26 Facts About Folke Bernadotte

Folke Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg was a Swedish nobleman and diplomat.

Folke Bernadotte was assassinated in Jerusalem in 1948 by the paramilitary Zionist group Lehi while pursuing his official duties.

Folke Bernadotte was born in Stockholm into the House of Bernadotte, the Swedish royal family.

Oscar had married Ebba without the consent of the King, and so was forced to renounce his Swedish titles; in 1892, he was granted the titles of Prince Folke Bernadotte and Count of Wisborg by his uncle, Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

Folke Bernadotte attended school in Stockholm, after which he entered training to become a cavalry officer at the Royal Military Academy.

Folke Bernadotte took the officer's exam in 1915, was commissioned a lieutenant in 1918, and subsequently was promoted to the rank of major.

Folke Bernadotte had long been involved with the Swedish Boy Scouts, and took over as director of the organization in 1937.

At the outbreak of World War II, Folke Bernadotte worked to integrate the scouts into Sweden's defense plan, training them in anti-aircraft work and as medical assistants.

Folke Bernadotte was appointed Vice Chairman of the Swedish Red Cross in 1943.

Folke Bernadotte led several rescue missions in Germany for the Red Cross.

Folke Bernadotte had originally been assigned to retrieve Norwegian and Danish POWs in Germany.

Folke Bernadotte returned on 1 May 1945, the day after Hitler's death.

Folke Bernadotte recounted the White Buses mission in his book The End.

Kersten was quoted as saying that, according to Himmler, Folke Bernadotte was opposed to the rescue of Jews and understood "the necessity of our fight against World Jewry".

On 20 May 1948, Folke Bernadotte was appointed "United Nations Mediator in Palestine", in accordance with UN-resolution 186 of 14 May 1948.

Folke Bernadotte was assassinated on Friday 17 September 1948 by members of the group Lehi, a Zionist terrorist organization, commonly known in the West as the Stern Gang.

Immediately after Folke Bernadotte was pronounced dead, his body was moved to the YMCA, after which it was taken to Haifa and flown back to Sweden.

Folke Bernadotte was granted a state funeral, Abba Eban attended on behalf of Israel.

Folke Bernadotte was survived by a widow and two sons, a 12-year-old and a 17-year-old.

Folke Bernadotte was buried in Prince Oscar Bernadotte's family tomb at the Northern Cemetery in Stockholm.

When Folke Bernadotte's motorcade approached, Cohen, Ben-Moshe, and Steinberg got out and approached it, while Makover, the driver, remained in the jeep.

Serot had swapped places in the motorcade to join Folke Bernadotte and thank him personally for having saved his wife's life in a German concentration camp.

The Swedish government believed that Folke Bernadotte had been assassinated by Israeli government agents.

In 1998, Folke Bernadotte was posthumously awarded one of the first three Dag Hammarskjold Medals, given to UN peacekeepers who are killed in the line of duty.

In 1928 in Pleasantville, New York, Folke Bernadotte married Estelle Romaine Manville, whose family had founded part of the Johns-Manville Corporation.

In September 2008, it became official that before his marriage Folke Bernadotte had a daughter with actress Lillie Ericson-Udde :.