Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

Göran Fredrik von Otter (4 August 1907 – 4 December 1988) was a Swedish diplomat and '' friherre'', best known for his service in Berlin during World War II.

Birgitta Birgitta is the Swedish and Icelandic form of the Irish Gaelic female name ''Brighid''. Brighid or Brigid was the name of an ancient Celtic goddess, and its English form is Bridget (given name), Bridget. Birgitta and its alternate forms Birgit (dis ...

and Anne Sofie von Otter are von Otter's daughters; former Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik von Otter was his grandfather.

Early life

Von Otter was born on 4 August 1907 in in Hässleholm Municipality, Kristianstad County, Sweden, the son of Lieutenant Colonel, Baron Fredrik von Otter and his wife Baroness Elsa (née Wrede). He attended the Royal Swedish Naval Academy from 1926 to 1928 and received a Candidate of Law in 1932.

Career

Von Otter conducted court service from 1932 to 1935, and became an attaché at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1935. Von Otter served in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1937, in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

and

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

in 1938, and as second vice consul in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1939. He served as second legation secretary in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in 1939, and as first legation secretary in 1942. On the night between the 22 and 23 August 1942, Göran von Otter met Kurt Gerstein in a train from Warsaw to Berlin. Gerstein was an official at the "Institute of Hygiene" of the

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

and was on his way back from the Nazi concentration camp

Treblinka Treblinka () was the second-deadliest extermination camp to be built and operated by Nazi Germany in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the Treblinka, ...

. One day earlier, Gerstein had witnessed several hundred Jewish victims being murdered in the gas chambers at

Bełżec Belzec (English: or , Polish: , approximately ) was a Nazi German extermination camp in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), occupied Poland. It was built by the SS for the purpose of implementing the secretive Operation Reinhard, the plan to ...

extermination camp. Gerstein and von Otter happened to be in the same compartment of the train. After the war, von Otter wrote about the encounter that Gerstein gave him a detailed report of what had happened at Belzec, seemed very disturbed by it and implored him to transmit this information to the Swedish authorities. Von Otter did talk with high-ranking officials at the Swedish Foreign Ministry. However, the information was not passed on to the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

or to any other party. After the end of the war, von Otter attempted to ascertain the whereabouts of Gerstein, but was not able to locate him before Gerstein's alleged

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

death on 25 July 1945 in the Cherche-Midi military prison. This, combined with his inability to persuade those in the Swedish Foreign Ministry of the initial incident, contributed greatly to the depression he struggled with late in his life. Von Otter served at the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm in 1944, in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

in 1945, and in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

in 1949. He then served as legation counsellor in the Swedish UN delegation from 1951 to 1953, and as director (''byråchef'') at the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm from 1955 to 1959 (acting in 1953), embassy counsellor in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

from 1959 to 1962, and became minister in 1959. Von Otter served as consul general in London from 1962 until his retirement in 1973.

Personal life

In 1934, von Otter married Anne Marie Ljungdahl (born 1912), the daughter of Major Claes Edward Ljungdahl and Alfsol (née Améen). They had four children:

(born 1939), Casten (born 1941), Mikael (born 1945), and Anne Sofie (born 1955).

Honours

*Herald of the Most Noble Order of the Seraphim

Awards and decorations

* Knight of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish language, Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by Frederick I of Sweden, King Frederick I on 23 F ...

Order_of_Orange-Nassau_ribbon_-_Commander

Commander of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () 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 performed acts of special merits for ...

* Commander of the

Hungarian Order of Merit The Hungarian Order of Merit () is the fourth highest State Order of Hungary. Founded in 1991, the order is a revival of an original order founded in 1946 and abolished in 1949. Its origins, however, can be traced to the Order of Merit of the K ...

Officer of the Order of the Crown * FIN_Order_of_the_White_Rose_Knight_1st_Class_BAR

Knight 1st Class of the

Order of the White Rose of Finland The Order of the White Rose of Finland (; ) 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. The President of Finland is the Grand Master of all three orders. The ...

* Officer of the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otter, Goran 1907 births 1988 deaths Swedish barons Consuls-general for Sweden 20th-century Swedish nobility People from Hässleholm Municipality Knights of the Order of the Polar Star