D. W. You know that seventy seven percent. Are younger than six of. Guts me and me and you. And you know what its time all voices. On the seventy seven percent to talk about the issues that. There is a plan to cut. The seventy seven percent this weekend on d w. In the one Nine Hundred Twenty s. The Russian Revolution and the Armenian Genocide led to millions of people being forced to leave their homelands to make it impossible for them to return to their
respective rulers revoke their citizenship on matters. Jurists introduced the term stateless to describe people who had been driven into permanent exile. Writer Vladimir Noble Cause himself one of those affected said it was as if they had dropped off the face of the planet over two Million People mainly russians and armenians were brutally up rooted in force to begin a new life elsewhere they dispersed to the four corners of the earth. But in spite of all their misfortune the stateless people were lucky enough to have a headstrong humanist norwegian on their side his name was freaking off nuns. After the First World War had ravaged europe and left millions dead the League Of Nations was founded in geneva in One Thousand Nineteen its goal was to prevent such a catastrophe from ever happening again. The forty founding nations sent delegates there and with high hopes. Norway chose freedom often onsen to be its permanent representative. He shared the ideals of the League Of Nations a city picked us to jail didnt know him at the time since the First World War the intellectuals were a man with Authority Whose opinions were sought after. At the League Of Nations people came together whod never been trained for the roles that they were now expected to fill after world war one you know toward some pivot when you again. Trigger off once and was primarily
a scientist who liked to work outdoors he led several perilous expeditions to conduct through logical windows you know graphic research. In One Thousand Nine Hundred Five he came close to reaching the north pole and exploit that made him world famous. His scientific discoveries also learned Him Recognition from academics Around The World Manson used his fame to support norways Independence Movement which led to the dissolution of norways union with sweden in one thousand know five. Months and was celebrated as a hero by his countrymen. His First Mission for the League Of Nations was to repatriate Prisoners Of War in late one nine hundred Ninety Nansen Set off for russia where thousands of men whod been captured by Russian Forces during world war one were still being held in far flung parts of
the country. Its right that the League Of Nations takes the repatriation of the prisoners in hand as their suffering is the result of a war the likes of which the world has never seen the leak must make it impossible for such a catastrophe to ever repeat itself it nansen its mission was made more difficult by the fact that russia was in the midst of a revolution nicholas the second the last tsar had been forced to abdicate in one Nine Hundred Seventeen he was then imprisoned by The Bolsheviks and later executed along with his wife and five children under lenin the communists swore to rid russia of its old aristocracy but people who use it. At the start it was viewed as a coup detat. But then the whole course of history and what was to come next wasnt clear. Still it was a Declaration Of War on the ruling classes because you dont. Not hear hall there at the mike. Great grandfather was a chamberlain or Something Like that at the Winter Palace he served there until the revolution and even in the months that followed that ended badly because there was an attempt to assassinate lenin when a certain family kaplan shot him. Lenin survived the attack and reacted by arresting five hundred dignitaries including my great grandfather and locking them up in the crunch that fortress off them. From what i understand after a few days or maybe two weeks because they didnt know what to do with these hostages they tied them together back to back and tossed them into the gulf of finland. They all drowned including my great grandfather neither he nor my grandfather have a grave they just disappeared disappeared. The song is all the stuff becomes. The communists came to power in moscow and St Petersburg and raised the red army to fight a life and death struggle against the counterrevolutionary whites jetted took dope from october one Nine Hundred Seventeen when everything blew up until the moment when they fled they lived in a country which was still their own but surrounded by terra result all the bushes he caught in The Bolsheviks would derail entire trains and then davy up the passengers they checked peoples hands and if someone had a well kept hands they shot him on the spot when they saw it as a sign of the bush was eat the aristocracy you cant overstate the savage area of the revolution this is with us leader evolution. In my new shoes given a christmas q this is the heart of the revolution the thing which people remember most vividly both the whites and the reds for the expropriations. The
