Krampen

A forgotten and partly secret part of Bergslagen’s history is the internment camps that existed here during World War II. One day, long after the war had ended, some road workers discovered a stone in the ground with a strange inscription: CCCP 1944 and a star with a hammer and sickle.
 

Sweden was neutral during World War II, and as a neutral country during a war, we were required to intern military personnel from foreign powers who arrived here. They were to be housed in guarded camps to ensure they could not engage in any acts of war after seeking refuge on neutral territory.
In Bergslagen, there were several refugee camps, the largest being Krampen, located between Uttersberg and Riddarhyttan. Krampen housed about 300 Soviet refugees between 1942 and 1944. They were Russian soldiers who had fled Nazi prison camps in Nazi-occupied Norway.
Although Krampen was a Swedish facility, it had strong ties to the then-Soviet authorities and had both Swedish and Soviet camp leadership. The Soviet Union required Sweden to register all the refugees and report them back to the USSR, as the intention was to repatriate them once the war ended.
 

Today, dense forest has grown over the site where the camp stood in the 1940s. Only by searching thoroughly can traces of the buildings that once stood here be found. Notably, one can find the ruins of the “Rysskällaren” (Russian Cellar) and the concrete foundation of the camp commandant’s residence. A narrow gravel road still runs through the area.
Archaeological research has revealed that the other accommodations for the refugees were barracks that stood on pillars.
 

Krampen was organized as a labor camp. However, in 1942, the internees were allowed to keep the money they earned from working outside the camp, either in the forest or on road construction. The Soviet legation later deemed that the refugees had too much spending money. As a result, it was decided that the internees’ income would go into the camp’s collective funds.
 

On October 9, 1944, the refugees were hastily transported by train to Gävle, where 900 Soviet citizens boarded two ships, Örnen and Wiggo. What happened to them afterward is unknown. Many likely ended up in camps in the Gulag. At that time, prisoners of war in the Soviet Union were considered traitors, often executed upon their return or sent to various labor camps.
 

The stone discovered by the road workers is now known as the “Ryss-stenen” (Russian Stone). It is a natural stone that has been preserved in the forest. In 1999, it was ceremoniously inaugurated, with representatives from the Russian Embassy and other notable guests in attendance, ensuring the refugees’ fate would not be forgotten.
 

In November 1945, the Krampen facility was closed, and most of the barracks were burned down between 1946 and 1947. The grand station building was demolished in 1975.
 

Facts
Refugee camp for Soviet soldiers from World War II. About five kilometers from the camp site lies the Russian Stone. The building contains an exhibition about the Russian camp and the stone, open only on select days.
Explore the surroundings on your own. In the forest, signs and photographs have been put up to tell the story of this previously silenced part of our history.