THE FALL OF SIGRID GILLNER
Fallet Sigrid Gillner

The Fall of Sigrid Gillner is about how dreams can lead you astray. Sigrid Gillner (1891-1975) was one of the pioneers of the Swedish workers’ movement. She was a board member of The Social Democratic Women’s Society, a member of the Socialist International’s Women Executives and she was elected to the Swedish Parliament. Gillner had a passion for democracy, but her idealism would leave her incredibly disappointed. The political egoism made her leave parliament and all political commissions in 1935. While Sigrid Gillner had given inflammatory speeches against Nazism early on, she began believing that Hitler was right. He preached idealism and sacrifice, and above all, he lectured that the elite should be in charge. This was true democracy, according to Hitler. Sigrid started spreading propaganda about Nazism, while at the same time condemning anti-Semitism. This was, of course, impossible in the long run. After her defection she was branded as a
Nazi and the press wrote about “The Fall of Sigrid Gillner”.
In addition to being a unique period document about a fascinating woman, THE FALL OF SIGRID GILLNER is also a love story. Sigrid’s great love was her husband Sven, who was also a Social Democrat and a politician. After her defection he was forced to publicly establish a distance between Sigrid and himself. Their love was strong but at times, they hated each other. Sigrid eventually woke up, but she was never able to shake off the Nazi brand, and she was shunned by the Social Democratic press for the rest of her life. She managed to support herself as a chronicler in right wing newspapers, but mentally she never recovered. She suffered from panic attacks and did not leave her home for thirty years.

Pages: 397
Published by Frank Förlag September 2008

GRANDFATHER WAS A RACIAL BIOLOGIST
Farfar var rasbiolog

When Eva Dahlgren discovered that her grandfather K.V. Ossian Dahlgren, a distinguished botanist, had also been a racial biologist involved in the eugenics movement in Sweden between the wars, it set her on a search to find out more about a man she remembered so vividly from her childhood. The result, Grandfather was a Racial Biologist, is a deeply personal literary report and at the same time a fascinating love story. We follow the marriage between K.V.Ossian who supported the Nordic race and who thought that ...”A person with strong genetic traits fulfils an ethical obligation and a duty to the foster land by bringing many new citizens into the world”, and Greta, only 1,47 metre tall and of South European hereditary disposition. What were the consequences of the racial theories for her and their children who never became tall and blond? Eva F Dahlgren continues into the genetic laboratories of today, to new biology where nearly everything seems possible to change or correct – in what way does that influence our view on humanity?

I classify it in the shelf as ”future classic's.
GP

Eva F Dahlgren has written a wonderful book.
SVD

This is a brilliant literary report.
Sydsvenska Dagbladet

Everybody interested in the dark side of our history containing research about racial biology, should read this book....Despite the quite horrible theme, Eva F Dahlgren, succeeds in painting a loving portray of her grand parents.
Länstidningen Östersund

This is one of the best and most important works of this spring with material that would have been enough for a pocketful of important Swedish novels... Keeping her head cool and her feelings intact, his grandchild, Eva F Dahlgren, has performed  a literary achievement.
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