“…However, he put a tommy gun through the open window on my side of the car and fired point-blank at Count Bernadotte and Colonel Serot. I also heard shots fired from other points and there was considerable confusion…”
STATEMENT BY GENERAL AAGE LUNDSTROM (2)
I met Count Bernadotte in Beirut on Thursday morning, 16th September, and went with him to Damascus, where we spent the night. We left Damascus on Friday morning, 17th September, by air at approximately 9.30 a.m. (Arab time). On our way to Kalandia field (3) we received a message from Haifa to the effect that all aircraft landing at Kalandia would be fired on. As we had sent advance notice of our arrival and had received clearance, we discounted this warning as false and landed at Kalandia without incident. At the airfield we were met by United Nations Observers Colonel Bonnot (France), Colonel S~rot (France) and Major af Petersens (Sweden). With Major Massart (Belgium) as driver, the Count, Colonel Bonnot France), Lieut.-Colonel Flach (Sweden), Major De Geer (Sweden) and myself, we left the airfield to visit Brigadier Lash of the Arab Legion at Ramall ah. The rest of Count Bernadotte's party were ordered to proceed to the American School and to wait for us there.
Before we started, I was told that every other jeep or car was fired upon at the Mandelbaum Gate (4). I then asked Count Bernadotte if it would not be wiser to proceed from Ramallah via Latrun to Jerusalem. This route would take an hour longer, but would undoubtedly be safer. Count Bernadotte answered:
"I would not do that. I have to take the same risks as my Observers, and moreover, I think no one has the right to refuse me permission to pass through the lines. If I do not go, I will be admitting that they [Israeli authorities] have the right to prevent me from crossing the lines." I agreed, and it was decided that after the meeting with Brigadier Lash we would return through the lines at the Mandelbaum Gate. We then left to keep our appointment with Brigadier Lash. After the meeting I asked Brigadier Lash for a guard to take us to the front lines and received an armored car, which met us on the way to the lines. En route, just past Kalandia, our car was fired on from a short distance (pistol shot) and one bullet hit the disc of the rear wheel. We then arrived at the American School (5), where we collected the rest of the Count's staff and proceeded to the Mandelbaum Gate and on to the Y.M.C.A (6) without incident of any kind.
During lunch at the Y.M.C.A. a program for the afternoon was settled. Count Bernadotte was to see Dr. Joseph, Military Governor of the Jewish part of Jerusalem, at 6.30 p.m., and before that we were to visit the Government House (7) and Agricultural School (8) in the Red Cross Area. Three cars were ordered, but I decided that only two would be permitted to pass the lines to the Red Cross Area. One car was driven by Colonel Frank Begley, with Commander Cox in the front seat, the Count, Colonel Serot and myself in the back seat. The other car was driven by Major Massart, with the Jewish liaison officer Captain Hillman, Miss Wessel, Lieut.-Colonel Flach and Major De Geer as passengers. We went first to Government House. From the roof of the tower Commander Cox pointed out the different areas where there had been a lot of firing, the front lines and neutral zone, etc. The question was raised about eighteen Jewish men who had been brought up to the Agricultural School, while it was desired that still more should be brought in to clean up. Count Bernadotte would not allow that, of course, as it was against his decision. He asked the Swiss doctor, Dr Facel, representing the interest of the International Red Cross Committee at Government House, to come with us to the Agricultural School. When we came to the school the woman in charge was away and Commander Cox was not sure about the terms of the agreement. He wanted to look at his papers in the Y.M.C.A., and the doctor was asked to come with us in order that we might get his opinion on how to deal with this situation. The doctor took his own Red Cross car, and otherwise the order of the cars remained the same, with the Count's car last in the convoy. ~'e went from the neutral zone to the Jewish lines without incident, crossed the check-points and went on farther into the New City. In the Qatamon quarter we were held up by a Jewish army -type jeep, placed in a road-block, and filled up with men in Jewish Army uniforms. At the same moment I saw a man running from this jeep. I took little notice of this because I merely thought that it was another check-point. However, he put a tommy gun through the open window on my side of the car and fired point-blank at Count Bernadotte and Colonel Serot. I also heard shots fired from other points and there was considerable confusion. The Jewish liaison