Niels Christian Ditleff (29 October 1881 – 18 June 1956) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

diplomat, noted for his humanitarian efforts on behalf of captives of the Germans during

World War 2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In spite of opposition from his own and allied governments, he initiated and organized the

White Buses White Buses was a Swedish humanitarian operation with the objective of freeing Scandinavians in German concentration camps in Nazi Germany during the final stages of World War II. Although the White Buses operation was envisioned to rescue Scan ...

campaign to rescue Scandinavian prisoners in German concentration camps. He was also instrumental in evacuating foreign diplomats from

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

during the German invasion and to rescue Jews in coordination with

Nansenhjelpen Nansenhjelpen (formally called Nansen Hjelp, variously called the Nansen Relief in English and Nansenhilfe in German) was a Norwegian humanitarian organization founded by Odd Nansen in 1936 to provide safe haven and assistance in Norway for Jewish ...

Biography

Ditleff was born to a maritime family in the port city of Larvik. His father, a sea captain, died when Niels was only three years old. Niels mustered as a sailor during his youth and was admitted subsequently to the

Norwegian Naval Academy The Royal Norwegian Naval Academy (RNoNA, ''Sjøkrigsskolen'' in Norwegian) is located at Laksevåg in Bergen. It was formally established 27 October 1817 in Frederiksvern. The institution educates officers for the Royal Norwegian Navy. History ...

. He graduated with a commission as a lieutenant but resigned his commission to pursue a career in diplomacy. He was stationed first in the Norwegian consulate general in

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

from 1903 to 1906 and was thereafter sent as

vice consul A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

and

chargé d'affaires A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...

to missions in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

, and

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

before an interval at the ministry offices in Oslo from 1920 to 1926. He was stationed in Warsaw during 1926, where he was promoted to ambassador, both to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

during 1930. He was also accredited to

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

from 1935 to 1937. Although he had to evacuate Warsaw during the

German invasion German invasion may refer to: Pre-1900s * German invasion of Hungary (1063) World War I * German invasion of Belgium (1914) * German invasion of Luxembourg (1914) World War II * Invasion of Poland * German invasion of Belgium (1940) * G ...

of 1939, he maintained his official role as emissary until the end of the war. He was stationed as Norway's ambassador to Finland from 1945 to 1950, after which he chose to retire. Ditleff never sought recognition or fame for his contributions. In addition to his diplomatic career, Ditleff was also an accomplished composer, artist, and playwright. During 1921, he wrote the three-act play ''Tahove'', and another play ''Statsministeren'', which were both shown at Nationaltheatret. He wrote the libretto for the operetta Don Carrambo, played at

Den Nationale Scene Den Nationale Scene ( en, National Theater) is the largest theatre in Bergen, Norway. Den Nationale Scene is also one of the oldest permanent theatres in Norway. History Opened under the name '' Det Norske Theater'' in 1850, the theatre has root ...

in Bergen. During the course of his work, he also developed fluency with the languages Portuguese, Spanish, and Polish, in addition to his working knowledge of Norwegian, German, and English. He also published newspaper articles and stories, often with his own illustrations. At a time when this was unusual, he was also an avid recreational runner, known in the city of Warsaw for his daily runs back and forth along the

Vistula River The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

, criss-crossing the bridges. His friend

Johan Borgen Johan Collett Müller Borgen (28 April 1902 – 16 October 1979) was a Norwegian writer, journalist and critic. His best-known work is the novel ''Lillelord'' for which he was awarded the Norwegian Critics Prize for Literature in 1955. He was ...

dubbed him "the running diplomat". He and his wife Johanne Margrethe Hagerup Bull (daughter of

Edvard Hagerup Bull Edvard Hagerup Bull (23 January 1855 – 25 March 1938) was a Norwegian jurist and assessor of the Supreme Court of Norway. He was a member of the Norwegian Parliament and government official with the Conservative Party of Norway. Background Ed ...

) died in an automobile accident during 1956.

World War II

Ditleff's humanitarian contributions during World War II are related to two specific episodes: the evacuation of foreign diplomats and Jews from Warsaw, and the White Buses campaign to rescue Scandinavians in German concentration camps.

