Sweden to Latin America 1941

[Grumpyauldgit]

Hi,
An unusual request and possibly more maritime than aviation linked.
Any historians out there who may have any idea how civilians could get from Sweden/ Scandanavia in 1941. My great grandparents made this journey (to Barranquilla, Columbia) and I am trying to find out how they did it.
Any help much appreciated.

[renfrew]

I think neutral Sweden had ships crossing the Atlantic in 1941.
By air it would have been ABA/Lufthansa to Berlin then Lufthansa to Lisbon and Pan American to USA.

[WHBM]

Still operating in 1941, Lufthansa flight 8 nonstop Stockholm to Berlin. Need to overnight there, then their flight K22 which operated Berlin-Stuttgart-Lyon-Marseille-Madrid-Lisbon, taking all day inevitably. Thence ship to Colombia. Junkers 52 on both flights. These flights (and flight numbers) had been running from pre-war days. Not apparent how they actually ran compared to the published timetable, nor how civilians were accepted.

Swedish America Line passenger ships to the USA, despite both being neutral, had been given up in 1939.

[Grumpyauldgit]

Many thanks for your replies. I don't think they really answer my question as what I should have mentioned is that my family had already left Germany as they were fleeing the Nazis so I don't think they would have risked going back.
It's a shame the answer doesnt lie with the Swedish American line. If they stopped operating in 1939 then I'm running out of ideas.
I do know that there were flights between Sweden and the UK during the early parts of the war (orange painted JU 52s) but am assured ordinary civilians would not have been allowed to travel.
Thanks again.

[renfrew]

Yes BOAC in 1941 were flying.Leuchars-Stockholm with various Lockheeds but as you say they would not have carried ordinary civilians.
I was presuming there may have been Swedish cargo ships operating which carried a small number of passengers.

[Asturias56]

Are you absolutely SURE of the dates - the fact its "Sweden/Scandinavia" suggests a degree of doubt . Possibly they left Norway in early 1940 and only arrived in Columbia in '41??

[Grumpyauldgit]

The only dates I have that are certain are leaving Barranquilla 14th December 1941 and arriving New York 18th December 1941. I have the passenger manifest for the ship. They stayed in Stockholm for almost 2 years before that. I know that some civilians left Sweden via Gothenburg but having tried every avenue I can't fill the gap as to how they got to Barranquilla.

[one11]

The only dates I have that are certain are leaving Barranquilla 14th December 1941 and arriving New York 18th December 1941. I have the passenger manifest for the ship. They stayed in Stockholm for almost 2 years before that. I know that some civilians left Sweden via Gothenburg but having tried every avenue I can't fill the gap as to how they got to Barranquilla.
Only a guess but maybe ship to Spain or Portugal then onward to South America

[Asturias56]

I'd assume that there would be records in Sweden of people leaving the country, especially refugees, after 1939. Finding them from overseas and unless you speak Swedish might be a big task tho'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Archives_of_Sweden

https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Sweden_Archives_and_Libraries (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Archives_of_Sweden)

https://riksarkivet.se/ - this has some pages in English including the search engine

[Beamr]

I would vote on the journey being made as part of Gothenburg traffic (Lejdtrafiken in Swedish). In 1940 Sweden managed to negotiate a safe passage through Skagerrak with both Germany and Great Britain for Swedish merchant ships. There were requirements by both war going parties like the Swedish ships must be escorted by Swedish war ships to quarantee that neither of the war going parties hijacks those merchant ships and that the ships must strictly trade with nonalgined countries, in essence the US and South American countries.

To make it short: I reckon that would've been the only reasonable way to get out of Sweden to South America in late 1941.

[Grumpyauldgit]

I've tried the archives in Sweden but there was no record of them leaving. Also tried the archives in Gothenburg but their department is closed until next year due to refurbishment. I may have to wait until they open up again.

Many thanks for all suggestions.

[WHBM]

Neutral ships continued, at some risk, through WW2; they were generally painted white, with the country name in largest letters along the hull, and fully illuminated at night.

An (example) Argentine ship heading for Sweden would be a fully neutral operation; it is possible that, although the travellers were headed for the USA, the only practical route was a South American ship to its first port of call, thence travelling to the USA as indicated.