Plot

The Swedish government holds an emergency meeting in 1941 when Germany attacks the Soviet Union.

At dawn on June 22, 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union. On the same morning, Germany demanded permission from the Swedish government to transport 18,000 German soldiers from Norway to Finland across Sweden by railway. This was a difficult problem for the Swedish government. On one hand remaining friendly with Germany at the height of its power, on the other maintaining a strict neutrality.—Mattias Thuresson

"The Midsummer Crisis - Four Days that Shook Sweden". That is what this fictional documentary would be called in English, if the title were translated. It's one of Hans Villius's and Olle Häger's masterpieces and it is about the four days from the 22nd to the 26th of June 1941. Germany starts Operation Barbarossa, its big invasion of the Soviet Union. At the same time, the German government demands right of passage for German soldiers to cross Sweden by railroad in order to get to fight in Finland, since that country joined the Germans in the war. This documentary shows the difficulties the government had to deal with when trying to balance on the thin thread of neutrality, but also the ministers' personal feelings and actions.—Anders E Lundin