Evacuation from Warsaw

During the spring of 1939, Ditleff established a transit station in Warsaw for Jewish refugees from Czechoslovakia that had been sent there through the sponsorship of

. Ditleff arranged for the refugees to receive food, clothing, and transportation to

Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and ...

, where they boarded ships bound for Norway. As German forces approached Warsaw during September 1939, the Polish government and general staff escaped the city; however, most of the foreign diplomatic corps and other foreign nationals remained. Ditleff, acting as the

doyen Doyen and doyenne (from the French word ''doyen'', ''doyenne'' in the feminine grammatical gender) is the senior ambassador by length of service in a particular country. In the English language, the meaning of doyen (feminine form: doyenne) ha ...

of the corps, tried early to hail German military authorities with a handheld radio to arrange an orderly evacuation. German airplanes tracked the transmission and

strafed Strafing is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons. Less commonly, the term is used by extension to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft such ...

the car, but he was eventually able to negotiate a 4-hour cease-fire to arrange the evacuation of 1,200 individuals. They left in a convoy consisting of two trucks and sedans. Ditleff himself drove one car for 48 hours until he fell asleep behind the wheel.

White Buses

Ditleff had returned to Norway by the time Nazi Germany

invaded An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

and

occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October ...

Norway but was able to escape to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, where he joined the Norwegian legation there. Ditleff actively opposed the "stay put doctrine" of the Norwegian and Danish governments—the idea that it was safer to let Norwegian and Danish prisoners stay in German concentration camps until hostilities ended, or to evacuate them through dangerous areas—advocating instead trying to retrieve Norwegian and Danish citizens in German concentration camps. During November 1944, he proposed a plan to rescue these prisoners and finally prevailed in securing sponsorship for the

operation that rescued tens of thousands of prisoners during the last months of the war. To negotiate the rescue with the German authorities, he enlisted

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 31,000 prisoners from German concentration camps, including 450 Danish Jews fr ...

to act using the good offices of the

International Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...

. Bernadotte subsequently initiated contact with

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

to implement the plan, which ultimately resulted in the evacuation of tens of thousands of refugees.

Honours

Ditleff received a large number of Norwegian and foreign orders and decorations, including: * Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav (Norway) (12 March 1946, for his work for Norwegian and Danish prisoners in Germany); Knight 1st Class (1927), Commander with Star (1939) *

Haakon VII's Freedom Cross King Haakon VII's Freedom Cross ( no, Haakon VIIs Frihetskors) was established in Norway on 18 May 1945. The medal is awarded to Norwegian or foreign military or civilian personnel for outstanding achievement in wartime. It is ranked fifth in the ...

(Norway) * Grand Cross of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

(Denmark) * Commander Grand Cross of the

Order of the White Rose of Finland The Order of the White Rose of Finland ( fi, Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun ritarikunta; sv, Finlands Vita Ros’ orden) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. ...

(Finland) * Grand Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on al ...

(Poland) * Commander Grand Cross of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of the ...

(Sweden) * Order of the Phoenix *

Order of the White Lion The Order of the White Lion ( cs, Řád Bílého lva) is the highest order of the Czech Republic. It continues a Czechoslovak order of the same name created in 1922 as an award for foreigners (Czechoslovakia had no civilian decoration for its ...

(Czechoslovakia) * Order of the Crown of Romania * Commander of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

(Netherlands) * Order of Christ (Portugal, 1921 Commander, 1940 Grand Cross)Portuguese President's website
/ref> * King Christian X's Freedom Award. * The Swedish Red Cross' Merit. * Norwegian Red Cross badges of honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ditleff Niels Christian 1880s births 1956 deaths Norwegian people of World War II People from Larvik Royal Norwegian Naval Academy alumni Royal Norwegian Navy personnel Road incident deaths in Norway Grand Crosses of the Order of Polonia Restituta Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star Recipients of the King Haakon VII Freedom Cross Recipients of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece) Recipients of the Order of the White Lion Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Romania) Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Grand Crosses of the Order of Christ (Portugal) Ambassadors of Norway to Poland Ambassadors of Norway to Romania Ambassadors of Norway to Finland Ambassadors of Norway to Czechoslovakia