All language subtitles for Night Flight to Death The Violent Death of Dag Hammarskjöld

The last journey
of Dag Hammarskjold,

Secretary General of the United Nations.

The Cold War is at its height.

Both East and West are
trying to implant their ideologies

on a young Africa which is
emerging from colonialism.

Hammarskjold is there to mediate,

and would die because of the job he holds.

His last writings reveal the
fragility of the UN position

and the stress under
which he finds himself.

"Will the chaos in Africa
precipitate a world war?"

"Will the struggle for
Katanga be the UN's downfall?"

"Every means is justified to end the war"

"conducted by Belgian mercenaries,"

"from France and
Germany against UN troops,"

"against us and the Congo."

"Every means is
justified, even a cease-fire."

"The United Nations must
not be allowed to be defeated"

"by Tshombe, the Belgian
straw doll and British protege."

"But how can the UN
withstand their pressure?"

"Who will save the
United Nation's mission?"

The time for the flight

to the Katanga province was
on the 17th of September 1961

at five to five in the afternoon

by a plane with a Swedish
crew of six very experienced men

and ten other passengers,

legal and political advisers,
bodyguards, his secretary,

and so on.

As to Dag Hammarskjold,

he was surely very strained and stressed.

"Tired and lonely."

"Tired."

"Till your brains hurt."

"Fingers numb, knees trembling."

"Now's the time."

"Now you must not fail."

This was a dangerous expedition.

Dangerous physically and
also of course it was dangerous

and delicate from a
political point of view.

There was nothing
unusual about the departure.

We stood chatting on the tarmac,

we commented on the fact
that the plane had been shot at

actually the day before

without apparently the fuselage
being seriously damaged.

And we were wondering
whether the rumors were right

that white mercenaries
were behind this shooting.

Because there was an international riffraff

in the service of Tshombe
being paid to make life

as difficult for the UN people as possible,

and possibly drive us out from the Congo.

Well we went into the plane, sat down,

we're ready for take-off,
when he suddenly said,

"You know, I wonder whether
it is wise for us both to leave"

"at this stage when the
central government in the Congo"

"is so wobbly."

"Neither of us then
would be able to control"

"what happens in the
capital during the absence."

So I said, "I stay behind with pleasure,"

because I had been against
this mission from the beginning,

knowing Tshombe well enough, I thought,

not ever ever to trust either him

or his advisers in the background.

So I stepped down from the plane

and Hammarskjold was kind
enough to accompany me.

We stood talking again for a few minutes

and then he disappeared.

And I realized of course the day after

that in this way he actually saved my life.

Will you please repeat after me.

I, Dag Hammarskjold, solemnly swear

to exercise in all loyalty,
discretion, and conscience.

I, Dag Hammarskjold, solemnly swear

to exercise in all loyalty,
discretion and conscience.

The functions entrusted to me

as Secretary General of the United Nations.

The functions entrusted to me

as Secretary General of the United Nations.

To discharge those functions
and to regulate my conduct

with the interest of the
United Nations only in view.

To discharge those functions
and to regulate my conduct

with the interest of the
United Nations only in view.

And not to seek or accept instructions

in regard to the performance of my duties

from any government or other authority

external to the organization.

And not to seek or accept instructions

in regard to the performance of my duties

from any government or other authority

external to the organization.

There was at that time
of course the cold war

at its very coldest, meaning
that there was a polarization

between the western
bloc and the eastern bloc.

And each bloc used the internal chaos

to foster their own interests,

paying off this party or that party,

this tribe or that tribe,

so that they rose against each other.

Everybody outside of Africa
who had the means to export arms

was extremely interested in doing so

and making handsome profit.

The tension became so great that I know

that the Secretary General, who was,

I needn't to say that,
but he was very very,

sort of cautious in his statements

to both the Security Council
and the General Assembly,

nevertheless didn't hesitate to say

that he feared there might
be an international war

caused by all those tensions.

Not only fighting inside the Congo.

Independence
for the Belgian Congo.

After centuries of Belgian control,

King Baudouin grants the Congo home rule.

Yet no sooner has the coveted
freedom finally been achieved

than Belgian paratroopers
are forced to intervene

to tackle looters.

