According to Swedish media outlets, a group of six to eight neo-Nazi men, aged 25 to 30, marched into the hall in the midst of the lecture on the Holocaust delivered by Mietek Grocher, 88, author and Holocaust survivor, on Monday.
They sat down at the front of the lecture hall, while one of them turned around and began taking photographs of the audience. According to eyewitness accounts, two of neo-Nazis were dressed in bomber jackets and one had a shaved head. The sudden appearance of ultra-nationalists predictably stirred negative emotions among the attendees and prompted some listeners to leave the hall.
"The unpleasant atmosphere spread and many changed their seats and some probably left. They didn't want to sit anywhere near them," the principal revealed.
However, Mr. Grocher ignored the apparent provocation and continued his lecture as if nothing had happened.
"I am used to this kind of thing, it's happened several times before," noted Mietek Grocher in an interview to a Swedish local media outlet, "I don't feel afraid, but it's unpleasant. When I came to Sweden I never thought I would experience neo-Nazism, but here they are now."
Police officers who arrived at the scene confirmed that the neo-Nazis remained calm and did not try to interfere with the lecture or the attendees. However, the law enforcers stayed in the lecture hall, since the public was unnerved by the presence of the ultra-nationalists.
The lecture attendees heaved a sigh of relief when forty minutes later the neo-Nazi group left the lecture room.
It is worth mentioning that Sweden is facing a rise in neo-Nazi activity. Last year the number of neo-Nazi propaganda actions hit an all-time record in the country, rising by almost 24 percent in 2014.
