ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the works of art and their removal, as presented in the media, in order to reflect on Swedish memory culture and on how deeply rooted the so-called Europeanization of Holocaust memory really is. Before examining the bones of contention, Hat- and Cap-factory and Edward Hopper: Early Sunday Morning, it gives a short introduction to Dick Bengtsson's art, focusing on his so-called "swastika period." The Holocaust plays indeed an important role in Swedish politics and education, and it is present in the country's public debates, rhetoric, and popular culture. Bengtsson's art is highly appreciated by the art establishment, and since at least the 1990s it has been commonly regarded as being amongst the most distinguished Swedish art production of the twentieth century. In Bengtsson's work, the swastika forces us to look at the painting in a different way, and the political allusions to the Third Reich's ideology simply cannot be ignored.
