On July 15, 1942, the S.S. Drottningholm left Pier F, Jersey City, New Jersey bound for Gothenburg, Sweden, where internees were sent on to Germany and Italy, to be exchanged for U.S. citizens. The German American Internee Coalition recently received a number of documents about this particular voyage, thanks to Shelby and Stephen Concepcion, cousins who found the papers while researching what happened to their great-grandfather, Egon Nowak, during WW II. He was taken from Panama for internment in the U.S., then sent to Germany on this vessel. His immediate family never heard from him again after he left Panama. All the documents were found in the National Archives at College Park, Archives 2.
“Third Drottningholm – Passenger Lists [2 Folders]” contains partial passenger lists for this third voyage of the Drottningholm, as well the itinerary and a list of the country where each passenger from Latin America lived. NARA RG 59, State Dept, General Records, 1763 – 2002, Identifier 2530886, Box 157. (The file is large and takes time to download.)
In “Drottningholm – Third Voyage – Extra Lists (Sailed) [2 Folders],” there is a four page memo from the legation of Switzerland, which was tasked with overseeing German interests in WW II. The memo lists which internee groups the German government most wanted to those they were least interested in. There are also partial lists of prisoners and the camps in which they were held. NARA RG 59, State Dept, General Records, 1763 – 2002, Identifier 253088, Box 157.
“Drottningholm to Gothenburg [2 Folders]” details the plans of federal agents to pick up prisoners at the various camps and transport them to Jersey City for embarkation and internee exchange on the Drottningholm. NARA RG 59, State Dept, General Records, 1763-2002, Identifier 2529528, Box 66.