Susanne Berger om Raoul Wallenberg
Kunskapsluckor om Sverker Åström and Raoul Wallenberg
But 1945 was truly Åström's year: In March he was asked to accompany Kollontai (who was ill and had fallen out of Stalin's favor) on her sudden return to Moscow. In April, Åström traveled with senior Swedish diplomat Erik von Post on a secret trip to Denmark to meet German Foreign Intelligence Chief Walter Schellenberg to discuss German troop transfers through Swedish territory as well as Schellenberg's wish to leave Nazi Germany. A month later, when Schellenberg found asylum in Trosa, at the house of Folke Bernadotte, Åström was chosen to assist him during his stay. Then in August came the call from Marcus Wallenberg for aid with his American problems. By 1946, Åström was dispatched to Washington on a two year tour at the Swedish Embassy. Upon his return, his career took off in earnest.
Curiously, Åström mentions none of these events in his autobiography. Yet, they not only provide a fascinating glimpse into the making of a superstar of Swedish diplomacy, but also raise many interesting questions.
No detailed account of Schellenberg's stay in Sweden exists anywhere in the historical record. Important issues have remained obscure, from Schellenberg's full role in several separate peace initiatives during the war(aimed to cease hostilities between Nazi Germany and the Western Allies) , his contacts with prominent banker Jacob Wallenberg and other Swedish representatives in this connection, the arduous negotiation process with Allied leaders in 1945 which led to Schellenberg's postwar trial in Germany, to the many unknown details about Bernadotte's assistance rendered to Schellenberg and his family.
So far, one of the main eye-witnesses to history has divulged no information on these topics. Åström claims he met Schellenberg only briefly, to help him shop for clothes, and that he barely exchanged any words with him. If true, this is too bad, because the two certainly had many mutual acquaintances, such as Adam von Trott, to name just one, whose arrest and execution Schellenberg oversaw.
Schellenberg was also familiar with a man whose disappearance made headlines in Sweden during the German Abwehr Chief's stay in Trosa - Raoul Wallenberg. Before Wallenberg embarked on his dangerous humanitarian mission to Budapest in July 1944, Jacob Wallenberg had asked Schellenberg to ensure personal protection for Raoul who was the son of his cousin and whom he knew well. There have been persistent rumors that Raoul Wallenberg may have had direct contact with Schellenberg at some point and that his arrest may have been linked to these contacts.
www.newsmill.se/print/45277
Kunskapsluckor om Sverker Åström and Raoul Wallenberg
But 1945 was truly Åström's year: In March he was asked to accompany Kollontai (who was ill and had fallen out of Stalin's favor) on her sudden return to Moscow. In April, Åström traveled with senior Swedish diplomat Erik von Post on a secret trip to Denmark to meet German Foreign Intelligence Chief Walter Schellenberg to discuss German troop transfers through Swedish territory as well as Schellenberg's wish to leave Nazi Germany. A month later, when Schellenberg found asylum in Trosa, at the house of Folke Bernadotte, Åström was chosen to assist him during his stay. Then in August came the call from Marcus Wallenberg for aid with his American problems. By 1946, Åström was dispatched to Washington on a two year tour at the Swedish Embassy. Upon his return, his career took off in earnest.
Curiously, Åström mentions none of these events in his autobiography. Yet, they not only provide a fascinating glimpse into the making of a superstar of Swedish diplomacy, but also raise many interesting questions.
No detailed account of Schellenberg's stay in Sweden exists anywhere in the historical record. Important issues have remained obscure, from Schellenberg's full role in several separate peace initiatives during the war(aimed to cease hostilities between Nazi Germany and the Western Allies) , his contacts with prominent banker Jacob Wallenberg and other Swedish representatives in this connection, the arduous negotiation process with Allied leaders in 1945 which led to Schellenberg's postwar trial in Germany, to the many unknown details about Bernadotte's assistance rendered to Schellenberg and his family.
So far, one of the main eye-witnesses to history has divulged no information on these topics. Åström claims he met Schellenberg only briefly, to help him shop for clothes, and that he barely exchanged any words with him. If true, this is too bad, because the two certainly had many mutual acquaintances, such as Adam von Trott, to name just one, whose arrest and execution Schellenberg oversaw.
Schellenberg was also familiar with a man whose disappearance made headlines in Sweden during the German Abwehr Chief's stay in Trosa - Raoul Wallenberg. Before Wallenberg embarked on his dangerous humanitarian mission to Budapest in July 1944, Jacob Wallenberg had asked Schellenberg to ensure personal protection for Raoul who was the son of his cousin and whom he knew well. There have been persistent rumors that Raoul Wallenberg may have had direct contact with Schellenberg at some point and that his arrest may have been linked to these contacts.
www.newsmill.se/print/45277
