Among all the facts obtained by the authors, there are, among other things, information about plans for a concentration camp on Karlsö.
- I think this is welcome. The lid has been on for so long, says Anders R Johansson.
Nazi commanders
In a special issue of the magazine "Haimdagar", Anders R Johansson and Mickael Lundgren go through what the Nazi sympathies looked like on Gotland between 1928-1950. In the 1934, 1936, and 1938 elections, various Nazi parties received up to 20 percent of the vote in some of the island's locations. Several hundred people are found to be members of the parties, including in the military.
- We have a list of about 50 different commanders who have been active.
More about this in the clip above.
Concentration camp on Karlsö and the trotting horse Hitler
There is also information on death records and plans for concentration camps in the Karls Islands that would be put into effect if given power.
- There are a couple of details that people had death records and that people would be locked up in Karlsö in a concentration camp. There are a couple of completely independent information about this so it has some credibility.
For several years, the authors have reviewed, among other things, old newspaper articles, meeting reports, documents from elections, and conducted interviews. And there are some things that surprise Anders R Johansson.
- That there was a trotting horse named Hitler may not be what you expected to find. In addition, he was a good trotter, generally Gotland's best for ten years.
Swap party during the war
Although there was also anti-Semitism on Gotland, it was mainly other causes that made Nazism prevail. In parts of the agricultural community there was a resistance to socialism, and a desire to preserve the small-scale and self-sufficiency.
- There was, after all, this self-sufficiency line of the Nazi movement that made it somehow resonate. The years when Nazism was most popular on Gotland, at least one publicly announced meeting was held this week.
But as the Second World War broke out and Nazi ideology showed its most heinous side, many Nazi sympathizers changed party. What they have had for influencing politics is hard to see.
- During that period, very many people gradually receive assignments in ordinary parties. The Peasant League and the Right, above all, but also the People's Party and some suss. It is clear that they then have their basic attitude. But studying what effect this has, it's not easy, Anders says.
Aren't you afraid to step on sore toes when you publish this information?
- There is certainly someone who will be offended. But in several cases it is roughly "finally I know what Grandpa was doing". Several have reacted that way. I think this is welcome because the lid has been on for so long.
The island's "brown" history is described in the video above.