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Nazis Interning Refugees in Norway, Denmark; Exiles in Sweden Trapped

April 11, 1940
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The German forces of occupation in Denmark and Norway are arresting Jewish refugees from the Reich living in these Scandinavian countries, it was reported here today. There are 2,000 refugees in Norway and 1,200 in Denmark.

Refugees in Denmark are being interned in concentration camps, Copenhagen dispatches said. A Berlin dispatch to the newspaper Algemeen Handelsblad said that refugees in Norway would also be interned.

There are also 2,000 refugees in Sweden who are now trapped, although Sweden is not directly involved in the German invasion, because the only way of leaving the country is through the Skagerrak or through Germany. The American-organized Dominican Republic Settlement Corporation had been planning to transport 22 of the refugees in Sweden to the Dominican Republic as part of the refugee colonization project.

The Nazi invasion of Scandinavia also brings the native Jewish populations of Norway and Denmark under the Nazi regime. There are about 1,500 Jews in Norway and 6,000 in Denmark, in addition to refugees. It is assumed that Reich anti-Semitic legislation, at least in part, will be extended to these countries if Germany retains control of their governments.

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