Raphaël Lemkin in Stockholm – Significance for His Work on 'Axis Rule in Occupied Europe'

Abstract

Raphaël Lemkin coined in 1944 the term “genocide” when he published his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe. A significant part of the material was collected when Raphaël Lemkin lived in Stockholm 1940-1941. This study introduces new information on how Lemkin was allowed to enter Sweden, his time as a lecturer at Stockholm university college and the persons who helped him in Sweden, most notably the prominent lawyer and politician Karl Schlyter. The study also raises the question whether the Swedish businessmen who travelled to Warsaw and helped Lemkin with acquiring documents about the Nazi occupation are the same Swedish businessmen who helped the Polish resistance to smuggle key documents about the holocaust to London via Stockholm.

Keywords: Genocide, Lemkin