lol, lmao, roflcopter, heehawspaceship
Background: Sweden was a neutral country during the war, and in 1945 it became an attractive destination for former Nazi soldiers hoping to escape the Allies. One such example was 150 Lithuanian and Latvian S.S. soldiers who fled to Sweden after the war. Initially the Swedish government agreed to let them stay as political refugees, but the Soviet government discovered this and applied heavy pressure to have them deported. Sweden ended up agreeing, and all 150 were scheduled for removal. Upon hearing this, the terrified soldiers protested in a number of ways including hunger strikes and even stripping off their clothes, as in the photo above. But in the end the process went through. Several were executed immediately upon arrival and the rest sentenced to hard labor in Soviet gulags. This event is known as the baltutlämningen in Sweden.
Source for this photo in particular. More photos can be found here:
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 Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at the Stockholm Palace. The Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Margaretha af Ugglas said that the Swedish government agreed with the criticism of the decision and regretted the injustice,[3][4] but did not apologize
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_extradition_of_Baltic_soldiers
Wholesome royal reception for SS officers.
They fucking survived into the 90s, and yet ussr=gulag=concentration camp. If these scum could make it that long in an environment that at least started out very hostile to them, one has to wonder if there is something we’re missing in the common narrative about life in the Soviet Union.
Sweden should’ve had their neutrality violated and Stockholm razed by an air raid
Waxing poetic about brave resistance as me and the rest of my inbred family hightail it out of the country