expropriation of peoples homes first confiscation then dispossession symbolized the collapse of the social order. It was into this chaos that freed you off once and came to arrange for the repatriation of Six Hundred Thousand soldiers captured in the First World War. I have returned from the land of shadows and when i think of all the unbearable Human Suffering i saw there i cant sit back and do nothing but join forces before its too late. Mansons travels through russia convinced him that the country was on the verge of famine so he asked the big Western Powers to provide food aid right away. When they refused to turn to humanitarian organizations like the American Red Cross and since persistence on this is very First Mission earned him the reputation of being an on
phone to replay at the League Of Nations. And was also one of the few westerners to predict the coming apocalypse which would drive so Many Russians into exile. To. The uk you see surface appears is where three centuries of history for the suspects in ski family came to an end. They rose with a romanovs when they ascended to the throne in sixteen thirteen by one Nine Hundred Twenty it was all over. Look if we measured this is he did imagine that its night the Seas Frozen All The Way to the finish coast thirty five or forty kilometers away you set off in the dark to reach the finish border. My grandfather was accompanied by his two eldest sons my father was twelve his older brother
fifteen my grandfather was forty one of forty two he and his eldest son were on crosscountry skis. My father was in a horse drawn sleigh possibly with other escapees the red guards would patrol here at night and shoot whenever they heard a sound. A horse galloping or noises made by a sleigh or skis. He did this good for me all bruce and each night the reds would send out an ice breaker from petrograd to foil Escape Attempts will be sure to treat a little nearer to me but what my father remembers most is the sound of the ice cracking and wondering if theyd make it across before the ice breaker. Robbery maginnis because if you can imagine how risky it was to meet with the people traffickers who had to be paid as my grandparents didnt own much they were expelled they might have had
a Little Jewelry with them i dont know about. It to tell me it all ended right here it involved its moving. List to they left everything behind them absolutely everything. This could say to you people were fleeing mainly from the big cities like moscow and St Petersburg which were in the hands of The Bolsheviks. The elicit a rallying cry among the classes opposed to the revolution was goes south. Well a forerunner of the white army was already forming. With the capture of Rostov On Don in january nineteen twenty the reds victory was sealed the white army forces were pushed back and eventually driven out of russia. The allies also played a major role during this huge up evil and really during the entire civil war as well not only did they supply the whites with weapons they also played an important part in their evacuation of their ships were docked nearby. They came and collected people in the Caucasus Region and on the black sea coast. That was the start of the mass exodus because all back you know. I dont get it at first the reds let the white forces go but many civilians went along with them. By the final months of one Nine Hundred Twenty people were fleeing in panic on the news and so on. By the end of one Nine Hundred Twenty one and
a half million russians had left their own land and more waiting to be taken in by various European Countries most of these refugees hope to settle in germany or france but in constantinople the capital of the Ottoman Empire their situation only worsened becoming a humanitarian catastrophe. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the defeated white army streamed into the city with their families and became stranded there. They lived in cramped Emergency Shelters scattered throughout constantinople. At the time of their arrival turkish nationalists were driving Orthodox Christian minorities out of the Ottoman Empire so the russians were also Orthodox Christians were unwelcome. The red cross cared for the russian refugees as best they could but soon realized that the problem was too big for them to handle on their own they sent a telegram to the diplomats at the League Of Nations who decided to create the post
of High Commissioner for refugees and gave the jan two free job finance. You should not send the decision to make munson High Commissioner for refugees was prompted by the success of his mission to repatriate the Prisoners Of War. In addition that the League Of Nations humanitarian affairs were considered matters for smaller nations. So the major powers were more than happy to in shops this task to the representative of the Nordic Country a few resource. Once in arrived in constantinople and his function as High Commissioner for refugees he was shocked by the russian refugees living conditions. I thought i saw a whole city before me with its thousands of lights it was their camps spread out over the plain camp fire by camp fire and there they were sleeping on the ground
without any shelter of any kind they do not know where they are going and will find no shelter when they come dancing quickly realized that the russians had to be evacuated from constantinople Circle San Lucas feeling that raise the question of how they should be distributed among the various host countries and who should care for them look its true that you went right from the start there was also the question of their legal status who are these people and how can we protect them from a legal perspective balls and also everyone assumed that nuns and would also be organizing the refugees expected return to their homeland a short while later. Yet in december of one Nine Hundred Twenty one issued a decree in the form of an automated. All russians living outside of the country or called upon to recognize the new regime and had three months in which to register
