Easter Riots

Easter Riots
The Royal Mounds, 2006
DateApril 26, 1943 (1943-04-26)
Location
Parties
Anti-fascists
Number
Unknown
Several thousand

The Easter Riots (Swedish: Påskkravallerna) is the name given to a period of unrest in Uppsala, Sweden, during the Easter of 1943. The fascist group Swedish Socialist Union (SSS, Swedish: Svensk Socialistisk Samling, previously the National Socialist Workers' Party) held its national congress in Uppsala, amid the Second World War and only days after the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The unrest climaxed on 26 April, when the SSS ended the congress by holding a demonstration at the Royal Mounds of Old Uppsala.[1][2]

Thousands of anti-fascists gathered to protest against the Nazi gathering at the Royal Mounds, a historical site that held much political symbolism among Swedish nationalists. Policemen had been called in from Stockholm to defend the demonstration, and after the situation became increasingly tense they resorted to violence, dispersing the peacefully protesting crowds and onlookers alike with heavy force.[3]

  1. ^ Andersson, Peter (23 August 2011). "Kamprad var djupt inblandad i nazistisk rörelse" (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  2. ^ Payne, Stanley G. (2001). A History of Fascism 1914-1945. London: Routledge. p. 306.
  3. ^ Alkarp, Magnus (2013). Fyra dagar i april: Påskkravallerna i Uppsala 1943 (in Swedish). Historiska Media. ISBN 9789186297725.[page needed]