Mr. Tshombe, governor
of the province of Katanga,

secedes from the Congo,

under the protection of Belgian
officers assisting Tshombe

and his young army.

But Communist elements
and the UN become involved,

and Tshombe's Katangan army fights back

with fierce determination.

Law and order are restored.

There were very large
interests involved in the Congo,

not least economic ones because the country

and particularly Katanga
was very rich in minerals.

Katanga produced
most of the world's cobalt,

about 10% of its copper,

much else besides, including uranium,

which was used in the nuclear
weapons program of the West.

And for these reasons
the West was very keen

to maintain order in the
Congo so that its companies,

its western-based companies,

could continue to produce minerals

and to ensure that those minerals

would not move in the
direction of the eastern bloc.

At this time Hammarskjold
was under very strong pressure

from the West and
particularly from Britain,

who took the lead.

This was because Britain was worried

that what the UN was doing in Katanga

would upset the good
order which had thus far

been maintained there.

She therefore sent a government minister,

the Marquess of Lansdowne,

to the Congo to put strong
pressure on Hammarskjold

to negotiate a cease-fire

and to warn him that if he didn't,

Britain would consider
withdrawing her political

and financial support
from the UN operation.

And Britain also pressed
the United States successfully

to make representations
to the Secretary General

along these lines.

And Hammarskjold gave
in under this pressure

and agreed to go to a
meeting in Northern Rhodesia

with Tshombe where the
Marquess of Lansdowne

would be waiting for him.

And it was on his way to
that meeting that he was killed.

One week before his death
Dag Hammarskjold wrote a letter

which was later to be known as his will

to a close friend of his,

instructing him what to do

as to the appointment of
an executor of both his will

and other economic transactions

and also telling him what
to do with his private papers.

Dag Hammarskjold was
at that time 56 years old,

full of vitality,

building a home for his retirement

in the southernmost part
of Sweden, and so on.

Full of vitality, I repeat.

Nevertheless he felt that
the situation in the Congo

was so full of dangers,
both in a physical sense

for all UN members and
in a more general sense

as regards the UN Charter

and all the ideals he stood up for.

There were attacks after attacks every day

against the United Nations.

In Elisabethville,

and around the edges of
town, heavy fighting continues.

Each day since the fighting began,

more UN troops had
been brought into the battle.

In the forest around the city,

troops have dug in in a defense perimeter,

and the United Nations estimates

that 120 Katanga have been killed.

Most of the casualties were
inflicted by heavy mortar fire.

Reports to date indicate
little hand-to-hand fighting,

but a number of mortar
and armored car duels.

Hospitals and parts of the residential area

have been badly damaged.

Worst hit was Prince
Leopold African Hospital.

Hammarskjold was confronted with

a very complicated situation.

On the one hand there
was the increasing tension

among the Cold War parties.

There was crisis over Cuba,
there was crisis over Berlin,

a summit meeting had failed,

the U-2 spy plane had been shot down,

American presidential
election created uncertainty.

On the other hand Hammarskjold
was very committed to Africa,

he had been touring Africa,
he had the strong feeling

that Africa was beginning to move,

that there was an intense
interest to create strong states

for the welfare of the societies

in order to remedy some
of those colonial effects

that Africa had been victim of

for several hundreds of years.

There was also the mining interests,

Congo being rich in
many types of resources.

And of course Congo was
very central in Africa as such.

And what would happen to Congo,

would be a precedent for what could happen

to many other parts of Africa.

So he wanted to connect the United Nations

to the aspirations of the Africans,

to avoid becoming a
battlefield in the Cold War,

avoid being a victim of the
western colonial intervention,

and avoid being exposed
to tribal confrontations

which could endanger the states as a whole.

I think the crucial feature

was his capacity to
combine a firm grip on reality

with ideals and visions
that could inspire people.

At the United Nations
this capacity enabled him

to launch an array of
innovative diplomatic methods

that offered solutions to
seemingly intractable problems.

His father was a recognized
lawyer holding public offices

both internationally and here
in Sweden in the government

up to the level of Prime Minister

during the First World War.