at a soviet consulate if they failed to do so by this deadline their citizenship would be revoked one and a half million russians ignored this ultimatum and consequently became stateless. The bolshevik governments wholesale and collective disenfranchisement of millions was completely unprecedented with a simple decree a stroke of a pen peoples worlds fell apart. Piece couldnt. Because russians who Werent Living In russia were no longer russian citizens they now had no nationality at all finding themselves in a legal vacuum that raised the question who are they then they were stateless and that wasnt just a fact but also a legal issue. So some thought had to be given to introducing
a system to care for those who no longer benefited from the protection of any state of being he he. Put the son who can only not and efficient refugees were now seen as people without nationality who no longer had a country of origin and so were anomalies in the context of international companies. Little. At this time when new Nation States were arising Out Of The Ashes of empires the first thing that these new states did was to introduce Border Controls for soon visitors. To some entrance and exit visas and Identity Papers were now required most everywhere book produced but as Many Russians had left their country with documents that were only valid in their own land and had since expired or had no idea at all they had nothing to show. This marks the first time that europe was confronted with
the issue of undocumented migrants a solution had to be found which would allow these people to travel within europe. The idea for the nuns and passport was born in the p. S. If you know it was called a certificate at first it was a solution to a very concrete and urgent problem it was your final. Yes consul then there never really been any agreement at the european level on the Refugee Issue so this was a real innovation and one that was realized in a very short time and will cool. Manson assembled a group of lawyers comprised of Stateless Russians together they considered what rights and responsibilities would be associated with such an Identity Document for different host countries their goal was to coordinate residency and working
conditions and to facilitate Travel Nansen embarked on a Parable World Tour to present and promote his passport in as many countries as possible. Through commission will sell my commission and munson and takes office which was linked to the League Of Nations had virtually no Financial Resources will no funding didnt do all they had was an Operating Budget that was simply ridiculous rigid function Motility Truett the League Of Nations gave nansen just Fifteen Thousand pounds sterling which were allocated for the evacuation of the refugees from constantinople. When the people left constantinople they had no idea theyd be in paris only two years later project why they only found their way there gradually. Relatively few made their way directly from constantinople to paris or to france at all. About the one there is really was
a journey in stages. Whether in paris berlin new york or shanghai russian refugees had to register with the committee comprised of a representative of the office of the High Commissioner and other russian refugees checked whether the state was people met the criteria to receive a Nansen Passport it was valid for a year and could be extended for a lifetime holders were expressly. Forbidden from returning to their countries of origin after receiving the passport they were under the protection of their host country. Its going up and up even at the beginning of the one Nine Hundred Thirty s. People were talking about the nuns and passport but in reality it was only a collection of visas that looked like anything but a passport from this description everyone thinks of a complete document but flipping through its pages you can see it wasnt that way at all but in reality it took many years until the nuns and pass had become this
little booklet. Still it was viewed as an outstanding solution to the Refugee Problem which was considered huge at the time when you. Could do where you have to give way yes theres nothing but travel and more travel. So fast. It went through poland first to kiev then to poland and then arrived in berlin. This is their solve i was born stateless in berlin i didnt have a homeland days and i was like my parents i had nothing i was completely stateless yeah yeah to give. Up our country good features ya as a student in berlin poverty did any job going he was dying of hunger. You think if
you did he was studying to be an engineer but he did all kinds of work you have to let me see he looked after an awful void whom he took for Walks In The Park and who treated him like a dog you think im a shia i have a dont see him my physio worked in a cinema and made the music by turning the hurdy gurdy public hated all about. High commissioner nansen also tried to find work for all of the stateless refugees. Of course its not easy for former princesses whove never held a broom in their hands before to kneel down and scrub the steps and floors of public buildings but now they do it without grumbling because its still better than selling themselves on the street which many unfortunately have to do. To be able to complete his time nance and work closely with our Brow Toma Director of the International Labor office he had also been set up by the League Of Nations
