this was the world that forged a talent for mediation a talent which would take him to the center of world politics. in the same city almost thirty four years earlier count fold had been adults of these borg had been born two days into the new year of eight hundred ninety five. his father prince oscar but in the books was the son of king oscar the second king of by sweden and norway. at school in stockholm focus showed himself to be practical rather than intellectual a gifted linguist he spoke fluent english french and german it was a talent he would put to good use in later life. in one thousand nine hundred eighteen he graduated from the military academy of col

. a skilled horseman he rose to the rank of major in the elite dragoon cavalry unit. but not long after his marriage he was forced to resign his commission on medical grounds. shortly after when the good ones were absorbed into the swedish army but an adult decided to rent the drug god and his unit's former headquarters. estelle the millionaire's daughter transformed this military office into a luxury a swan fit for a prince. but

in one thousand nine hundred thirty four family life dragoon godden was struck by tragedy. the couple's third son frederick died shortly after his birth. two years later that eldest son gustav died. he was just six years old. yeah was after the loss of two of his sons kemp an adult decided to seek a new role in life. there. in one nine hundred thirty seven he became the head of the swedish scout movement and. he had two sentences to guide his life.

the first was rehab not cub with his will do to be happy ourselves but to make other people happy. and the second word was what is possible is already done the impossible must be done. good causes became the new focus of an adult's life. yet the utopian world bernadotte and sweden were living in was about to end. on the first of september one thousand nine hundred thirty nine. the second world war began when german troops invaded poland.

the following year at le turned to sweden snipets. by the summer of one thousand nine hundred forty the nazis had occupied by snow away and denmark. king gust of of sweden incredibly active at the age of a seventy one attended the recent maneuvers held by his son in swedish armed forces were put on alert freed unfettered by the nazis and the russians look stunned offensive. soon but an adult was mobilized.

and with his country in fear of invasion he began working to integrate the scouts into sweden's defense plan training them in antioch cry. well. and as medical assistance. but sweden's defenses would not be put to the test. germany did not invade sweden for at least two reasons sweden was not of very strategic role importance the second reason is that sweden was quite willing to supply the german armaments industries with the necessary all the cheerios i am in particular. and sweden at least in the first part of the second world was leaning towards the nazis the even allowed the german navy to cross swedish waters.

the allowance of german ethane. to violate the space street so officially they were neutral in the gloomy mean to what's germany and that was easy for the germans i mean they they got most everything they want. but securing one nine hundred forty three the tide of war would change dramatically. the seemingly invincible nazi germany now found itself losing on several fronts. the allies had been victorious in north africa. and had landed invasion forces in southern italy. on the eastern front. the red army had begun a huge counterattack. pushing the german troops back west.

from niger for the feel woods as soon as the swedish government sensed or recognized that germany is going to lose the the increasingly towards the allies. so a change in this week's attitude. in october one thousand nine hundred forty three the swedish red cross by now under the energetic command of full cabinet don't. organized a prisoner of war exchange between the western allies and nazi germany but the swedish pull to gothenburg. a year later a similar intervention the total of prisoners riprap treated to over ten thousand.

on their way home at last our heartfelt thanks are due to sweetly from the vital part played by that country in the organization of the exchange. for cabin adult had successfully established sweden's role as an intermediary. but in germany there were other prisoners in even greater need to the swedish count skills as a mediator. ally they report reported by airport got radicalized by warning of an offer right. as allied troops pushed towards berlin from the east and west.

they began to encounter concentration camps. tens of thousands of prisoners living and dying in desperate condition. january nine hundred forty five soviet troops entered. the largest center of the nazi industrial killing machine. rumors were circulating that hitler had given orders to heinrich himmler the commander of s.s. troops for the liquidation of concentration camp mates. there was to be no evidence left behind. no prisoners to tell the tale. quick and

decisive action was needed. through six years of neutrality during world war two sweden had remained a country of peace. unlike its neighbors norway and denmark. nothing has been able to stop the danish saboteurs were continually blowing up factor buildings starting fires directing trains and so. those called resisting the nazi occupation had been removed to concentration camps in germany. in the resisting ideology of national socialism they were a rian as long as they were not jewish people who had been put to germany into concentration camps out of political reasons because they resisted in norway or in

denmark they were a reaction in the eyes of the s.s. and they were ok many of them were able to understand and to talk german. which made them more human to the s.s. because they could talk to them they could give them order they were understood. exploiting this special status but not taught and the swedish red cross had already managed to get more than seventy thousand households and food and clothing to scandinavian inmates in nazi camps. the danish government had lists of the prisoners that had been brought to german concentration camps the list was a privilege because people in denmark knew where who was in which concentration camp and this meant that their relatives knew where their loved ones were and that the government was able to send packages for across packages with food and with

clothing to people personally if you sent packages to a concentration camp without a special name on it the s.s. just took them and never gave it to the prisoners but when the official packages from the red cross came the s.s. gave them to the prisoners and that made danish prisoners they had more to eat and they had a better situation. by february one thousand nine hundred forty five all privileged treatment had been overtaken by the threat of total liquidation. as the situation in the camps deteriorated the swedish government stepped in. those identified as scandinavian in turn ease in german concentration camps were to be rescued by a swedish red cross expedition. campfield had better not docked was the man who would lead the mission. the

