Extradition of Legionnaires to the Soviet Union
After Germany’s capitulation in World War II, hundreds of Baltic men who had been conscripted into the German armed forces sought refuge in neutral Sweden. Most of them (167) were Latvian soldiers. At first, they were interned in various places, but later they were brought together in a camp at Ränneslätt, near the town of Eksjö.
As a result of political pressure from the Soviet Union, in November of 1945, the Swedish government made the decision to extradite the legionnaires. This decision triggered widespread public condemnation in Sweden. Protests and hunger strikes took place, as well as demonstrations by students, trade unions, and church representatives.
Despite the protests, in January of 1946, 132 Latvians were forcibly put on buses and handed over to the Soviet Union. During the extradition process, four Latvians took their own lives, while several others seriously injured themselves in protest. Eight soldiers were in Swedish hospitals at the time and were not extradited.
The Swedish physician Hans Silver was chief physician and director of Kristianstad Hospital from 1938 to 1962. He received this bottle of Riga Black Balsam as a gift from a legionnaire who, in 1945–1946, sought help in order to avoid extradition to the Soviet Union. After Hans Silver’s death, the bottle was found and preserved by his son-in-law, Giampiero Marzocchelli, who regarded it as an important historical testimony. The legionnaire’s name, as well as his later fate, is unknown.
