09 May The Germans in WWII Sweden
German Legation flag at half-staff after Hitler’s death in 1945. Today, this site is Stockholm’s Lyndmar Hotel. (photo by Lennart Peterson. Stockholm City Museum. )
The most obvious early player in the espionage game in World War II Sweden was Germany. Because of the country’s long-standing business and social connections there, a percentage of Swedish citizens favored Germany, especially at the beginning of the war. Pro-German Swedes could be found in the armed forces, in the clergy, and in the police corps. Being pro-German wasn’t the same as being pro-Nazi. Most Swedes were not Nazis, but the door to Nazi infiltration was wide open.
Long before war broke out, the Nazis began to set up fifth column networks in most countries, including Sweden. These were organized efforts to strengthen the doctrine of the Nazi regime while weakening the morale of the Swedish people to object to it. According to one estimate, in the mid-1930s, there were approximately 30,000 members of various Nazi organizations in Sweden.
No other country maintained as many offices in Sweden as did the Germans. The German Legation in Stockholm was one of the best staffed of any the Germans maintained. It was housed in the Edelstamska huset at Hovslagargatan 2, a prime waterfront location near the Grand Hôtel. Until February of 1943, the German minister was Victor Prince zu Wied, an ardent Nazi. He was later replaced by tall and handsome Hans Thomsen, who had most recently been Germany’s acting ambassador in Washington, D.C.
While in the United States, Thomsen received word that COI (soon to be the OSS) Director William Donovan had a proposition for him. Donovan proposed that the German be paid $1 million to publicly renounce the Nazi government.
Thomsen didn’t take the bait. The German diplomat’s last official duty before leaving Washington was to deliver to the State Department his country’s official declaration of war.
I found this photo of Hans Thomsen: 11th January 1941: Japanese envoy Admiral Kichisaburo Nomura being welcomed by Dr Hans Thomsen of the German Embassy, George T Summerlin of the US State Department, and Marchese Rossi Longhi of the Italian Embassy. Dr. Thomsen is 2nd from the left.
(Above is excerpted from my book Liberty Lady: A True Story of Love and Espionage in WWII Sweden.)
Sources:
Gilmour, John. 2010. Sweden, the Swastika and Stalin: The Swedish Experience in the Second World War. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Waller, Douglas. 2011. Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster Who Created the OSS and Modern American Espionage. New York: Free Press.
Brinkley, David. 1988. Washington Goes to War. New York: Ballantine Books.
William Pounds
Posted at 18:52h, 30 JanuaryInteresting article