The Swedish Connection (Den svenska länken)

BASED ON REAL EVENTS

I think I can loosen it.

- -

It's just not working!

Wha… what is this?

Ah, I don't believe it.

- What is this shit they've given us? -

- Sven! - What is it?

See for yourself!

I… I need to make the phone call.

STOCKHOLM MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

- - Oh, no!

- -

On 15th July, 1942…

Oh, my God!

…the alarm was sounded that Germany had launched an invasion of Sweden.

The war is here! The Germans!

CABINET SECRETARY SÖDERSTRÖM

- They've attacked! - God!

The Germans have attacked! They're here! They're coming for us!

- Then we must inform the Foreign Minister. - Yes.

Oh…

MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS GÜNTHER

But what did we do wrong? We've done all they've asked of us.

- Ring up the German Embassy. - Oh God, dear God…

But of course. Why would they spare Sweden?

- Norway, Denmark, Belgium… - Shhh…

- Yes, hello? - Oh, good morning.

I'm calling to gather some information from you

regarding your attack on Sweden this morning.

What are you talking about?

FALSE ALARM!

- The Swedes think we're attacking them. - What?

- Idiots! - You're not serious?

- - Excuse me… yes, yes, mm…

So…

That's that, Foreign Minister…

THE SWEDISH CONNECTION

I'll return to…

In 1942, Sweden was a lonely country

surrounded by German-occupied nations.

They claimed to be neutral,

but agreed to pretty much anything Hitler asked for.

German troops were allowed to move freely through the country.

And Swedish industry supplied the German army

with iron ore and ball bearings.

And at this point, virtually no one outside of Germany

had any idea of what was happening to the Jews.

Jews? We're pretty occupied trying to win this bloody war!

[distant accordion music playing]

But in Sweden, they weren't quite as occupied.

PRIME MINISTER P.A. HANSSON

Excuse me, Prime Minister!

A case regarding a Jewish man?

Uh, no, give it to the, um… Foreign Minister.

- Jewish? - Yes.

Well, I'm off to the races. Give it to Söderström.

It's not for immigration. No. It's for Gösta.

Gösta?

Engzell. Bald head.

Downstairs… legal department. He's in charge of asylum cases.

GÖSTA ENGZELL LEGAL DEPARTMENT

- -

Papa…

Göran told me you work for Hitler. What do you do?

Now, now, that's not true at all. I work in diplomacy.

What's that?

You remember that time you were playing and kicked a ball

into Jonsson's living room?

Mm-hm.

Well, Jonsson was very angry with you, but you didn't go over and talk to him.

I went over and straightened things out with him.

That's diplomacy.

As a diplomat,

sometimes your Papa has to talk to Sweden's neighbours.

I thought he sat in a cellar all day and stamped papers.

- -

- -

Yes.

All right then.

What did you say to the Jonssons, Dad?

Well, I… I had to use a little style and finesse.

Hey, no. He took a sponge cake over.

Is that what you call diplomacy, Papa?

Can we please not touch the wireless, Göran?

It's for listening to the news, not this awful modern American noise.

Yes, Papa.

So you give sponge cakes to Hitler then, Dad?

LEGAL DE ARTMENT

Uh… Mm.

Engzell? Where is he?

Good afternoon. He's through there.

This is for you.

A Jewish case.

Mrs Johansson?

Thank you. Oh, another one?

Gösta Engzell has been head of the Legal Department for six years,

which means that he was there in 1938

when Sweden convinced the German authorities

to stamp a "J" in the passports of German Jews.

- Great work. Very good. Well done. - Thanks a lot. A great day.

You might be wondering why I'm telling you all of this.

Gösta is hardly a household name.

As I was saying…

He's a nobody.

Where's the champagne?

But keep watching

and you'll soon find out what a nobody can do.

Our story starts one year before I met Gösta.

1942 AGAIN.

- Good morning. - Hello, good morning.

I'm Rut Vogl. Hello.

Today is my first day.

I'm asking you to take a closer look at this.

- I really need to get my family safe. - Yes.

Yes, I totally understand… your situation.

But we have rules and regulations that we simply must adhere to, I'm afraid.

- -

Yeah, it's the sewage pipes. You'll get used to it.

Welcome to Legal.

- Uh, 6.2 metres. -

Yes. Write it down, please. That will add to our argument.

This just… this just isn't healthy.

Let me introduce you to Ms Rut Vogl.

- You have space to work there, Ms Vogl. - Mm-hm.

Uh… Vogl?

- Yes. - Uh-huh.

- Yes, Vogl. She's German. - Oh. Oh, she's German? I see.

The SS are arresting every Jew that they round up.

- - There are so many rumours, I know…

They are not rumours.

I have another meeting, I'm afraid.

You can book another and then… we'll…

W… We'll see what we can, can do.

- But there's nothing we can do right now. - All right.

- Let me show you out. - No, thank you.

Mrs Johansson, you're supposed to join me for the cabinet meeting.

- Ms Rut Vogl will join you. - Who's Ms… Rut Vogl?

- My replacement for when I retire. - Oh.

- Hello. - Hello.

Here are the dimensions of the office.

So Mr Engzell, don't you come back

with anything less than a new, larger office.

Yes, yes, yes.

There are reports of some further unrest in Norway.

Recently, around 100 Jewish men were arrested.

The Norwegians have handled it

by not allowing the press to write about it.

And Nils-Erik, you need to make sure the Swedish press doesn't either.

Yeah. Yes, of course.

Nils-Erik Eklund.

Or "Censor-Nils" as he was known,

was in charge of Sweden's self-censorship via the State Information Agency.

All articles that were in any way related to the war

had to be personally approved by Nils-Erik.

GERMAN WEAPONS SHIPPED THROUGH THE COUNTRY

CENSORED

GERMAN SAUSAGES SHIPPED THROUGH THE COUNTRY

It's all under control.

- The screws are tightened. - Good.

Hitler is said to have recently conveyed his anger about Sweden.

Specifically because of the press.

All right.

With that said, we can conclude today's meeting.

Yes, uh, that's right.

Mr Engzell has a report for us. Mr Engzell.

- My apologies, but I have to get going. - Mm. Yes.

Some of you might have some other meetings

that you need to attend. You're free to go.

I'd like to report that, uh, um… during August and September

a number of what we considered to be, uh..

Uh… strong cases were rejected by the Office of Immigration.

PAULSON IMMIGRATION OFFICE

What are you trying to say exactly, man?

The pressure is… upon us and we are feeling it mount.

And we also have an issue with the size of our office space.

Mr Engzell, you want to discuss the dimensions of your office?

Here?

That was roughly what it was,

that there are certain parameters to take into account…

No, no, no. For God's sake. That just won't do.

Söderström's toilet must be twice as big as our entire office.

Take it easy, please.

He doesn't have his own toilet. You know that.

Uh… Really?

You told them that we're… drowning down here, right?

We're literally drowning.

- In faeces! - Let's put this on hold for now.

Thanks.

Mr Engzell, you have the consulate in Oslo on line one. Go ahead.