Nansenhjelpen

The Nansen assistance to refugees and stateless persons (Norwegian Nansenhjelp ) was founded in 1936 by Odd Nansen ( 1901-1973 ), the son of Fridtjof Nansen ( 1861-1930 ). You should care about the many stateless refugees in interwar Europe, and also took many refugees who fled from Nazi Germany to Norway ( cf. German -speaking emigration to Norway 1933-1945), the greatest part of them German Jews. The Nansen Fridtjof Nansen assistance should honor their memory and provide efficient help in his senses. It was a private foundation, its activities were financed by donations, state funds and the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

The first of the great support actions devoted to Austrian refugees after the Anschluss. After the German invasion of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 ( " destruction of the remainder of Czechoslovakia " ) the Nansen help was able to obtain entry permits for 200 adults and 60 children at the Norwegian government. In the Soviet-Finnish Winter War 1939/40, humanitarian work has been supported on the Finnish side.

After the German occupation of Norway 1940, the relief work could only be continued very limited. In June 1940, the Nansen Help participated in the founding of the Norwegian aid organization Nasjonalhjelpen, which had officially cease its activities in September 1941. An important task was the distribution of clothing and food, which came from Sweden and other countries to Norway.

In the fall of 1942, the Office of the Nansen help of Norwegian Nazi authorities was closed. Odd Nansen himself since January 1942 was already in custody, first in stock Grini, later in Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where he was liberated in April 1945.

In 1946, the Nansen assistance to the newly formed Norwegian aid Europe, later renamed "Norwegian Refugee Council ", since 2005 " Flyktninghjelpen ", Norway's largest humanitarian organization.