Swedish royal family hit by fresh Nazi allegations
Tony Paterson
London Independent
Dec 2, 2010
Sweden’s royal family has been rocked by a new scandal which has exposed the hidden Nazi past of the Queen’s father, only weeks after its reputation was shattered by lurid disclosures about the king’s secret sex life.
The latest revelations concern Walther Sommerlath, the late father of Sweden’s German-born Queen Silvia. He has been unmasked by an investigative television documentary as a Nazi party member who grew rich during the Second World War running an armaments factory that had been stolen from its Jewish owners.
The disturbing revelations, made by Sweden’s Kalla fakta (Cold facts) TV programme, directly contradict 67-year-old Queen Silvia’s claims earlier this year that her father was not “politically active” and that the factory he ran produced toy trains, hairdryers and parts for civilian gas masks. She also denied he had taken over the factory from its Jewish owners.
However, documents unearthed by Kalla facta in Berlin and South America show that Walther Sommerlath joined the Nazi party in Brazil in 1934 – only a year after Hitler took power.
Tony Paterson
London Independent
Dec 2, 2010
Sweden’s royal family has been rocked by a new scandal which has exposed the hidden Nazi past of the Queen’s father, only weeks after its reputation was shattered by lurid disclosures about the king’s secret sex life.
The latest revelations concern Walther Sommerlath, the late father of Sweden’s German-born Queen Silvia. He has been unmasked by an investigative television documentary as a Nazi party member who grew rich during the Second World War running an armaments factory that had been stolen from its Jewish owners.
The disturbing revelations, made by Sweden’s Kalla fakta (Cold facts) TV programme, directly contradict 67-year-old Queen Silvia’s claims earlier this year that her father was not “politically active” and that the factory he ran produced toy trains, hairdryers and parts for civilian gas masks. She also denied he had taken over the factory from its Jewish owners.
However, documents unearthed by Kalla facta in Berlin and South America show that Walther Sommerlath joined the Nazi party in Brazil in 1934 – only a year after Hitler took power.
