Folke Bernadotte, grandson
of King Oscar II of Sweden, was born in
Stockholm on 2nd January, 1895. After graduating from the military
school of Karlberg, Bernadotte became a cavalry officer in the Royal
Horse Guards.
Bernadotte became head
of the Severiges Scoutforbund (Swedish Boy Scouts) and during the
Second World War he integrated that organization
into Sweden's defence system. He also served as vice chairman of the
Swedish Red Cross and was responsible for arranging the exchange British
and German soldiers during the war.
Bernadotte was fluent in
six languages and carried out a great deal of important diplomatic
work during the war. In early 1945 Bernadotte was asked to visit Heinrich
Himmler, head
of the Gestapo. The two men met in Lubeck
on 24th April. Himmler asked Bernadotte to arrange a surrender that
would allow Germany to continue fighting
the Soviet Union. Bernadotte passed this
information onto Winston
Churchill
and Harry
S. Truman but
the rejected the idea, insisting on unconditional surrender.
On 20th May, 1948, the
United Nations Security Council appointed
Bernadotte as mediator in the Arab-Jewish conflict in Palestine.
After meeting Arab and Jewish leaders he succeeded in obtaining a
30-day truce that began on 11th June. In then developed his own plan
for peace. This included the proposal that Israel
should relinquish the Negev and Jerusalem to Transjordan. The plan
was rejected by both sides and fighting resumed on 8th July, 1948.
On 17th September, 1948,
Count Folke Bernadotte was assassinated by members of the Stern Group,
a Jewish terrorist organization. His book, Instead
of Arms, was published posthumously.
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