relations between sweden and germany had by historical memories been very good before the war but i think actually that they were slightly pressed of a member of the king's family. to take all this work. i think there must have been. the man bernadotte would have to impress was heinrich himmler the commander of the s.s. the notorious paramilitary defense falls a leading member of the nazi party he had risen to become a minister of the interior and by now the second most powerful man in germany. on it was orders it was him who had set up the concentration camps controlling them through his s.s. troops. this was the man with whom bernadotte would have to negotiate

to secure the prisoners release. but how to reach him that was the crucial question. felix keston was himmler's personal masseur a baltic german physician he lived in stockholm but traveled regularly to germany to treat him as chronic abdominal cramps. felix cast an act as a kind of interview during the tween ben i bought him and as soon as bella daughter offered you know this kind of deal. in the sense that this might be a chance that only to rescue him to save him as a person against revenge of course but also maintain and even increase his power he still had power you have the power over the lives of the prisoners. keston gave

a green light to stockholm himmler had agreed that sweden could send an envoy to germany. on the sixteenth of february one thousand nine hundred forty five bernadotte embarked on one of the most courageous humanitarian efforts in history. as stella accompanied her husband to stockholm's bramah airport as count falcon bernadotte boarded a german airplane to berlin. it was a journey into. the situation was desperate from the point of view of jim and woody and. from that point of the view of the nazis. of course ben adults wanted to. take advantage of this and to pressurize the author to concede the

release of some prisoners. but to achieve this bernadotte would have to take a crucial step. negotiating face to face with him the man who controls germany's concentration. police suspect a lone gunmen is behind fifteen unsolved shootings in the city all targeting immigrants an ethnic minority and an attempted murder on a young life friday evening police were out in full force again after another man was shot out in a cycling disillusioned with the state prosecution of the victim's sister strikes up an unlikely relationship with the accused iness two serial kana a witness documentary on al-jazeera. on counting the cost this week ten years later

why young people are picking up the bill for the global financial crisis could a seismic economic event be brewing at emerging markets plus behind gated walls bubbles and crashes in the global housing market counting the cost on al-jazeera. she's the head of four generations of family and the bearer of forty years of suffering fools a heart or a hinge a refugee in her ninety's has fled persecution in me and more three separate times in her life first in one thousand seventy then one nine hundred ninety one and finally in two thousand and seventy. one the war they beat as they kidnapped as they detained does. ghoul and her family span almost a century in age bonded through blood and displacement they now all live in

a single hut located in the world's largest refugee kenya in many ways what's happened to this particular extended family really mirrors what's happened to so many other rohinton who face decades of repression and abuse the range of aren't just the world's largest group of stateless people they're also among the world's most persecuted minorities. hello i'm hasn't seeker in doha with the headlines on the us president's former campaign manager has pled guilty to two criminal charges as part of a deal with special counsel robert miller oh man of ford has agreed to cooperate with investigation into russian meddling in the twenty six thousand presidential election kevin downing paul manifolds lawyer gave the statement.

one day that this family was able to remain safe. live a good life is accepting responsibility and this is for conduct that dates back many years the everybody should remember that so big to everyone. at least five people have died as tropical storm florence hit the carolina coast in the united states it's weekend but heavy rain continues to pound in flood areas crews rescued more than three hundred sixty stranded people in new bern in north carolina and the most powerful storm so far this year has made landfall in the philippines typhoon manhood has slammed the northeast coast of luzon island ferocious winds and heavy rain ripped off tin roofs sheets and knocked out power more than five million people are risk some fifteen thousand were evacuated from high risk zones one hundred will move into the chinese mainland early monday. in syria several

demonstrations have been held to protest against the asset government one was in hama and the other was in neighboring province the last remaining rebel stronghold in the country protesters are angry at the government's plan to launch a massive military offensive to retake the territory. three palestinians have been killed on friday by israeli fire on the gaza border fence with israel one of them was a fourteen year old boy palestinian ministry of health says dozens of people have been injured. israeli soldiers of close roads near a bedouin village in the occupied west bank which is due to be demolished an army bulldozer was a squatted to the village to block roads with mounds of earth the israeli government plans to build more illegal settlements despite the protests to stop stop the destruction. those are the headlines year after they were back with the news out in a half an hour right now it's back to killing the capt. robins

brooke germany. ninety kilometers north of burlington. can you place. yet this name is infamous. synonymous with one of the most notorious nazi concentration camps. specially built to house women. by nine hundred forty five over one hundred thirty thousand female prisoners passed through russia has been. polish women with the largest group incarcerated here

many of them. more than one thousand died in robin's book seventy percent of those sent here to this day the deserted houses of the s.s. guards remain. homes of offices under the command of one of the most feared and powerful men in germany. heinrich himmler. the man with whom count foca bernadotte would have to negotiate to secure the release of scandinavian prisoners. on the one hand bama dogs wanted to save as many prisoners as possible on the other hand in negotiating with the needy nazi kimmel. to some extent

