Preparations in Sweden
Preparation of UNRRAs White Boat armada.
Concerning the "White Boat" armada the preparations started before any formal decision was taken by the Swedish government. The formalities concerned with the renting of four civilian ships went very smoothly, apparently having been prepared in advance. In June (and possibly already in May) the ships were modified and partially rebuilt for their new task. That was needed as the two of the ships were newly built cargo ships. Now, their cargo rooms were fitted out with provisional beds for some 260 persons. Also, there was preparation on the M/S Kronprinsessan Ingrid, car- and passenger ship where the car deck was fitted with additional beds.
The five ships selected for the UNRRA mission assembled in Trelleborg on June 22nd, and shortly after they sailed for Lübeck.
The total number of patients transported from the Lübeck harbor to Swedish ports by five White Boats was approximately 1 500 (each trip). The distance between Trelleborg and Malmö was shorter and that was the reason that two White boats M/S Karskär and M/S Rönnskär transported half of the patients. In Sweden, White boats went to the following harbors: Göteborg, Helsingborg, Karlskrona, Kalmar, Malmö, Norrköping, Stockholm, and Trelleborg. The trips to Stockholm took the longest time.
Concerning the "White Boat" armada the preparations started before any formal decision was taken by the Swedish government. The formalities concerned with the renting of four civilian ships went very smoothly, apparently having been prepared in advance. In June (and possibly already in May) the ships were modified and partially rebuilt for their new task. That was needed as the two of the ships were newly built cargo ships. Now, their cargo rooms were fitted out with provisional beds for some 260 persons. Also, there was preparation on the M/S Kronprinsessan Ingrid, car- and passenger ship where the car deck was fitted with additional beds.
The five ships selected for the UNRRA mission assembled in Trelleborg on June 22nd, and shortly after they sailed for Lübeck.
The total number of patients transported from the Lübeck harbor to Swedish ports by five White Boats was approximately 1 500 (each trip). The distance between Trelleborg and Malmö was shorter and that was the reason that two White boats M/S Karskär and M/S Rönnskär transported half of the patients. In Sweden, White boats went to the following harbors: Göteborg, Helsingborg, Karlskrona, Kalmar, Malmö, Norrköping, Stockholm, and Trelleborg. The trips to Stockholm took the longest time.
Preparation of Emergency Hospitals in Sweden
Emergency hospitals were set up in numerous cities, starting within cities that were the destination of the White Boat armada. Malmö was the city where most of the White Boats arrived as the distance from Lübeck was the shortest.
Preparations in Germany
Preparation of Lübeck Transit Hospital
The former inmates of Belsen before boarding the White Boats were transported by the ambulance train to Lübeck. The command in place in Lübeck Transit Hospital also called Swedish Transit Hospital was held by Dr. Hans Arnoldson. He was responsible for the Luebeck detachment, which supervised the arrival of patients from Belsen and their departure by ship to Sweden. Lübeck June-July 1945. Transfer from the Bergen-Belsen hospital to the Swedish Transit Hospital, the so-called Lübeck Detachment in the Cambrai barracks at Schwartauer Allée, at that time on the outskirts of Lübeck. Nowadays almost the entire former area of the Detachment, including all of the buildings, remains untouched by the passage of time. Behind the gymnasium (the building across the street) which was the enrollment center for those who came by train from Bergen-Belsen, there is today an Astrid Lindgren preschool.
The former inmates of Belsen before boarding the White Boats were transported by the ambulance train to Lübeck. The command in place in Lübeck Transit Hospital also called Swedish Transit Hospital was held by Dr. Hans Arnoldson. He was responsible for the Luebeck detachment, which supervised the arrival of patients from Belsen and their departure by ship to Sweden. Lübeck June-July 1945. Transfer from the Bergen-Belsen hospital to the Swedish Transit Hospital, the so-called Lübeck Detachment in the Cambrai barracks at Schwartauer Allée, at that time on the outskirts of Lübeck. Nowadays almost the entire former area of the Detachment, including all of the buildings, remains untouched by the passage of time. Behind the gymnasium (the building across the street) which was the enrollment center for those who came by train from Bergen-Belsen, there is today an Astrid Lindgren preschool.
The head of the hospital was the doctor, Major Hans Arnoldson. Arnoldson had previously served in the Swedish Red Cross detachment in Germany and was associated with the Action known as "White Buses”. Despite the fact that the Detachment was called “Swedish”, the Swedes were there in the minority. In fact, the staff was mainly German: 14 doctors and 105 nurses plus 367 male helpers. In addition, there was British personnel from the Royal Army Medical Corps, fifty-six men plus guards of twenty men. There were just over 1,400 beds in the three buildings around the exercise site, where the Swedish bathing platoon had set up two parallel treatment lines and equipment for disinfection and sauna baths.
Swedish Transit Hospital was located in the military Cambrai Barracks in Lübeck. Before going to Sweden for recuperation all the patients were registered, examined, and deloused by Swedish Military "Bath plutons".
Preparations at Bergen-Belsen Hospital
Preparations at Bergen-Belsen Hospital
