Folke Bernadotte

Folke Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg (2 January 1895 – 17 September 1948) was a Swedish nobleman and diplomat. In World War II he negotiated the release of about 450 Danish Jews and 30,550 non-Jewish prisoners from many nations from the Nazi German Theresienstadt concentration camp. They were released on 14 April 1945. In 1945 he received a German surrender offer from Heinrich Himmler, though the offer was ultimately rejected by the allies.

Folke Bernadotte
Count of Wisborg
Bernadotte in the mid 1940s
Born(1895-01-02)2 January 1895
Stockholm, Sweden
Died17 September 1948(1948-09-17) (aged 53)
Jerusalem, Israel
Burial
Northern Cemetery, Solna
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1928)​
Issue
  • Count Gustaf Eduard
  • Count Folke
  • Count Fredrik Oscar
  • Count Bertil Oscar
HouseBernadotte
FatherPrince Oscar Bernadotte
MotherEbba Munck af Fulkila

After the war, Bernadotte was unanimously chosen to be the United Nations Security Council mediator in the Arab–Israeli conflict of 1947–1948. He was assassinated in Jerusalem in 1948 by the paramilitary Zionist group Lehi while pursuing his official duties. Upon his death, Ralph Bunche took up his work at the UN, successfully mediating the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and Egypt.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.