When information about the past of Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of IKEA, about his connections and support for Swedish fascists became public a few years ago, he publicly asked for forgiveness, wrote a letter to his employees and repeated his plea in many interviews. Elisabeth Asbrink's landmark report And the trees in the Vienna Woods are still standing caused a scandal in Sweden even before it was published. "Everyone loves myths about their history. It touches us most when someone brings forgotten stories related to the Holocaust and anti-Semitism into the light of day," wrote Wojciech Orliński.
524 letters sent by Jewish parents to their son from Vienna to Sweden, where they sent him to save him - the only survivor of the family, but he had to deal with anti-Semitism in that Nordic country as well. The book is the author's bitter attempt to come to terms with the myth of Sweden in the 1930s - the myth of a land of equality, solidarity and progress. Yet for her, several hundred "racially alien" refugees represent a threat to social welfare. Swedish anti-Semitism of the 1930s is no secret, but only the author has shown how commonplace, insensitive and cruel it was. She also draws attention to the extent to which Swedish, but not only Swedish, society has succeeded in pushing responsibility for the Holocaust out of consciousness. The historical account, And the Trees in the Vienna Woods Still Stand, is also a book about the present, because "pointing out the shameful past makes us more sensitive to the drama unfolding before our eyes - the drama of refugees in the contemporary world." Racism has not died, it has just changed its language. The term "inferior race" has been replaced by "alien culture".
Czech edition