White Buses () was a Swedish humanitarian operation with the objective of freeing Scandinavians in German concentration camps in Nazi Germany during the final stages of World War II. Although the White Buses operation was envisioned to rescue Scandinavians, one-half of those taken from the camps to Sweden were of other nationalities. The buses used to transport the prisoners were painted white with red crosses painted on the roof, side, front and back, so that the buses would not be mistaken for military targets by Allied air forces. Those allowed by the Germans to be freed from the concentration camps were transported by the white buses and trucks to the port city of Lübeck, Germany. Swedish ships took them onward to Malmö, Sweden. Danes continued on by land on the white buses to Denmark.
Swedish diplomat Folke Bernadotte and others negotiated the White Buses operation with German officials, especially Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler. Although estimates of those rescued vary, the Swedish Red Cross estimated that about 300 Swedish volunteers, mostly military personnel, removed 15,345 prisoners from concentration camps in March and April 1945. 7,795 were Norwegian and Danish prisoners and 7,550 were other nationalities. After the German capitulation on 8 May 1945, another 10,000 people were rescued in May and June 1945 by "White Boats."
The operation was a humanitarian success and saved the lives of many who would have died of deprivation or execution in the concentration camps. The number of Jews among those rescued cannot be determined as the former prisoners were registered by nationality and not ethnic group or religion. Some have criticized the operation for being too one-sided a rescue operation for Scandinavians, and for .
Danish and Norwegian prisoners in Germany Denmark and Norway were invaded by Germany on 9 April 1940. A number of Norwegians were immediately arrested, and two months later the occupying force established the first prisoners' camp at Ulven outside Bergen. As tensions intensified between the Nazi authorities and the resistance, increasing numbers of Norwegians were arrested and detained in Norwegian prisons and camps; and later deported to camps in Germany. The first groups of Norwegian prisoners arrived in Sachsenhausen camp in early 1940.
Arrests in Denmark began with the resignation of the coalition government in the summer of 1943.
The Norwegian and Danish prisoners in Germany were divided into various categories, from the so-called civil interned who lived privately and had certain freedoms, to the Nacht und Nebel (NN) or "Night and Fog" prisoners who were made to disappear without a trace. As the number of Scandinavian prisoners increased, various groups organised relief work for them. The Norwegian seamen's priests in Hamburg, Arne Berge and Conrad Vogt-Svendsen, visited prisoners, brought them food and brought letters to their families in Norway and Denmark. Vogt-Svendsen also made contact with the civilians interned at Gross Kreutz,"Den tredje länken i det norska hjälparbetet, efter Stockholm och Genève, var "Berlin-kommittén" med sitt högkvarter i slottet Gross Kreutz utanför Berlin. Här fanns en krets av norska civilinternerade. Den leddes av professor Didrik Arup Seip och advokanten Johan B. Hjort.", from Vi åker till Sverige, page 71, translation from Swedish: "The third link in the Norwegian relief work after Stockholm and Geneva, was the Berlin committee with its headquarters at the castle Gross Kreutz outside Berlin. Here was a group of Norwegian civil internees. It was led by professor Didrik Arup Seip and the lawyer Johan B. Hjort." the Norwegian families Hjort and Seip. Together with other Scandinavians, the group at Gross Kreutz compiled extensive lists of prisoners and their location. The lists were then sent to the Norwegian government-in-exile in London through the Swedish embassy in Berlin."Så gjordes ständigt allt längre listor upp över de norska fångarna i Tyskland. Från Hamburg och Gross Kreutz vidarebefordrades listorna till den svenska legationen i Berlin. Seip fick tillstånd att använda den svenska kurirposten till Stockholm – en illegal trafik som var ganska otrolig. Genom den svenska diplomatposten gick listorna till Stockholm, och till den norska legationen där, samt vidare til London och till Röda Korset i Genève.", from Vi åker till Sverige, page 72, translation from Swedish: "Ever-expanding lists were made of the Norwegian prisoners in Germany. From Hamburg and Gross Kreutz, the lists were sent on to the Swedish embassy in Berlin. Seip got permission to use the Swedish courir mail to Stockholm – an extremely illegal use. In the Swedish courir mail the list went to Stockholm, and to the Norwegian Embassy there, and on to London and to the Red Cross in Geneva." In Stockholm the Norwegian diplomat Niels Christian Ditleff engaged himself heavily with the fate of the Scandinavian prisoners. By the end of 1944, there were around 8,000 Norwegian prisoners in Germany, in addition to around 1,125 Norwegian prisoners of war.
On the Danish side, Admiral Carl Hammerich had long worked with secret plans for an expedition code-named the Jyllandskorps to save Danish and Norwegian prisoners from the German camps. Hammerich had good connections with the Norwegian seaman's priests, the Gross Kreutz group and with Niels Christian Ditleff in Stockholm. By the beginning of 1945 there were around 6,000 Danish prisoners in Germany. During 1944, the Danes made extensive planning efforts, including the registration of prisoners and plans for transporting resources and making available food, shelter and quarantine for the prisoners, if they succeeded in reaching Denmark. Hammerich visited Stockholm in February, April and July 1944, and discussed the plans with Ditleff."Under 1944 träffade Ditleff också flera gånger den danske amiralen Carl Hammerich och blev på så sätt underrättad om dennes hemliga planer på en Jyllandskorps för att rädda danskar och norrmän ut ur de tyska lägren.", from Vi åker till Sverige, page 73, translation from Swedish: "During 1944 Ditleff met several times with the Danish admiral Carl Hammerich and was thus informed about his secret plans for a Jutlandcorps to rescue Danes and Norwegians from the German camps."