shortly after its founding in One Thousand Nine Hundred. By collaborating they could relocate stateless refugees to places where workers were needed they sent out questionnaires to discover what measures the governments would be prepared to take i bet tomorrow. Wanted to turn the International Labor office into an organization that could create a Macro Economic balance between unemployment and labor shortages worldwide now he had a project that legitimized his organization and its role due to the refugees why because no one asks for stateless. Refugees. France was one of the countries to play a decisive role at the time france was seen as the United States of europe meaning it was open to immigration yes it was the only country that was in need of workers and prepared to accept them even with halfway open arms. The russians were mainly concentrated in paris at first they gravitated there automatically because most of the big russian organizations were there. In One Thousand Twenty the Russian High School was founded and infrastructure that played an Important Role in the organization of the Russian Community in paris was created. It is not to preserve. Some companies relied on Russian Emigre Zoo for one very simple reason because there were very left wing if not outright procommunist elements in the French Labor Movement poor. Communities time he exists to
a company that employed a large number of russians whose hearts didnt exactly yearn for revolution was guaranteed a reliable workforce. Of one wonderful. I dont so in certain circumstances such as at the beginning new plant and beyond cool it was desirable to take on russians. Who. Owns the routes you with what youre. Close to Nine Thousand russians with Nansen Passports worked in the Car Factories of train no answer to one. In French Society the image of the russian prince denigrated to driving a taxi cab was typical of the fate of russian emigre. Russian restaurants and nightclubs were popular with revelers in paris but many russian artists had become stateless also made it clear to westerners what it meant to be uprooted and forced into exile. Or your knees. Soon moved over surely robbed of their
nationality they only possessed a Nansen Passport and yet remained russians among them composers Sergei ProkofievIgor Stravinsky and sarah gave up on enough. Dancer on a puppet of. Painters nicholas to stale and mark sure god and writers iran born in the know about over and bloody mary noble cough in one of his letters he wrote mother we must return mustnt way we cannot be that all his died turned to dust such an idea could drive one mad not having a corner to oneself is simply torture at times. Almost a million once in passports were issued to Stateless Russians allowing them to find new homes around the globe room very phrase also a god they survived like all the others. They survived but they still had to live
with their memories. My poor grandmother on my god. In nineteen twenty two and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his three years of service to the international community. The Nobel Committee honored him for his commitment to repatriating Prisoners Of WarFamine Victims in russia and finally for introducing the passport for Stateless Russian refugees which bears his name. But this International Recognition didnt mean nonsense work was through on the contrary just weeks after the nobel prize Ceremony Nansen the former polar explorer embarked on His Last Big Mission Fighting for the rights of the armenian people. Just so. He said working in a room and from this point a nascent guy he had to believe you all know also for your i can see every ship colleen going out. We rehearse only bottles yeah we alter from the know from history or you. Along with his commitment to helping russian Refugees Nansen had long been
preoccupied with the plight of the armenians. He repeatedly called the Ethnic Cleansing that occurred in the Ottoman Empire in One Thousand Nine Hundred fifteen the greatest catastrophe in human history. The armenians one of the christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire had suffered a number of massacres since Eight Hundred Sixty then in april of one Nine Hundred Fifteen things took an even more serious turn. My grandfather was a lawyer and in central anatolia. Its the major city in that part of capital. He had a Good Relationship with his colleagues and the Presiding Judge everything was fine to play then one morning two Police Officers knocked on his door and said to my grandfather the Presiding Judge wishes to see you because somethings unclear with one of the files. And with incredible clairvoyance and utmost calm my grandfather
