Carl Gustav Svingel. Unknown Hero from the Cold War

Foreign rights

This personal biography chronicles Carl-Gustaf Svingel’s dizzying journey from poverty in the orphanage on the south west coast of Sweden to the political drama of the metropolis of West Berlin.

In Cold War West Berlin, the rumor is that the Swede Carl-Gustaf Svingel can bring together people who have been torn apart by the wall. He negotiates political prisoners out of the GDR’s prisons, and through his humanitarian courier business becomes acquainted with the Sommerlath family.

Carl-Gustaf Svingel runs a rest home for the elderly. With that cover, and thanks to his contacts with leading West German politicians such as Chancellor Willy Brandt, the mysterious Swede gets a role in a unique human trafficking. For billions, thousands of political prisoners are bought out of East German prisons.

Carl-Gustaf Svingel also becomes acquainted with the Sommerlath family through the church’s humanitarian efforts. Through secret routes, he manages to help Queen Silvia of Sweden’s relatives get through the Iron Curtain to the West. For the first time, Queen Silvia of Sweden talks about the conditions for the East German part of her family in candid interviews with the book’s author, journalist Ingrid Thörnqvist.