Sweden was a neutral state during World War II and was not directly involved in the Holocaust in German-occupied Europe. Nonetheless, the Swedish government maintained important economic links with Nazi Germany and there was widespread awareness within the country of its policy of persecution and, from 1942, mass extermination of Jews.
Before the war, antisemitism did not become a mainstream political issue and Swedes were broadly critical of the violence of Nazi policy. In spite of this, the country continued to tighten its immigration laws and admitted few Jewish refugees from Nazi persecution. As part of the official policy of neutrality, Sweden maintained ties with Nazi Germany throughout the Second World War. Swedish diplomats were aware of the extermination of Jews as early as January 1942 but took no action. In the following months, news of the extermination was reported in detail by Swedish newspapers.
Swedish official attitudes towards the issue began to change in the aftermath of the arrest and deportation of Jews in German-occupied Norway. In the final years of the war, it provided official support for attempts to rescue Jews in German-occupied Denmark and Hungary which served to consolidate the self-image of Sweden as a "humanitarian superpower" in post-war Europe.