By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Sweden's Lutheran church applied Nazi race laws to stop Germans living in Sweden during World War II from marrying Jews, according to research presented Tuesday.
The Swedish state church applied German laws that forbade "Aryan" German citizens from marrying Jews, and stopped at least five such marriages from taking place, according to a study by Lund University researcher Anders Jarlert.
He found the church acted on the recommendation of the Foreign Ministry as Sweden, which was officially neutral, sought to appease Germany to stave off an invasion.
In addition, more than 400 Swedes who married "Germans of so-called Aryan heritage" between 1937 and the end of World War II were forced to sign a written assurance that their parents or grandparents did not have Jewish roots, Jarlert said.