Per Engdahl

Per Claes Sven Edvard Engdahl (born February 25, 1909 in Jönköping, died May 4, 1994 in Malmö) was a leading Swedish far right politician.

Engdahl began his career as an independent in Uppsala, advocating a fascist-influenced policy of his own creation which he called "nysvenskhet" ('new Swedishness'). An attempt was made in 1932 to incorporate his group into the newly-formed "Nationalsocialistiska folkpartiet" of Sven Olov Lindholm (a pro-Nazi party) although Engdahl resisted their overtures. [B. Hagtvet, 'On the Fringe: Swedish Fascism 1920-1945', S. U. Larsen, B. Hagtvet & J. P. Myklebust, "Who Were the Fascists: Social Roots of European Fascism", Scandinavian University Press, Oslo, 1980. ISBN 8200053318, p. 727]

As an ideology "nysvenskhet" supported a strong Swedish nationalism, corporatism, anti-Semitism and anti-communism as well as a cult of personality around Engdahl himself. The policy overtly rejected Nazism, instead looking more towards Benito Mussolini for inspiration while also seeking to unify all groups against democracy, whether they were fascist or not. [Hagtvet, op cit, p. 731]

Engdahl founded his own group, "Riksförbundet Det nya Sverige", in 1937. Before long he merged this group into the pro-Nazi National League of Sweden, becoming deputy leader of this organisation. Adopting a policy which he described as "nysvenskhet" ('new Swedishness') he split from this group in 1941 to lead his own "Nysvenska Rörelsen" which continued to strongly support the Nazis. Before the end of the war his supporters had united in the "Svensk Opposition" (Swedish Opposition) which also included the supporters of Birger Furugård. [Hagtvet, op cit, p. 729] The group advocated Swedish entry into World War II and went public with this aim in 1942. [Hagtvet, op cit, p. 735]

After World War II Engdahl revived "Nysvenska Rörelsen", publishing a paper "Vägen Framåt" ('The Way Forward') that concerned itself with attacks on communism and capitalism. [Hagtvet, op cit, pp. 739-40] He also became a leading figure in the European neo-fascist scene, and was instrumental in setting up the European Social Movement in 1951, hosting the meeting in his home base of Malmö. Although this group proved unsuccessful Engdahl continued to be active in such circles for many years. [Kurt P. Tauber, " [http://www.jstor.org/view/00323195/di980305/98p0255w/0?frame=frame&userID=[e-mail]/01cc99332700501bdefe2&dpi=3&config=jstor German Nationalists and European Union] ", pp. 568-71]

His name returned to controversy after his death when some of his personal correspondence was released and revealed that Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of IKEA, had been a member of Engdahl's groups during the war. [H. Kaye & E. Wohlgelernter, [http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/15851/edition_id/309/format/html/displaystory.html 'Swedish goulash and sofas whet Israeli appetites at Netanya Ikea'] ]

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