During Hammarskjold's formative years

he resided as governor of Uppsala

in this impressive castle.

It was very Lutheran.

This Swedish austerity
was visible in all its splendor

in this castle.

You can understand why, when
his father was governor there,

the rooms were so cold,

without any decorations or wallpaper.

All very austere.

You can understand how
Dag Hammarskjold's character

was formed, how austere
and rigorous it was.

Another important element
of Hammarskjold's upbringing

was his religious orientation.

His mother was a deeply religious person

whom Hammarskjold once described

as holding radical democratic views

with warm human undercurrents.

The depth of Hammarskjold's
own religiousness

became known only after his death

through the publication
of his diary, Markings.

It revealed that he was himself

committed to these moral standards

and these moral standards later helped him

both in personal crisis

and during the pressures he was exposed to

in the United Nations.

I bring to this task

the firm will to devote
myself without any reserve

to the work carried out

by the United Nations organization

in pursuit of its high aims.

I am here to serve you all.

In so doing I shall count
on your understanding,

on your advice, and on your will

to give to what I have to say

the attention that it may deserve.

I am animated by the
desire to meet all problems

with an open mind.

It is for you to judge how I succeed,

it is for you to correct me if I fail.

My work shall be guided by this knowledge.

When Hammarskjold
took over the organization

it was in disarray.

The working conditions
were not the appropriate ones.

There were FBI agents in the premises,

some of his American staff were threatened

to be brought into
hearings in the US Senate

in a committee led by
Joe McCarthy, the senator.

So he immediately
wanted to establish himself

as the leader of the organization,

the one who had the right to hire and fire,

and in that sense he
could protect his staff.

He removed the FBI
agents and it became clear

who was in charge of the organization.

And that also established
the integrity of the organization

vis-a-vis the outside world.

It was very clear

that this was an international organization

committed to the Charter as such

and where he used article
101 as the basis for his actions.

A year later, in 1954, there
was a situation in Guatemala

which also showed how
he acted internationally

with the same moral principles.

A democratically elected government

had nationalized some land property

belonging to American companies.

It created a crisis in the country,

an invasion followed from the
neighboring country Honduras,

clearly sponsored by the CIA.

And as the US perceived the situation,

this was a communist
government, but it was elected.

So Hammarskjold acted to bring this

to the UN Security Council.

The United States objected to this,

instead preferring to put it to the OAS,

Organization of American States,

where they had the control.

And Hammarskjold clearly
argued why this should be

a case for the United Nations,

but the Americans postponed the actions,

prolonged the deliberations so that

the government could be overthrown.

By that sense there was no case any longer.

But Hammarskjold's
position was made very clear

and the Americans understood it.

The net result still was
that he was rebuffed

by the United States
and it looked like a failure

for Hammarskjold's ambitions.

What am I afraid of?

If they hit their mark and kill,

what is there to lament?

Others came before, and others will follow.

They remained radio-silence except from

a few short messages
to the tower in Salisbury

and the tower in Ndola at the late stage.

There was real fear
about attacks from the air

from a small jet aircraft, Fouga Magister,

based in Katanga that had
caused some trouble to the UN.

Therefore the captain
flew around the Congolese

and Katangese territory

instead of directly from
Leopoldville to Ndola.

Dag Hammarskjold
was not in a safe position

at this flight.

The UN had no air force
support in the Congo at this time.

The jet fighters provided
by the Ethiopians for the UN

were not allowed to enter
the neighboring states.

Hammarskjold asked
London for overflying rights

for the fighter aircraft
which he hoped to get

from Ethiopia to the UN
operation in the Congo.

The reason for this need
was that the Katangan forces

had at least one fighter, a Fouga,

which was causing the UN great trouble.

Hence Hammarskjold
wanted to get his own aircraft.

Unfortunately this was exactly the time

when London was very
cross with Hammarskjold

about what was going on in Katanga

and therefore some delay ensued.

But then Britain agreed to
grant the overflying rights,

communicated the decision to New York,

but by that time Hammarskjold was dead.

Mr President.

I regret that it has been
necessary for me to call again

the attention of the Security Council

to the problem we are facing in the Congo.

