlis Ulmanis, with the assistance of the armed forces and aizsarg groups, organized as paramilitary black shirts, seized power and established a dictatorial ultra-right regime. All political parties were liquidated, the constitution was suspended, the Sejm was dissolved and repressions were launched against the adherents of the socialist parties and communists.
Aizsargi
At the same time, the rampant nationalism in Latvia eventually took even unsystematic forms, while being completely protected by the official authorities. In the same year of the coup, a landmark and terrible murder of the unofficial leader of the Russian Orthodox community of Latvia, Archbishop John Pommer. The fierce fighter against Russophobia and the defender of Orthodoxy, Archbishop John, was found on the second floor of a burnt carpentry workshop on the outskirts of Riga, where he actually lived. Traces of torture were found on the body. The archbishop's hands were tied with wire, a groovy wound was found in the groin, and burn marks from a glow lamp were noted on the body. Naturally, the case was deliberately destroyed, the suspects were released, and a month later the investigation was officially terminated. Soon the Latvian Orthodox Church was withdrawn from the Moscow Patriarchate and introduced to Constantinople. The Nazis rejoiced.
Little Fuhrer of Lithuania - Smetona
However, pre-war Lithuania can be safely considered the undisputed leader in the imposition of Nazism, Russophobia and anti-Semitism. Back in 1926, through a military coup, Antanas Smetona came to power in Lithuania with his party of right-wing radicals, the Union of Lithuanian Nationalists, created in 1924. The algorithm of actions was no different from the actions of nationalists in other Baltic countries - the prohibition of all parties, tightening censorship and ethnic discrimination. Government contacts Smetona with German Nazis and Italian fascists were so close and deep that Augustinas Povilaitis, director of the Lithuanian state security department, reported operational information to his curators from the SS (Heinz Grefe, SS Obersturmbanführer) and the RSHA (Werner Best) with the same diligence as and his formal superiors. In fact, throughout the 30s, Lithuanian special services served the Nazis.
During the war, Estonian “Vapses” in a crowd went into the ranks of “Omakaitse”, an Estonian paramilitary police who served in concentration camps, carried out punitive actions and exterminated Jews. Latvian aizsargs joined the Nazi support police. And the Lithuanian nationalists scattered amicably across the SS and the Wehrmacht, however, in these offices there were enough Estonians and Latvians.
In the homeland of Joulupucca
According to a peculiar modern mythology, Finland was pushed away by the "bloody" Stalin towards an alliance with Nazi Germany during the Winter War. But long before the war, Finnish nationalism and anti-communism were cultivated at the highest level. For example, Kyuesti Kallio, a right-wing politician, prime minister, and from 1937 to 1940 the president of Finland, always stood in anti-communist positions, crushing any democratic principles under his own views.
In 1923, when Kallio was sitting in the chair of the Prime Minister, he, manipulating the government, opened the real witch hunt for the Socialist Workers Party of Finland. The party, which gained 15% of the vote, was banned. Prominent party leaders were arrested on far-fetched pretexts, even a suspicion of sympathy for communist ideas could become the occasion. The Communists actually became illegal, and the repression went wave after wave.
Lapua movement flag
To consolidate this “victory” over the Communists, Kallio began to develop a real state program, which was supposed to block the way for the Communists to power and consolidate the position of the ultra-right. All this led to the birth of the Lapua movement, which stood on the doctrine of nationalism. The Lapua movement began extremely symbolically - with the pogrom of the meeting of the Communists. Soon the movement turned into a kind of assault detachment of the Reich. Lapuans practiced terror. As a result, only in 1932 did the Finnish authorities understand which beast was released when the Lapuans drew up a plan for a military coup. The movement was “threatened” with the use of troops.
The leaders of the Patriotic movement on the background of a bust of the Italian Duce
The movement was dissolved ... formally. In the same 1932, the Patriotic Popular Movement was created. In fact, it was a political party, but the movement was Nazi. Members made friends with the Nazis and the Italian fascists. The idea of fixation, they considered the "Great Finland", which they planned to create by conquering the vast territories of the USSR and Sweden. The fascist salute was adopted as an official greeting in the party, there was its own “Hitler Youth” and its “attack aircraft”. The party easily led its members to the Finnish parliament. And the leaders of this club of villains were not some marginals, but the first people of the country: diplomat German Gummerus, ex-commander of the Finnish Air Force Arne Somersalo, writer Vilho Helanen, etc.
There were also numerous smaller Nazis: the Karelian Academic Society, who dreamed of seizing the territories of the Union, the “Blue-Blacks” (something like stormtroopers), etc.
To be continued ...
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