Arne Torgersen
Arne Martin Torgersen (born May 21, 1910 in Lyngdal , † July 18, 1987 in Salzburg ) was a Norwegian UN High Commissioner with US citizenship .
Life
After the Second World War, Torgersen had been the representative of the US aid organization CARE in the French occupation zone since October 1946 and organized the distribution of CARE packages from an office in the Freiburg district of Wiehre .
Soon, however, he became the head of Norwegian European Aid, an association of Norwegian aid organizations, in Germany (1946–1953) initially based in Freiburg im Breisgau , and from 1949 in Hamburg . His tasks included supporting refugee and displaced children in Germany and Austria, which also included building children's homes. In 1952, for example, he was responsible for the start-up financing for the purchase and expansion of the Heiligenhof in Bad Kissingen .
Later (1957) he was Norwegian High Commissioner at the United Nations in Germany and Austria . Until his retirement in 1969 he worked in prominent positions at the United Nations.
Torgersen spent his retirement in Salzburg, where he also died and was buried on July 23, 1987.
Publications
- Vi cold hen Pim. Møte med flyktningeskjebner , Verlag Cappelen, Oslo 1970 - German translation (Hans Däumling): After you, Mr. General! Humanitarian adventures of a Norwegian in post-war Europe , Evangelisches Verlagswerk, Stuttgart 1971, ISBN 3-7715-0130-X
- Uten sikkerhetsnett , Verlag Atheneum, 1986, ISBN 82-7334-118-6 and ISBN 978-82-7334-118-1
Honors
- In 1989, two years after his death, in the Salzburg district of Gneis Süd , Arne-Torgersen-Strasse was named after him. He lived as a pensioner in the Eichethofsiedlung there , which was also a result of Torgersen's support.
- In the Freiburg district of Haslach (Freiburg im Breisgau) , Arne-Torgersen-Straße was named after him in 2016 .
literature
- Norvall Skrei: The checkered career of Arne Torgersen, ubiquitous friend of the needy and homeless . In: The Norseman , Nordmanns-forbundet, 1978, page 54f.
- Robert Neisen: And we are still alive! A chronicle of the Freiburg post-war hardship , City of Freiburg (ed.), Promo Verlag, Freiburg 2004, ISBN 3-923288-38-7 and ISBN 978-3-923288-38-0
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Torgersen, Arne |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Torgersen, Arne M. |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Norwegian, later US-American UN High Commissioner |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 21, 1910 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lyngdal |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 18, 1987 |
| Place of death | Salzburg |