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Swedish extradition of Baltic soldiers

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officially apologized to the prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania at a ceremony in Stockholm saying that "Sweden owes its Baltic neighbours a "debt of honour" for turning a blind eye to post-war Soviet occupation" and speaking of "a dark moment" in his country's history. “The extradition
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wanted to go further, by extraditing all civilian refugees from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. There was minimal sympathy for the Germans, but public outcry over the Baltic soldiers. On the evening of 24 November 1945, nearly the entire city of Eksjö left their homes in the largest demonstration in
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the city's history to protest against the extradition of the Baltic soldiers. The protests were ignored. Two regimental commanders who protested the repatriations were immediately fired.
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On 20 June 1994, 40 of the 44 surviving extradited (35 Latvians, 4 Estonians, and 1 Lithuanian) accepted an invitation to visit Sweden. They were received by King
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Of the prisoners, Lieutenant Colonel Kārlis Gailītis and Captain Ernsts Ķeselis were sentenced to death but had their sentences changed to 17 years hard labour in
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Ekholm, C. Balt- och tyskutlämningen 1945-1946. Uppsala, Sweden: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, Studia Historica Upsaliensia 136 (224 pp.), 137 (444 pp.), 1984.
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and later released. According to one source at least 50 of the Latvians were arrested between 1947 and 1954 and were sentenced, often to 10–15 years in prison.
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Landsmanis, A. De misstolkade legionärerna. Stockholm, Sweden: The Latvian National Foundation, 1970 (83 pp). (– Corrects Enquist’s The Legionnaires).
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said that the Swedish government agreed with the criticism of the decision and regretted the injustice, but did not apologize. On 15 August 2011,
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Freivalds, O. De internerade balternas tragedi i Sverige år 1945-1946. Stockholm, Sweden: Daugavas vanagi, 1968 (432 pp).
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during the war. Many of them were subsequently imprisoned and several sentenced to death by the Soviet government.
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Freivalds, O., Alksnis, E. Latviešu kaŗavīru traģēdija Zviedrijā. Copenhagen, Denmark: Imanta, 1956 (254 pp).
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Zalcmanis, J. Baltutlämningen 1946 i dokument. Stockholm, Sweden: Militärhistoriska förlaget, 1983 (96 pp).
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The majority of the Baltic soldiers extradited were Latvians (149 out of 167) who had escaped from the
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A memorial, "stranded refugee ship" (1999–2000) by Christer Bording, has been erected in Trelleborg.
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Ekholm, C. & Schulze, H. Flyktingminnesvård i Trelleborg. Fritt Militärt Forum Nr 1, 2000.
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camps. Three others of lower ranks were sentenced to death and executed in 1946.
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On 2 June 1945, the Soviet Union demanded that Sweden extradite all interned
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of the Balts is a dark moment in Swedish foreign policy,” Reinfeldt said.
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1945–1946 extradition of Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian soldiers to USSR
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Sweden also extradited about 3,000 German soldiers, according to laws on
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Latvian and German soldiers being extradited from a detention camp in
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soldiers who had been fighting against the Soviet invasion of the
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The film is based on 105: 91: 505:Legionärerna: En roman om baltutlämningen 71:Learn how and when to remove this message 515:and Enquist collaborated on the script. 329: 244: 34:This article includes a list of general 825:). Rīga, Latvia: Jumava, 2002 (316 pp). 310:Swedish iron mining during World War II 217:Swedish Compulsory National Service Act 202:Operation Weserübungs effects on Sweden 831: 817:Silamiķelis, V. 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History of Sweden

Sweden during World War II
Timeline
Sweden and the Winter War
February crisis of 1940
Operation Weserübungs effects on Sweden
Permitenttrafiken
Lejdbåtstrafiken
Swedish Compulsory National Service Act
Midsummer crisis
February crisis of 1942
Internment camps in Sweden during World War II
Sweden and the Holocaust
Rescue of the Danish Jews
Swedish extradition of Baltic soldiers
White buses
Skåne Line
Swedish iron mining during World War II
Nordische Gesellschaft

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