The Early Cold War and Sweden’s Counterespionage in Relation to the Soviet Diplomatic Mission in Stockholm 1945–1955

In the wake of the end of the Second World War, Sweden’s counterespionage went through turbulent times. The secret security service, the Allmänna säkerhetstjänsten, in operation since 1939, was dissolved and replaced by a new organizational structure involving the Swedish State Police, or more precisely, its Third Department, and the local Police organizations of the Communes. Although deprived of one of its most important sources of intelligence – the intelligence retrieved through the interception of mail, telegrams and telephone lines carried out under the aegis of the Allmänna säkerhetstjänsten – the Stockholm Criminal Police, in charge of counterespionage in relation to the Soviet Legation in Stockholm, remained in operation. On the basis of a review of the documents generated by the Police Officers commissioned with the arduous work of following and recording the activities of Soviet officials – newly declassified material that has not been the subject of research before – this study addresses the conditions under which this work was carried out, and its results in terms of intelligence and knowledge, in the years 1945–1955.