officer came running to our car and told Begley, who was at that time out of the car, to drive away as quickly as possible. In the meantime, the man was still firing. Colonel Serot fell in the seat at the back of me and I saw at once that he was dead. Count Bernadotte bent forward and I thought at the time that he was trying to get cover. I asked him: “Are you wounded?” He nodded and fell back. I helped him to lie down in the car. I now realized that he was severely wounded; there was a considerable amount of blood on his clothes mainly around the heart. By this time the Jewish liaison officer had got into the car and was urging Begley to drive quickly to the Hadassah Hospital (the annex in the New Town), which was only a short distance away. I have the impression that the Jewish liaison officer did everything he possibly could to assist us to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. It could not have taken more than a couple of minutes to make the journey from the scene of the accident to the hospital. When we arrived, with the help of some other people I carried the Count inside and laid him on a bed. We had sent for a medical officer, but while waiting for him to arrive I took off the Count's jacket and tore away his shirt and undervest. I saw that he was wounded around the heart and that there was also a considerable quantity of blood on his clothes about the hip. When the doctor arrived I asked if anything could be done, but he replied that it was too late. Major De Geer went in Dr. Facel's car to fetch the Count's personal doctor, Dr. Ullmark. I stayed with the Count, and was later joined by Major De Geer, Miss Wessel and Dr. Ullmark. I then left and went to see Colonel Serot, who had been placed in another room. The doctor confirmed that he had died instantly. After a while I went in a car to the Y.M.C.A. and tried to get in touch with Dr. Joseph and Colonel Dayan, Military Commander of the Israeli Forces in Jerusalem. They arrived at the Y.M.C.A. after a very short time. I said that I would not do anything that would create an impression of panic, but that I had to decide before sunset whether the Observers could stay at their posts during the night without danger. If in their opinion, there would be considerable danger for the Observers, I would recall them. They assured me that in their opinion, although of course they could make no guarantee, there was no added danger, and I decided that the Observers should remain at their posts. However, I asked Colonel Dayan for a guard to be placed around the Y.M.C.A. Later on Dr. Bunche and General Riley arrived from Kalandia airfield. By that time it had already been decided that the Count's and Colonel Serot's bodies should be taken to the Y.M.C.A., and onwards, on Saturday morning, 18th September, to Haifa. The bodies would be accompanied by Colonel Bonnot, Lieut.-Colonel Flach and myself with members of the Count's personal staff. A room in the Y.M.C.A. was beautifully prepared by Mr. Miller, head of the Y.M.C.A., and the bodies of Count Bernadotte and Colonel Serot were laid in state. A short, simple service was conducted by two Catholic priests, and a guard of Officer Observers was mounted inside the room to watch through the night with an enlisted Observer on guard at the door.
On reflection after the incident, I am convinced that this was a deliberate and carefully planned assassination. The spot where the cars were halted was carefully chosen, and the people who approached the cars quite obviously not only knew which car Count Bernadotte was in but also the exact position in the car which he occupied.
Jerusalem, 17th September 1948
(1) From Folke Bernadotte, To Jerusalem translated from the Swedish by Joan Bulman (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1951), Appendix I, pp.266-70. Reprinted by permission of ABP. A. Norstedt and Soner; and Hodder and Stoughton Limited.
(2) Count Folke Bernadotte was a member of the Swedish royal family. As representative of the International Red Cross in the later stages of World War II, he helped to save the lives of thousands of Jews and Allied prisoners of war. He was appointed on 14 May 1948, UN Mediator in Palestine. General A. Lundstrom was Chief of Staff, United Nations Truce Supervision and Personal Representative of Count F. Bernadotte in Palestine.
(3) A small Arab civilian airport just north of Jerusalem.
(4) The crossing point from Arab to Israeli territory in Jerusalem.
(5) The American School was in the Arab Sector of Jerusalem.
(6) The Y.M.C.A. was in the Israeli sector.
(7) The former residence of the British High Commissioner had become UN Headquarters since the appointment of a UN mediator.
(8) The Jewish Agricultural School, which remained in the possession of the Jews, was about five hundred yards away from Government House.