turned to my grandmother and said the files are all perfectly clear. Theyve come to take me away you wont see me again to convert to islam so you can flee as quickly as possible. These were the last words they ever exchanged words but my grandmother was holding my father in her arms he was just two days and later had no memory of his father only bought to the mother own mail pieces but some bear. Back home after. My grandmother lived in the Pontus Mountains they killed her husband and her family and her sisters. She and her two children were deported to the Syrian Desert they had to walk hundreds of kilometers. Between a muscle in the desert you have to cross the entire length of the Ottoman Empire through the highlands people to. The wall so turned on edge mashi to kill
the cubit i know she was wealthy because she had diamonds and gold. But i believe that little by little she tried to convert them into money when hes completely her children were still very young and didnt survive i still think. Said general memo this young mother had to endure all kinds of horrors she and all the others and the use of. One and a half million armenians were killed on the orders of the government of the so called young turks they took advantage of the chaos created by the First World War to massacre the armenians in their own land without having to fear any foreign intervention. The news of the Massacre Spread quickly and a number of high ranking individuals first and foremost for joff nansen him self swore that justice would prevail and that the young turks would be held responsible for their crimes. Armenians who survived the massacre and deportations were left to fend for themselves in the Syrian Desert after the end of world war one this area was under french control france had been given the mandate for syria and lebanon orphanages and Emergency Shelters were quickly set up. They dont like is the question is whats going to happen to these people millions themselves as seen in letters to the french authorities wanted to return home they write that autumn is almost over and they must return to so that crops so theyll have nothing to eat next summer. Many of them were families easel. But the survivors didnt return to armenia. In One Thousand Nine Hundred two most of fog came out ataturk came to power though he wasnt involved in the Armenian Genocide of Nine Hundred Fifteen ataturk was a fervent turkish nationalist he drove the last autumn insult not of his palace and founded the modern day Republic Of Turkey in which christians had no place it edge of who god is always there when i mean this wanted to attend to turkey because that land was now called the republic of ticking they were denied entry because they werent turks and when they presented them papers from the Ottoman Empire because they were also means the consulates were instructed not to provide them with papers that would give them technician nationality. In this way to check. To be rid of the armenians once and for all ataturk collectively revoked their citizenship just as lenin had done with the exiled russians the previous year. I have confirmed to the council that we are resolved to helping the armenian refugees with a piece of id like the one we introduced for the russians employing the same methods as the russian regime the current turkish government refuses to let armenian refugees return home on turkish soil. This government has no reason to reject the granting of such a certificate to the armenians. It should also be remembered that the League Of Nations has already on three occasions issued resolutions on behalf of the armenians and their National Status to no effect this is an opportunity for us to at least do something for these refugees and i think we must seize it. If its more a demand here be official request was made at the League Of Nations mansome was already High Commissioner for the russian refugees so the leeks General Assembly put it in writing that the certificate introduced for the russians could also be
expanded to include the armenians. From ports throughout asia minor from constantinople to is mer the remaining armenians in turkey left the land of their birth for good. Survivors and the french controlled Mandate Territories mainly orphans came aboard in beirut. Several hundred thousand in total they wound up scattered around the world in the armenian disaster. Am. Electrician receptivity the allocation of nuns and passports was conducted by Refugee Organizations themselves. The League Of Nations and the office of the High Commissioner had a delegation that headed the Refugee Committees in each country to confront two committees of million refugees were mainly responsible for handing out least documents. Names went to them to attest to their identity is the birthplace date of
birth that bad the son of so insert. Then they could get to documents proving their identity filters wadlow but. At that time my father was twelve years old yes he came in france after having been an orphanage in lebanon hardly a model yeah he was. Eleven or twelve years old and he came with a Nansen Passport to france yeah. This is armenia yes. Object of the patient september nineteenth twenty four and find the solution of the armenian question by settling refugees and then