I would have hoped
that through full, active,

and immediate cooperation
of all those concerned

we would by now have
reached a more advanced stage

in the implementation of the
Security Council resolutions

than we have.

And I would have hoped
that it would not have come to

what temporarily may appear as a deadlock

requiring the consideration of the Council.

I said that I would have
hoped for active support

from all those concerned.

Such support has only
partly been forthcoming.

And I must note that the lack
of support has been registered

from quarters which I might have expected

to acted differently.

Even a member of the
United States government,

and a very well known member at that,

had personal interests
in the diamond business

in the Katanga.

Now, that gives you perhaps an idea

of the real forces that were

obstructing the work of the
United Nations in the Congo.

Hammarskjold's relation
with the United States

was complicated.

There was the FBI affair,
there was his opposition

to the way Guatemala was handled.

And by the end of 1954
a new situation emerged

which demanded his attention.

This was a situation when American pilots

had been held in the
People's Republic of China

which the United States had
no diplomatic relations with.

But the Chinese of
course refused to give them

to the Americans.

There was a lot of attention
on this in the United States

and the issue was then
given to the Secretary General

probably in the
expectation that he would fail

but the American authorities
would protect themselves.

Hammarskjold took on the challenge.

He used his background
as a Swedish diplomat,

he used the Swedish connections with China.

Sweden had recognized China.

And in this way he could establish

a direct relationship to
the Chinese leadership.

To the surprise of many he
succeeded in making a visit

in Beijing at the and of 1954.

During this visit to Peking
the question of the release

of the American pilot prisoners was raised

and it ended in the release of all of them.

In this way Hammarskjold
proved that he was not

the tool of either super power.

The Chinese made an offer
which Dag Hammarskjold

found quite generous
and sincerely believed in.

That the American
families could come to China

and visit their sons.

This, however, was turned
down by the US government

which refused to issue
visas for these families

to go to China.

It was a flight of six to seven hours.

10 minutes past midnight
Captain Hallonquist

reported he was overhead
Ndola and descending.

At the airport there was a welcoming party

consisting of the world
press, of Lord Alport,

the British High Commissioner of Rhodesia,

and Moise Tshombe, the rebel chief.

Well first of all, they had no interest

in preventing the plane from landing.

They were there to meet the plane

and as they saw it,
and as I think, correctly,

Hammarskjold's journey
to meet them on that turf,

which was basically hostile to the UN,

was caving in.

He was doing what they wanted him to do

and what was subsequently done, that is,

making peace on terms that allowed Tshombe

to resume in the Congo.

There was no tape
recorder at Ndola tower,

which there should have been,

so we don't know exactly what happened

between the tower and
the plane and in the plane.

The last contact with the tower

was 10 minutes past midnight.

We don't know what happened next.

"Tired and lonely."

"Tired."

"Till your brains hurt."

"Fingers numb, knees trembling."

"Now's the time, now you must not fail."

"Tired and lonely, fingers, brains."

"Now, not fail."

The wreck was found on
Tuesday the 18th of September.

Dagens Nyheter had a correspondent in Ndola

and reported in the morning
of the 19th September.

It was, of course, met by shock

and total disbelief by the Swedish public.

Dag Hammarskjold was
a very well known person,

almost a Prime Minister.

It was believed by the Swedish public then

that the aircraft was shot down

by the Katangese rebels of Mr Tshombe.

And, indeed, it was very hard to believe

that the Secretary
General just disappeared.

The aircraft was seen over
the tower and then didn't land.

Lord Alport, the British High
Commissioner of Rhodesia,

he concluded that Mr. Hammarskjold

probably had gone somewhere else.

And the airport manager
just closed down the airport

and went to bed.

At three o'clock in the
morning two sergeants

went up to the airport manager, Williams,

who was staying at the hotel,

and reported that they had seen a glow

in the direction where
the aircraft disappeared.

At that time probably most of the crew

already was dead except for Sergeant Julian

who was Dag Hammarskjold's bodyguard.

Subsequent investigation have revealed

that he probably could have survived

if they had started the
rescue earlier in the morning.

So what they did was,
they closed down the airport.

