User talk:Zero0000/temp2

Bernadotte and Kersten
This is a temporary sandbox to delevop the story of Folke Bernadotte and Felix Kersten. A big question is whether it is too long for the article Folke Bernadotte; another possibility is a separate article.

Bernadotte's access to Himmler, and perhaps his achievement of convincing Himmler to release concentration camp inmates, had been facilitated by Himmler's masseur Felix Kersten. However, when Bernadotte published his account of the affair after the war, Kersten was conspicuously absent, and, furthermore, Bernadotte made an effort to limit the distribution of Kersten's memoirs when they were published in 1947.

The resulting feud between Bernadotte and Kersten came to public attention mostly due to British historian Hugh Trevor-Roper. In 1953, Trevor-Roper published an article based on an interview with Kersten and documents originating with Kersten. The article stated that Bernadotte's role in the rescue operations was that of "transport officer, no more". More damagingly, Kersten was quoted as saying that, according to Himmler, Bernadotte was opposed to the rescue of Jews and understood "the necessity of our fight against World Jewry". A few years later, Trevor-Roper moderated this charge, continuing to claim that Bernadotte had refused to take Jews but suggesting that the cause was not anti-Semitism but Bernadotte's failure to understand his instructions.

At the time of Trevor-Roper's accusations, Kersten had just been nominated by the Dutch government for the Nobel Peace Prize for thwarting a Nazi plan to deport the entire Dutch population. A later official Dutch investigation concluded that no such plan had ever existed and that some of Kersten's documents were fabricated. These revelations and others caused Trevor-Roper to back off from his claims even further. In 1995, he told journalist Barbara Amiel, "I am not certain that Bernadotte refused to take Jews. I have some reservations about the documentation here. If he did, it may well have been that he simply had no instructions except in respect of Norwegians and Danes."

According to Amitzur Ilan, the 'proof' of Bernadotte's anti-Semitism rests entirely on a letter allegedly sent by Bernadotte to Himmler in March 1945. The letter said "I do not want to take any Jews...I ask you, Mr. Himmler, do it yourself." and "Your 'V' weapon is not hitting London well. I leave you a sketch of English military targets." A copy of this letter was produced in 1953 by Kersten, who claimed it had been typed in Himmler's headquarters from the original. However, when historian Gerald Fleming asked Scotland Yard to examine the letter in 1976, it was determined that it had been typed on Kersten's own typewriter. Fleming concluded that the original never existed; Ilan more cautiously suggested that Kersten had distorted the original. In any case, no original has been found.

Other doubts about Bernadotte's role in the rescue mission have been raised in Denmark and Sweden, contrary to the official positions of those countries. Historian Sune Persson judged them to be contradicted by the documentary evidence. His conclusion was that "The accusations against Count Bernadotte ... to the effect that he refused to save Jews from the concentration camps are obvious lies" and listed many prominent eyewitnesses who testified on Bernadotte's behalf. These included the World Jewish Congress representative in Stockholm in 1945. Another book making similar charges was published in Hebrew by Ofer Regev in 2006. Journalist and historian Danny Rubinstein's review of the book called it "riddled with inaccuracies, large and small". Of the charge of pro-Nazi sympathies, Rubinstein wrote "Many scholars have explored this claim, but very few have come to the conclusion that it was anything more than perhaps a tendency. Most say there is no basis for such a claim whatsoever."

Other stuff not fitting well

"Bernadotte's jealousy of Kersten's accomplishments led to Kersten's manufacturing documents to support his claims." - Palmer, p48.

"The times, dates, and locations of conversations with Himmler reproduced by Kersten often do not correspond to the locations or times on those dates listed in Himmler's appointment books." - Breitman, Richard, A Deal with the Nazi Dictatorship?: Himmler's Alleged Peace Emissaries in Autumn 1943, Journal of Contemporary History, 30:3 (1995:July) p.411