Re: [Marxism] Ingmar Bergman 1918-2007

["farmelantj@xxxxxxxx" <farmelantj@xxxxxxxx>]

I am reminded of something
that I posted on the Marxism-Thaxis list some years ago concerning
Bergman. There I wrote:

----------
A good article posted by Charles since it among other things
points out that Sweden has long harbored many people with pro-Nazi
outlooks and that during WW II, Sweden although officially
neutral, in fact sold Germany iron ore and other raw materials
while also permitting German troops to cross Swedish territory.
Furthermore I would add that during the 1930s pro-Nazi attitudes
were widespread among the middle and upper classes of Sweden.
I remember being shocked a few years back when I read
Ingmar Bergman's autobiography *The Magic Lantern*.
Bergman pointed out that sympathy for Nazi Germany was
widespread in the millieux in which he grew up.  Some of
his school teachers were openly sympathetic to the
"new Germany."   One teacher used to spend his summers
attending officers' meetings in Bavaria.  Bergman's brother
(who later on entered the diplomatic corps) was an organizer
for the Swedish National Socialists.  Ingmar himself at the
age of 16 went to Germany as an exchange student.  Since,
he was a pastor's son, he was paired with a German boy who
was also a pastor's son.  This German pastor was an ardent
Nazi who was as prone to use texts from *Mein Kampf* for
his Sunday sermons as the Gospels.  As an exchange student
young Ingmar became an enthusiast for Hitler's regime.
Bergman reports that his infatuation with Nazism lasted
until after the end of WW II when finally the evidence of what
the Nazis did to the Jews and others had become so strong
as to become undeniable.  Meanwhile Ingmar's family
became close to the German family that he had boarded
with.  His sister later became engaged to the German
student that Ingmar had been paired with.  He became
a pilot in the Luftwaffe and was shot down and killed at
the beginning of WW II.

Jim F.

-- Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2007/07/30/ingmar-bergman-1918-2007/

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