a look aided by the russian government. Announcing that down to One Hundred Nine some was a man who represented the transition from the nineteenth to the Twentieth Century sedan he did a lot for no we didnt independence he believed in nations in peaceful Nation States and he was convinced that people were always better off in their homelands than in exile so he felt that the situation of the Armenians Couldnt Last that the best thing that could happen to the exiled armenians scattered around the world would be to get their own land. A place to call home shes. Nansen invested much energy in this project which she felt particularly passionate about his plan was to settle Fifty Thousand refugees at the edge of the caucasus on soviet territory after receiving the mandate from the League Of Nations nansen visited the site
accompanied by technical experts. Even democrats all dicom says at first glance this project looked great but in reality there were huge ideological problems. First of all this union was soviet you know more often so the Western Power was once very keen on creating ties with the soviet union which they were fighting Elsewhere Phone go all could be so the question was could the west and back as and russia which was also investing in the project reach an agreement in the end nothing came of it nansen wasnt able to get the Western Powers and the soviet union to agree so his resettlement project failed and some took this very hard he quit the League Of Nations for failing to support him yet in One Thousand Nine Hundred forty seven Tens Of Thousands followed stalin was called to come and start a new life in the soviet republic of armenia. But
for a joke monsoon didnt live to see. The old. Me of the one Nine Hundred Thirty. Thousands of norwegians flocking to his State Funeral to pay their last respects to a famous polar Explorer International diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In the years following his death europe experienced new waves of refugees called in conflicts who had been driven out of iraq and jews fleeing from hitlers nazi germany. For years my parents were russian jews and their situation had become
intolerable and the nation is united model for a time they were living with a german woman who treated them like. It was awful she humiliated and treated them like swine because they were jewish or short finally they decided to leave germany because it wasnt possible to live under hitler they had no rights no life. Every. Quick review of. Even though they held dance and passports the russian jews in germany shared the same fate as the german jews they were forced to flee. But times have changed the Great Depression and mass unemployment had caused many countries to close their borders stateless refugees were no longer welcome anywhere in early one Nine Hundred Thirty nine Two Hundred Thousand people fled from francos spain into france a country that had previously welcomed Many Russians and armenians but now friends decided to in turn them in camps on the border and the League Of Nations supported
these measures thereby turning their back. Axon the ideals for which prejudged once and had fought for so passionately. The passports bearing his name were still being granted but now only in isolated cases. In One Thousand Nine Hundred Five beleaguered nations was replaced by the United Nations to address the scale of the Refugee Problem the un in one Nine Hundred Fifty One adopted a new Refugee Convention based in large part on the original charter drafted by fritjof nuns. Young men while the russian and a million refugees remember months and differently and their memories of him differ
because they report with him also in the same islands and in the case of the armenians they received a passport which states nationality i mean well i mean you and i may be secure when i wanted to renew my idea at the city hall of the seventh home to small in paris the man said to me you know you have to right to know. What he posts that talk i said im not writing anywhere else but he replied you must you may be a frenchman but youre not a french frenchman i remarked because i wish you hadnt noticed them but after thinking it over i realized hes right im really not ive been quite offended but then i told myself its true im not a french frenchman but in armenia im not an armenian armenian either should be in turkey im not a turkish turk. Im happy to be wherever i am from and im going over today im glad to be here today im even
a bit norwegian so im armenian Norwegian Anatoly and i come from a land where people have big noses and big ears im the sequel with more to follow a street in or move. Follow the whole. Loaf of all. The. Food. Bowl. Closer. To the. School. Yard. There are. Close. To. Her. Name a long time helplessly as the flames friend. Ravaging nowshera down. For me its the symbol of paris many feel sad. Im shocked. But i love not one time tonight everyone went to beijing. Is it
a miracle the cathedral is still standing. Come under the hammer and fetch high prices. Thats todays art market and its good to me. But who decides whats hot whats not who is Investing Speculating winning and losing we meet some of movers and shakers. Made in germany ninety minutes on the year. End europe is a Chain Reaction of. Began
around six hundred years ago. The renaissance. Architects. Scientists. Artists. Cultural darkest. The renaissance. This week. The u. S. Justice department has released the long anticipated munna reports which examines a legit russian interference in the twenty sixteen u. S. President ial election it concluded there was insufficient evidence the. President Trumps Campaign colluded with moscow but did not clear trump of having illegally obstructed the probe President Trump says hes been vindicated no collusion no