Abhiroop Das
Co-directed by Thérèse Ahlbeck and Marcus Olsson, Netflix’s ‘The Swedish Connection,’ also known as ‘Den svenska länken,’ shines a light on the unsung heroism of Gösta Engzell and his staff, who were directly involved in the emigration of Jewish people out of Germany during the peak of World War II. Faced with a humanitarian crisis of unimaginable proportions, Engzell tries to alert his higher-ups at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, but to no avail. However, things take a turn with the arrival of the newest member of the team: Rut Vogel.
Over the course of this Swedish historical drama movie, Vogel inspires Engzell to try once again, this time using increasingly inventive legal measures to bring as many Jewish people out of Nazi occupied regions as possible. While their success comes with its fair share of challenges and resistance, Engzell and Vogel are always there to absorb the pressure and do what is right.
Rut Vogel is an Invented Presence Meant to Flesh Out The Swedish Connection’s Story
Rut Vogel is a fictional character created by Thérèse Ahlbeck and Marcus Olsson specifically for ‘The Swedish Connection.’ While the story itself is based on real-life rescue efforts made by Gösta Engzell between 1942 and 1944, Vogel’s role in the story originates purely from the minds of the creators and does not have a basis in real life. Through Vogel, however, one of the more overlooked aspects of this heroic true story is brought to life. Engzell was not the only person in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs who was pushing for the rescue of Jewish people. It was, in fact, his entire team that came together for the cause, creating a legal channel for people to escape the Holocaust by means of citizenship.
Upon learning of the true extent of the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime in 1942, Engzell committed himself to figuring out ways to streamline the immigration and asylum process for Jewish people. The primary way he and his team achieved that goal was by looking for connections that Jewish people of Norwegian or Danish citizenship might have had to Sweden. In the scenario that someone was born in Sweden but lived elsewhere, Engzell had the legal grounds to call that person a citizen and authorize their passports for their return to the country. This method is also depicted in the movie, albeit with a few creative touches. The role of Rut Vogel in this entire grand scheme is critical, as she is the one tasked with finding appropriate cases and creating a justifiable argument for their arrival in Sweden.
Rut Vogel Represents Many Who Worked Behind the Scenes to Save Lives
In real life, Engzell closely worked with staff members and Swedish diplomats to push for change within the system, even if it meant knocking on a few doors in Germany and German-occupied territories. Reportedly, he was helped by figures such as Carl Ivan Danielsson and Per Anger, both Swedish diplomats, who took steps to protect Jewish people in Budapest. It is possible that Rut Vogel is a composite figure meant to channel the lived experiences of many such diplomats, bureaucrats, and government officials who worked behind the scenes to make new developments happen. While existing records do not refer to any such person matching the description of Vogel, she still appears on-screen as a realistic and empathetic presence.
Notably, a major detail about Vogel is her German heritage, and how she left Germany years ago and now helps the Jewish people trapped in the Holocaust. Perhaps the most famous figure in real life with a similar trajectory is Hannah Arendt. The historian and political theorist was briefly imprisoned for researching antisemitism, and upon release, she fled to Paris. From there, Arendt helped young Jewish people to emigrate out of the country, and continued her criticism of the Nazi regime. While there are parallels between her journey and Vogel’s arc in the movie, there are still enough differences to reiterate the fact that Vogel is a fictional presence, whose story exists within the world as rendered in ‘The Swedish Connection.’
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