They announced that it
seemed that Hammarskjold

had gone home, had
gone back to Leopoldville.

They believed me to be with him

and they believed this
would have been my advice.

It would have been my advice actually

but I wasn't on the
plane, fortunately for me.

So when it crashed,
as I say, they panicked,

closed down the airport, got out.

The search didn't begin,

this was in the middle of the night.

The search didn't begin until rather late

the following morning.

By the time they found the wreckage

the only survivor was dying

and died without being able to tell people

what had happened on the plane.

They started searching
in the wrong direction

and not until three charcoal burners

reported the site of the crash

they started the rescue at the site.

These charcoal burners had
been working out in the forest

during the whole night.

They had seen what happened.

They unanimously reported
that they had seen two aircraft

in the air, one bigger, evidently
Hammarskjold's aircraft,

and a smaller one.

When, before,

the airplane was fastly coming.

Yes the airplane was,

like what, the airplane was, oh.

Usual, normal?

No.

When it turned back,

went to, back to Zaire,

it was right.

When the small airplane
was following on top of that,

and in the forest we
saw that the small was,

felled something like a
fire on the top of that thing.

Down to the big airplane?

Yeah.

And when we saw that and
the airplane was returning back,

has no power to move along,

and it fell down.

Well there were actually

at least eight eyewitnesses of the crash.

Four of them were charcoal burners

that was located out in the forest

and another four was white officers,

police officers that saw a glow

in the direction of the crash.

And actually the charcoal burners tell

that they have seen a smaller aircraft

going up above the bigger aircraft

that obviously is Hammarskjold's aircraft

and then they catches up
with it before the procedure turn.

And out there are a few charcoal burners

that tell that they see a smaller aircraft

following the bigger aircraft

all the way until it crashes.

I have no doubt in my mind
that we saw the plane circle,

because the place where we were living,

it is even today in the airport corridor.

All the planes either come
and run straight or they circle.

In this case a plane circled and then we,

I say we, because I had some friends,

saw a second plane
which I sincerely believe,

interfered with the first plane.

Some minutes later there
was a thunderous sound

which we couldn't make out it was.

Some of the African eyewitnesses

was included in the Rhodesian report.

But in that report they tried everything

to make them unreliable

and tried to disregard their statements.

It was incredible that
all the black witnesses

were supposed to be unreliable.

And the white witnesses,

those who gave evidence,

if they gave evidence in favor of the fact

that there was nothing fishy,

it was pure accident, were reliable.

What I do know is that
the day the news of his death

reached the capital, Leopoldville,

the Belgians there
arranged a series of parties

to celebrate the event.

And even had the cheek
of inviting me and my wife

to participate.

Unbelievable, the hostility
against the UN. in other words.

I don't believe it can
have been an accident

because there are too many eyewitnesses

and too many indications in
the documents that I have read

that indicates that it must have been

some kind of interference of a third party

Big interest were involved, for example,

the federal government, for example

mining companies at that particular time

both in Zambia and Zaire.

All these were interested.

Perhaps big power rivalry
couldn't be ruled out either.

All this were, I think, that
which made some people

not to give evidence
they should have given.

Perhaps some people had
their interest to safeguard.

People like myself and the charcoal burners

had nothing to safeguard
but to tell the truth.

One may wonder who
the people could have been

who might have had an interest

in killing the Secretary General.

To that I would say, at first hand,

the first thought of mine anyway goes to

this peculiar, wild, reckless,

moral-less group of mercenaries

who were paid well and
who loved to kill anyway.

Who had were proven their
inclinations in other countries,

in other contexts, who were paid very well.

If you want to probe a little bit deeper

there were also strong
financial external interests

in the Katanga copper mines
and other mineral resources,

which might have found
those mercenaries useful

and easy tools to employ for
eliminating Dag Hammarskjold.

When the
old United Nations people

used to meet up, we'd say to one another,

"What about you?"

"Do you believe it about
Hammarskjold's death?"

"The United Nations report?"

But that was all, we didn't say any more.

And then one day a
journalist from the UPI agency,

United Press International
that is, a Frenchmen,

called me up.

No, in fact, if I remember well,

I met him one evening at the opera.