implied recognizing him. as a kind of partner. so it's a dilemma it's a catch twenty two situation. but for bernadotte there was no choice. on the nineteenth of february one thousand nine hundred forty five three days after his arrival in germany he was taken to what was then a sanatorium at home and they can not fall from robin's broke he was brought here to meet him but he's villar in the sanatorium grounds. at the negotiating table in the flatly rejected byrne adults proposal for the release of all scandinavian prisoners. but bernadotte achieved one major concession that norwegian and danish inmates should

be moved to a camp where the swedish red cross would be able to support them. the camp was called noida in goma. the camp which was nearest the danish border so he hoped that with whom he was negotiating would say ok take all the scandinavian prisoners back home and then he wanted to be as near to the danish border as he could and this was why they chose as a place. three days after meeting him the doctor was back in sweden working hard to assemble a rescue expedition.

three hundred volunteers were quickly identifier. officers and soldiers from the swedish army. red cross doctors and nurses. among the burn adults one system and. swedish transport vehicles were to be allowed into germany to collect scandinavian prisoners from other concentration camps and move them to knowing the government. allied forces by now in the control of the skies over germany were informed of the plan. their response would give the whole campaign its name. printed up spoke to some commander of the allied forces and said ok we're doing this rescue actions and please don't bombard us and then the soldier said no we can't guarantee you that so it's better if you take the bus as white or if we can

see which buses belong to your rescue action. and so they decided on painting the bus as white. and they decided to put the swedish sloc to paint it on the roof so that the planes could see are these are non german buses but these are going to neighboring buses. on march the eighth one thousand nine hundred forty five the first column of swedish buses there white paint still wet boarded a ferry and the swedish court of moma. four days later the vanguard of the expedition reached the place bernadotte had chosen as its headquarters in germany. friedrichs through casal.

the casa was owned by prince of telephone bismarck grandson of germany's chancellor . his wife and married tang boom was swedish. by then what of all. the four hundred. meter familiar down about to inspire them a bit foggy ballad out there my mother was friendly with the bernadotte family. especially with copernic dr who came here a lot to negotiate with the representatives of the third reich. when he did that vulcan bernadotte always stayed here overnight or he got on with my mother all rather with my parents very well is good for. one bismarck's castle home. was ideally placed close to the danish border and just twenty kilometers from it so.

both are happening here in the ten tallest. of the year for the school. board and. the white buses where headquartered in the xuxa involved forest and time here in the free drinks room for she under sent out to various different areas of germany to pick up prisoners from the concentration camps. and to try wherever possible to take them back to scandinavia navin supplying. the first phase of the evacuation started on march the fifteenth the white buses divided into two platoon. around forty s.s. and give stop only as officers were attached to the expedition. the first platoon headed east to the camp but sachsenhausen over three hundred kilometers away. steve young son

a swedish red cross volunteer accompanied them as a motorcycle escort. murder because there's certain holes. who when we finally arrived in socks somehow some. call the gates were opened and a lot of norwegians came out in a fairly orderly way. were there i don't there were no first the and when they took the first steps. more preserved towards freedom. that was an experience the water birth. experience part really.

the second white house's platoon headed south to duck out shan bow and mauthausen. they took with them the detailed lists of danish and norwegian prisoners being held in nazi custody. the list helped the people from the rescue mission to know whom they searched in which camp so they took the lists and went or drove into the concentration camps and they could read out mr anderson mr young and so on must be here so we search for him and he is to come to the bus and we take him with us so it made it very easy in that part for the rescue action that the lists were there. but within two weeks the white buses campaign had become a victim of its own success. by

late march more than four thousand five hundred danish and norwegian prisoners had been evacuated and brought to the noise of government camp. which was over capacity even before the first white bus arrived. had been billed for two thousand five hundred prisoners and at the end shortly before the scandinavians were brought here there were fourteen thousand prisoners. so the camp was totally crowded and the people were dying. because no one had an own bed and there was not enough to eat and so on. the germans insisted that if the evacuations were to continue the swedish buses would have to transfer two thousand inmates of noise and gama away to other camps.

on the twenty seventh of march the swedish yielded to the german demand. the white buses designed to save scandinavian prisoners were now carrying hundreds of others to an unknown future. as far as we know not many of them made it because they were so ill and dying but many many of them died during the transport in this ward buses to other concentration camps. and this was a problem for the scandinavian prisoners knowing that those people had been brought away in order to give them space. they hadn't asked for this. they were guilty but but they felt they were guilty because their. better life was.

made other people die. this terrible task complete the white buses could return to their job of collecting more scandinavian inmates from camps and prisons scattered across nazi germany and by the beginning of april one thousand nine hundred forty five some seven thousand danish and norwegians had been brought together in. but the ultimate purpose was still to be achieved getting all the scandinavian prisoners out of germany and away to safety in sweden. once more count full cabana dot the driving force behind the expedition returned to germany.