Preliminary considerations As the Allied forces approached Germany at the end of 1944, SHAEF decided what to do with Allied prisoners. Within the Norwegian government, Major Johan Koren Christie wrote a memorandum on 23 September; the Norwegian prisoners should "stay put", and wait until they were liberated by the advancing Allied forces. The Gross Kreutz group learned of this policy a month later and reacted swiftly, with Johan Bernhard Hjort writing a report advising against the proposal. His arguments were that the prisoners risked being murdered and that they had to be rescued before Germany was occupied.
He wrote: It is therefore strongly suggested that the Norwegian government considers the possibility that the Swedish government could be induced to intervene to help at least the Norwegian and Danish civil prisoners in Germany, including those in prisons, with the aim of transporting them to Sweden, where they if feasible may stay until the war has ended.
This October 1944 report from Hjort was the first time a Swedish operation for the Scandinavian prisoners is mentioned. At first the proposal was unfavourably received. Rescue of the prisoners was seen as a Norwegian responsibility and the Norwegian government was reluctant to give the Swedes any chance to distinguish themselves at the end of the war.
Norwegian diplomat Niels Christian Ditleff in Stockholm refused to accept the guidelines from the Norwegian government and continued to implore both Swedes and the Swedish foreign department for Sweden to rescue Scandinavian prisoners. In September 1944, Ditleff raised the question with Count Folke Bernadotte of the Swedish Red Cross, who immediately supported the plan. On 30 November, Ditleff delivered his memorandum "Reasons for a Swedish operation for rescuing prisoners" to the Swedish foreign office, but still on his own initiative. On 29 December, the Norwegian government changed its position and instructed its embassy in Stockholm to discuss the possibility of a Swedish operation aimed at rescuing Scandinavian prisoners.
While Ditleff tried to influence the exiled Norwegian government, the Danes obtained a German permit to retrieve prisoners. The first ones transported back to Denmark were Danish policemen from Buchenwald, with the first transport started on 5 December. By the end of February 1945, the Danes had transported 341 prisoners home, most of them ill. These journeys gave the Danes valuable experience that later benefitted the "White Buses".
Negotiations with Germany Felix Kersten, the personal physical-therapist of Nazi Germany's Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler, set the table for the release of internees in German concentration camps. Kersten, resident in Sweden, had previously negotiated with Himmler for the release of several internees in concentration camps and had discussed the ways and means of ensuring the safety of Danish and Norwegians internees with both Norwegian diplomat Ditleff and Himmler.
On 5 February 1945, Ditleff proposed officially that Sweden undertake a rescue mission for people interned in German concentration camps and send a delegation to Germany to negotiate the rescue mission. The Swedish Foreign Ministry approved the plan on 10 February, designating diplomat Folke Bernadotte to initiate talks with Nazi Germany to "attempt to obtain the release of Norwegian and Danish internees in Germany and their transportation to Sweden or Denmark." As Germany faced imminent defeat by the Allied forces, the Swedes feared that the Germans might liquidate all prisoners in their concentration camps. From 17 to 21 February, Bernadotte met with senior Nazi officials including Himmler. Bernadotte alluded to the possibility that neutral Sweden might not remain neutral, implying that Sweden might enter the war on the Allied side if relations between the two countries did not improve. That argument had weight, as Sweden was the major supplier of iron ore to Germany. With defeat nearly certain for Germany, Himmler was attempting to ingratiate himself with the Allies and neutral states such as Sweden. Himmler and other German officials agreed in principle to the rescue operation which foresaw that all Norwegian and Danish prisoners of the Germans would be gathered together in one camp for their safety and meeting their humanitarian needs. Himmler estimated the Danish and Norwegian prisoners numbered 2,000 to 3,000; Bernadotte had evidence they numbered 13,000. The Germans said that all resources for the operation must come from Sweden and the Swedish Red Cross. Himmler also demanded that there be no publicity about the operation as Adolf Hitler was opposed to prisoner releases.
Parallel with Bernadotte's attempts, Danish authorities – especially the Danish ambassador in Berlin, Otto Carl Mohr – tried to secure the release of more Danish prisoners. Swedish and Danish aims differed slightly. The Swedes negotiated with Himmler and Schellenberg and concentrated on gathering the prisoners in Neuengamme. The Danes negotiated with Kaltenbrunner and tried to secure permission to have the prisoners released, or possibly interned in Denmark. On 12 March the Danes obtained permission for three transports and until 21 March a total of 262 Danish prisoners of various categories were moved back to Denmark using Danish vehicles. From 21 March there was a break in Danish transports and the Swedes took over.
Swedish aid Sweden was the only Nordic country that remained neutral during the Second World War.