The Deportations

At first, the deportations were to ghettos, and later sometimes directly to extermination camps. According to the Nazi authorities, the transports were headed "eastward." An example from Svenska Dagbladet illustrates this:

At an almost unbelievable pace, Germany continues the transformation in the former Poland. […] Regarding the Jews, it is now announced from the German side that they will all be gathered as soon as possible in the eastern part of the General Government.

For Swedish journalists and readers, it was initially difficult to understand the true meaning of the deportations. Without real insight into the actual conditions, the ghettos could appear to give the Jews a form of self-governance, even though it was forced. The newspapers also could not report freely about the situation.

Different newspapers reported differently on the situation. As usual, Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfartstidning expressed sharper condemnations than many other papers.

No one knows how this war will end or whether Hitler will achieve his war goals or not. But one thing is already certain: by the end of this war, there will be no more German Jewry.

The left-wing press in Sweden also often wrote more detailed accounts of the Jews' situation.
The Jews are only allowed to leave the Jewish quarters when they are taken under guard to forced labor. No one who does not live there may enter the Jewish quarters. Those living in the Jewish quarters have no work, no food, no fuel, and no clothes, and they are doomed to slowly perish. (41-01-24)

There were also more understanding and positive journalists. Fritz Lönnegren from Aftonbladet received a personal invitation to follow the German troops during the attack on the Soviet Union in 1941. In a series of articles, he described how the Jewish population was forced into ghettos.

The measure was radical. From an outside perspective, it seemed harsh to the extreme, but perhaps it was still more merciful to resolve the issue quickly and decisively than to let the mixing of peoples continue and the risk of pogroms and personal insecurity persist.