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THE 1915 HERO NORWAY FORGOT: BODIL KATHARINE BIøRN
03.17.2015 12:14NEWS
Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg's announcement that she would
not be taking part in the commemoration ceremony in Armenia on the
Centennial of the Genocide sparked debate. Yet there were citizens
of Norway among the witnesses of 1915. Norwegian missionary Bodil
Katharine Biørn stood out amongst them.
Biørn was born on 27 January 1871 in the city of Kragerdo in Norway,
and in 1905 was sent to the Ottoman Empire as a nurse by the "Women
Missionaries Organisations". Bodil Katharine Biørn first worked in
Mezre, a district of Harput, and later in MuÃ…~_.
Biørn struggled to help widows and orphans by collaborating with the
German Hulfsbund missionaries, and in 1915, she witnessed the murder
of religious clergy, lecturers and children during the massacres in
MuÃ…~_. Although some Westerners merely 'observed' the events in the
region during the Genocide, Bodil Katharine Biørn saved the lives of
hundreds of Armenian women and children who were left homeless. In
1917, Biørn adopted a two-year old orphan named Rafael who had
survived the Genocide, and had her adopted child baptised with the
name Fridof Nansen upon her return to Norway.
The notes Bodil Katharine Biørn kept in her notebooks, and the
photographs she took hold an important place in the history of the
Genocide. One of her most renowned photographs is that of former
Ottoman Member of Parliament Papazyan, looking at bones belonging to
Armenians in the deserts of Deiz ez-Zor, taken in the 1920s.
Biørn also worked in orphanages in Lebanon and Istanbul, and in
1922, when Fridof was 7, left him at the French School in Beirut to
travel to Soviet Armenia and found an orphanage named "Lusaghbyur"
in Alexandropol. Although 33 orphans knew her as "Mother Katharine",
the Soviet government halted her work in 1924, upon which she travelled
to Syria and helped Genocide victims there until 1935. Biørn passed
away in 1960 in Norway.
While Bodil Katharine Biørn was among the most important witnesses
of the Genocide, Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg stated
that Norway would not be represented either at Prime Minister- or
Foreign Minister-level; and that the ambassador to Armenia would
be taking part in the ceremonies; and she also underlined the fact
that relationships with Turkey were more important for her in making
such a decision. Baard Glad Pedersen, the Undersecretary of the Prime
Minister, had then added that decisions on historical issues should
be left to historians.
http://www.agos.com.tr/en/article/10901/the-1915-hero-norway-forgot-bodil-katharine-birn
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
03.17.2015 12:14NEWS
Norway's Prime Minister Erna Solberg's announcement that she would
not be taking part in the commemoration ceremony in Armenia on the
Centennial of the Genocide sparked debate. Yet there were citizens
of Norway among the witnesses of 1915. Norwegian missionary Bodil
Katharine Biørn stood out amongst them.
Biørn was born on 27 January 1871 in the city of Kragerdo in Norway,
and in 1905 was sent to the Ottoman Empire as a nurse by the "Women
Missionaries Organisations". Bodil Katharine Biørn first worked in
Mezre, a district of Harput, and later in MuÃ…~_.
Biørn struggled to help widows and orphans by collaborating with the
German Hulfsbund missionaries, and in 1915, she witnessed the murder
of religious clergy, lecturers and children during the massacres in
MuÃ…~_. Although some Westerners merely 'observed' the events in the
region during the Genocide, Bodil Katharine Biørn saved the lives of
hundreds of Armenian women and children who were left homeless. In
1917, Biørn adopted a two-year old orphan named Rafael who had
survived the Genocide, and had her adopted child baptised with the
name Fridof Nansen upon her return to Norway.
The notes Bodil Katharine Biørn kept in her notebooks, and the
photographs she took hold an important place in the history of the
Genocide. One of her most renowned photographs is that of former
Ottoman Member of Parliament Papazyan, looking at bones belonging to
Armenians in the deserts of Deiz ez-Zor, taken in the 1920s.
Biørn also worked in orphanages in Lebanon and Istanbul, and in
1922, when Fridof was 7, left him at the French School in Beirut to
travel to Soviet Armenia and found an orphanage named "Lusaghbyur"
in Alexandropol. Although 33 orphans knew her as "Mother Katharine",
the Soviet government halted her work in 1924, upon which she travelled
to Syria and helped Genocide victims there until 1935. Biørn passed
away in 1960 in Norway.
While Bodil Katharine Biørn was among the most important witnesses
of the Genocide, Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg stated
that Norway would not be represented either at Prime Minister- or
Foreign Minister-level; and that the ambassador to Armenia would
be taking part in the ceremonies; and she also underlined the fact
that relationships with Turkey were more important for her in making
such a decision. Baard Glad Pedersen, the Undersecretary of the Prime
Minister, had then added that decisions on historical issues should
be left to historians.
http://www.agos.com.tr/en/article/10901/the-1915-hero-norway-forgot-bodil-katharine-birn
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress