Pastors from the Swedish Victoria Parish

The Swedish Victoria Parish was founded in Berlin in 1903. In 1929 Birger Forell took over the post of pastor in the Wilmersdorf district, where he cared for needy parishioners from the start. This rapidly extended to other groups. The parish had close contact with the Confessional Church, a Protestant movement in conflict with the Nazi regime. Forell used his diplomatic privileges and good contacts outside Germany to help victims of persecution to leave the country. Between 1935 and 1939 he wrote anonymous reports on the situation in Germany and distributed them through diplomatic channels.

In 1938 Forell had two rooms built in the attic of the church to hide persecuted Jews, and obtained food coupons and forged baptism certificates for them. After several threats from the Nazis he had to leave Germany in April 1942 as an “undesirable person.” Erik Perwe, Forell’s chosen successor, continued the aid work and expanded the network around the parish. His contact with Otto Weidt dated from this time.

Erik Perwe was killed in a plane crash on a flight to Sweden in November 1944. Erik Myrgren took over the parish and the responsibility for the people in hiding until June 1945.