On Assassination

Last month I visited Seattle for a couple of talks at the Washington University and the Seattle Council on World Affairs.

While there, a gentleman named Dr. James Sanchez introduced himself and presented to me a book written by Cyrus Sulzberger which was published in 1969. He wanted me to read what Sulzberger wrote about the assassination of  Count Bernadotte the United Nations Security Council envoy to the Middle East.

Folke Bernadotte (1895-1948) was a member of the House of Bernadotte, the current royal dynasty of the Kingdom of Sweden, as well as that of Norway between 1818 and 1905. He was a diplomat noted for his negotiations of the release of about 15,000 prisoners from German concentration camps during World War II including 11,000 Jews. After the war, Bernadotte was unanimously chosen by the victorious powers to be the UN mediator in the Arab Israeli conflict of 1947-1948. He was assassinated in Jerusalem in 1948 by members of underground Zionist groups while pursuing his official duties.

Count Bernadotte

Cyrus L. Sulzberger worked as a journalist in the newspaper owned by his family The New York Times. His mother was the sole descendent of Adolph Ochs the owner of the NY Times and a Jewish community pillar. Cyrus’s paternal grandfather was Chairman of the American Zionist Federation.

While the fact that Stern and Irgon, the Zionist extremist terrorist groups, have assassinated countless foreign diplomats and Arab civilians is common knowledge to anyone who has read the history of Israel - What I found most astounding was that Cyrus Sulzberger actually knew about the planned assassination of Count Bernadotte prior to it taking place. His brother-in-law Alexis was working at the time for Count Bernadotte, and instead of warning the UN envoy about the eminent danger on his life, he did something extraordinary; I will let him tell the story in his own words, and leave the final judgment to the reader:

“ Tel Aviv, July 24, 1948 A most extraordinary thing happened today. I was typing in our room and Alexis (who is a very late sleeper) was still in bed with the sheet wrapped around his head to keep out the light. A knock at the door and a message was handed to me: a name I didn’t recognize. Downstairs were two handsome, tall young fellows in khaki shorts and light-colored shirts. They shook hands and suggested we go out for a coffee because they had something to say. It turned out they were both South African Jews who had come here since the war and were not only ardent Zionists but members of the Stern gang. … They discussed the aims of the Sternists and, among other things, horrified me by warning that the organization intended to assassinate Count Bernadotte and other advisers on the UN mission just the way they had murdered Lord Moyne [who was the British state minister to the Middle East until 1944 when he was murdered by Stern] because it was necessary to frustrate the UN effort to confine Israel within artificially constricted borders. At first I couldn’t believe them. When I was convinced I took them upstairs, awakened Alexis and, as I pulled him up by the hair, said: “This is my brother-in-law. He works for UN and I don’t want him murdered by mistake; he’s not important enough for any deliberate murdering. Remember his face.” Alexis looked bewildered. My visitors nodded amiably and departed. After they left I told Alexis what it was all about.”

A Long Row of Candles, pp.402-403

Lord Moyne

Count Bernadotte was assassinated six weeks later among other UN officials. However, Alexis’s life was spared, I presume. Following this assassinations, the British authorities declared Stern and the Haganah as terrorist organizations, and put a trophy for the capture of two of their wanted leaders: Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir.