Extradition of the Balts (1970)

29/09/1970

Overview

Latvian soldiers seek political asylum in Sweden after their country falls under Russian control at the end of World War II. They had been forced into military service by the Nazis to fight against the Russians. Fearing reprisals from the Russians for fighting against them, they struggle desperately to stay in Sweden. After a hunger strike, suicides, and political intervention by Sweden fails to keep them from their former enemy, they are ultimately given over to the Russian authorities. The men are sentenced to hard labor in prison camps and later released, and Latvians are plunged into repression by the aftermath of the bloody war. The cycle of political unrest was still apparent more than 50 years after the conflict.