Nansenhjelpen

When another Nobel Peace laureate, Christian Lange and foreign minister Halvdan Koht added their voices to Paasche's, Nansen agreed to form the organization.

The Norwegian government insisted on a NOK 1,000 deposit for each refugee to ensure that they wouldn't be a burden to the state, and refused to grant work permits for them.

The head of the Norwegian passport office, Leif Ragnvald Konstad, accompanied them and issued entry visas for precisely the number of refugees the organization could afford to sponsor, excluding "weak and sick" individuals from consideration.

In March 1939, the three Norwegians responded to a call from contacts in Bratislava that antisemitic attacks in Slovakia had escalated with the independence from the Czech central government and ascent of Monsignor Jozef Tiso.

Impressed by Nansen's pedigree, Tiso assured him that the detention of Jews in concentration camp was merely a protective measure against "the agitated masses."

Nansen was unconvinced but traveled on to Vienna and back, all the while registering rampant riots, plundering and systematic persecution of Jews in the wake of Nazi supremacy.

Nansen tried in vain to register his alarm to Tiso and the chief of police, eventually giving up and returning to Prague where he hoped his efforts would bear more fruit.

In cooperation with Vladislav Klumpbar, the Czech minister of social welfare and public health, the group worked through the night between March 14 and 15 to identify and secure the escape of the 8,000 - 9,000 refugees most in danger when and if the Nazis took over.

Having been told by Rudolf Kac, the leader of the Communist Refugee Group, that German forces had crossed the border, he managed to reach Klumpbar and Podajski in the early morning.

Tove Filseth returned to Prague shortly after this, and the organization resumed efforts to secure visas and both legal and illegal departures from Czech territories.

The refugee flow through Poland had become more organized, with the Norwegian ambassador Niels Christian Ditleff providing food, clothing, and transportation to Gdynia, where they could travel by sea to Norway.