Birger Dahlerus

Johan Birger Essen Dahlerus (February 6, 1891–March 8, 1957) was a Swedish businessman, amateur diplomat, and friend of Hermann Göring who tried through diplomatic channels to prevent the Second World War. His futile diplomatic efforts during the days preceding the German invasion of Poland in 1939 are sometimes called the Dahlerus Mission.

Biography

Birger Dahlerus was born in Stockholm in 1891. He had an excellent network of contacts of authoritative Englishmen and various leaders of the Third Reich,----e.g. his early acquaintance with Hermann Göring.

It had been known to the senior military personnel of the Third Reich, at least since the Military Conference of August 6, 1939 at Obersalzberg, that aggressive war between Greater Germany and the Western powers was imminent.^[1] On August 7, 1939 Dahlerus arranged a meeting at his own house, near the Danish border in Schleswig-Holstein, between Göring and seven British businessmen.^[2]

• A. Holden
• Charles Spencer
• Stanley Rawson (John Brown & Company)
• Brain Mountain
• Sir Robert Renwick
• Charles Maclaren
• T. Mensforth

The businessmen attempted to persuade Göring that the British Government would stand by its treaty obligations to Poland, which obliged it to support the Polish Government in any conflict in which it became embroiled. Dahlerus believed that they had succeeded.^[3] At the Nuremberg trials, the British prosecutor, Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, was able to persuade the Swede that he had been badly misled by the German leaders. Clearly, the discussion had no effect on the policy and actions of the Third Reich.

On August 25, 1939, the British and Polish Governments converted the unilateral declaration of support offered by the British Government into a mutual assistance pact. On the same day Benito Mussolini wrote to Hitler to indicate that he would not be able at this time to declare war on the Western Powers.^[4] Dahlerus, at this time, was acting as an intermediary between Göring and the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax.^[5] Göring had summoned Dahlerus from Stockholm on the previous day, put him on an aircraft, and dispatched him to inform the British Government that Germany wanted an understanding with Great Britain. Halifax informed him that diplomatic channels were open and that his input was unnecessary.

Following a telephone conversation between himself and Göring, Dahlerus had a further conversation with Halifax on August 26. He persuaded the British Foreign Secretary to write a letter, couched in non-specific terms, indicating the desire of the British Government for peace and requesting a few days leeway in which to achieve it.^[6]

On August 27 Dahlerus flew to London, and met Neville Chamberlain, Lord Halifax, Sir Horace Wilson and Sir Alexander Cadogan. He presented an offer, which included a proposal that Britain would agree to Germany offering to guarantee the borders of Poland, taking Danzig, and a referendum in the Polish corridor. This very modest proposal was nevertheless felt to be unacceptable, and that the Poles would fight rather than agree to it. It was agreed that Dahlerus would return to Berlin and report back with Hitler's reply.^[7] Dahlerus had become so significant, according to his own testimony, that he felt able to advise the British Government that they should keep Ambassador Neville Henderson in London until the next day so that he could better react to Hitler's response.

On August 29, at a meeting with the German Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Neville Henderson had been presented with a document containing sixteen points which Germany demanded that Poland agree to. Henderson said^[8] that they were spoken too fast for him to understand, and that he was denied a written copy. On the following day, Dahlerus was given a copy of the sixteen points by Göring, and took them to Henderson. Henderson in turn dispatched him to Józef Lipski, the Polish ambassador, who had never heard of Dahlerus. As one of the sixteen points was that a Polish negotiator with full plenipotentiary powers should appear in Berlin before September 1, the Polish Government deemed the proposals unreasonable.

On August 31 Lipski was received by Ribbentrop. On being asked if he had come as a fully empowered delegate, and on stating that he had not, he was dismissed.^[9] An intercepted copy of the telegram to Lipski, defining his powers, was given by Göring to Dahlerus to take to Henderson.

Dahlerus' final diplomatic effort before the onset of war occurred on the afternoon of the last day of peace. He proposed that Göring should again meet with Henderson, which he did at 5pm. Sir George Ogilvie-Forbes, counsellor and chargé d'affaires at the British embassy, was also present. His statement, presented at Nuremberg, describes the atmosphere as negative, and suggests Göring's confidence in the ability of Germany to crush Poland quickly.^[10]

The Third Reich commenced land operations against Poland on September 1, 1939 at 04:45. At 08:00 Dahlerus met Göring, who informed him that the Poles had attacked Germany (sic) at Dirschau. Dahlerus, in his Nuremberg testimony, says that "I informed somebody that according to the information I had received the Poles had attacked, and they naturally wondered what was happening to me when I gave that information". Dahlerus also stated that "the Poles are sabotaging everything" and that he had "evidence they never meant to attempt to negotiate".^[11]

Dahlerus telephoned London again at 12:30, and this time was put through to Cadogan. Cadogan, while being a committed anti-appeaser, was only the Under-Secretary of State, and Dahlerus insisted that his comments be submitted to the Cabinet. They duly were, and the answer given to the Swede was that negotiation was only possible on the basis of the immediate withdrawal of German forces from Polish territory.

The British and French Governments issued ultimata to the German Government on September 3, 1939. Dahlerus telephoned the British Foreign Office ten minutes before the British ultimatum expired, with a proposal that Göring should fly immediately to London for negotiations.^[12] Perhaps not surprisingly, the approach was rejected, and Dahlerus disappeared from the world stage until the Nuremberg trials, apart from a brief and ineffective liaison between Hitler and Forbes on September 26, which achieved nothing. Birger Dahlerus died in Stockholm in 1957.

Bibliography

• Birger Dahlerus, Sista försöket : London - Berlin sommaren 1939, Stockholm : Norstedt, 1945 (English Translation: The Last Attempt, Introduction by Norman Birkett, Translation from Swedish by Alexandra Dick, 1946).

Footnotes