Hitler was just a short man with bad skin , greasy hair and some extreme ideas - a crank.
Hitlerism is what happened when many believe believed all of his ideas and worked hard to try them out -- and when many more lukewarm half-believers and non-believers passively let them.
If Sweden actually was always faithful to ideals opposed to those of Hitler (never true of many Swedes who half-believed Hitler's visions) they sure didn't put their faith into action.
How then should one regard Pacifism and Neutrality in the face of obvious evil (and Hitler, unlike Stalin , hardly ever tried to hide his evil intentions).
Is it not just exalting up the passive Bystander at the schoolyard 'fight' between a high school hunk and a primary school kid as a figure of virtue rather than one of evil banality ?
If Bystander Sweden had been an ally of France and Britain in 1938 or 1939 how far would Hitler have gotten in bullying the Czechs and Poles (because he was aware there was no easy geographic access for their Western allies to actually help those beleaguered nations ?)
The Germany of the evil Hitler never was surrounded by loving friends - but being surrounded by Neutral Pacifists turned out to be just as good .
All those Neutrals must share the guilt, not for Hitler, but for Hitlerism --- Sweden, by far the biggest and the most able to withstand his bullying , most of all ...
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