Inside Sweden's Cold War Stay-Behind Operation

About this episode

It was preparation for an invasion that might never come, and never did. Across Cold War Europe, stay-behind networks were established on the premise that Soviet forces might successfully invade and occupy sovereign territory. These clandestine organizations consisted of carefully vetted soldiers, intelligence officers, and everyday citizens tasked with remaining behind enemy lines to gather intelligence, conduct sabotage, and support resistance movements if their country were overrun. In neutral Sweden, the prime minister secretly authorized one such covert network in 1949 to mount guerrilla warfare against a potential Red Army occupation. Guest host Dr. Mark Jacobson speaks with Johan Wennström, author of The Stay Behinds: Sweden's Cold War Guardians, about this long-classified operation. Subscribe to Sasha's Substack, HUMINT, to get more intelligence stories: https://sashaingber.substack.com/ and https://www.youtube.com/@sasha-ingber For more information about the International Spy Museum, visit: https://www.spymuseum.org/ And if you have feedback or want to hear about a particular topic, you can reach us by email at spycast@spymuseum.org. This show is brought to you by