And so of course we shook hands.

And he said to me, "Guess what?"

"A guy came to UPI yesterday"

"who claimed to have
incredible information."

"He claimed to know
under what circumstances"

"Dag Hammarskjold really died in Katanga."

This man wanted to negotiate a price

to sell us the information.

And the journalist, who
was the bureau chief

or deputy bureau chief, I don't know,

said to himself,

there'll be no way we'll be able to check

what he has to tell us.

A press agency has to be very careful.

But he said, I've got an
old friend, meaning me,

who worked with Dag Hammarskjold

who might be interested
in meeting this guy.

So he said to me, "I'll call
you and give you his name."

"And if you agree I'll give
him your phone number"

"so he can call you
and then you can tell me"

"what you think of him."

After several postponements,

the meeting took place in
the evening of Thursday,

the 13th of February.

They said that they were what is called

foreign volunteers in Katanga.

They don't call themselves mercenaries.

The Katangese army's main structure

was constituted by
these foreign volunteers.

These mercenaries were really

head of the Kantangese army.

They said that there was an intimate link

between the foreign volunteers

and some European personalities.

The great boss of the foreign volunteers

was Lieutenant Colonel Lamouline.

He was a former major in the Belgian army

and was attached to the
Katangese government.

The idea was to use two planes

to meet Dag Hammarskjold's plane.

They planned to use two
Fouga Magister biplanes,

two-seaters.

The Fouga type was a CM-170

equipped with two machine
guns and four rockets.

The range of action was
given as 1,400 kilometers.

The two Fouga planes

were ordered to proceed on a night mission.

This night of the 17th
of September was clear,

the weather conditions were perfect.

The two Fouga Magisters left

and went on their way
to the region of Ndola.

In fact not the two Fouga Magisters

intercepted the plane, only one.

The name of the pilot was de Beukels.

De Beukels was vertically over Dag's plane

and had switched on lights,

and had called Dag Hammarskjold's plane,

ordering it to fly to Kamina.

Dag Hammarskjold's
captain or radio operator

had replied that that he must
check with his passengers.

The DC-6 looked as if it was hesitating

but anyway continuing
its maneuvers to land.

De Beukels turned off his lights

and started firing his machine guns,

not to bring down the plane

but to make the tracers visible

and thus show that he meant business.

Some of the bullets had hit the tailplane,

where you have the rudder.

The DC-6 seemed to be wandering.

The pilot of the DC-6
was trying to fight against

this wandering and it is then

that the plane crashed in the forest.

De Beukels immediately returned to Kolwezi

where he arrived at 01:05.

He had been taken to
Kamina where the court-martial

had been led by de Lamouline

together with a few
representatives of Union Miniere,

somebody who de Beukels thought

was a representative of
the Belgian government.

Mr. de Kemoularia had related this meeting

to the Swedish ambassador.

They had arranged for a Paris meeting.

Mr. de Kemoularia claimed

that such a meeting took place
on the 15th of November 1974

but there has been no confirmation of this

from the Swedish diplomat.

There are also reports
that Prime Minister Palme

was briefed on that day.

Apparently
the Swedish authorities,

without having carried out

any investigations on the spot,

but on the basis of information

they had been able to obtain,

considered it wasn't true.

And decided not to follow
up what I had suggested.

Who could carry out an investigation now

to find out the truth?

The United Nations?

They've already done one.

It's very rare to re-open an investigation,

but why not?

Or the Swedish government.

After all, the man who died

was Secretary General
of the United Nations,

and the most illustrious child
of Sweden in modern Europe.

Hammarskjold loved solitude.

Whenever he had time he
went for long walks in Lappland.

And later he bought this lonely estate

at the southern coast of
Sweden, a few miles from Ystad

and a few hundred meters from the sea.

According to his last will

all his possessions in
New York were brought here

to Backakra without changing
the character of the house.

It was plain and simple
and that's how it remains.

Hammarskjold planed
for a chapel on the hills

near the sea, a very simple chapel

without favoring any special confession,

just as he had done in New York.

Because of his sudden
death it was never completed

and today there is a meditation
place just behind the dunes.