Nansen International Office for Refugees was an international relief agency in the 1930’s that helped people who had been forced to flee from their homelands. The League of Nations, a forerunner of the United Nations, established the Nansen Office in 1930. It was named for Fridtjof Nansen, a Norwegian polar explorer who had served as the League’s special commissioner to aid refugees from 1921 until his death in 1930.
The Nansen International Office for Refugees began aiding refugees on April 1, 1931. It operated under the authority of the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, but was largely independent from the League.
From the beginning, the Nansen Office faced enormous problems. The League paid its administrative expenses, but the Nansen Office depended on private contributions to finance its relief work. The Great Depression, a worldwide economic slump, had created so much hardship that the agency never had a reliable source of funds. The Depression also made it difficult to find job opportunities for refugees. Another problem was that a growing stream of refugees fled Germany during the 1930’s, after the Nazi Party had taken power.
The problem of German refugees became so severe in 1933 that the League of Nations established a High Commission for Refugees Coming from Germany. On Dec. 31, 1938, the League dissolved both the High Commission and the Nansen Office. The two agencies were replaced by a new organization, the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees Under the Protection of the League, which opened on Jan. 1, 1939, with headquarters in London. As a farewell honor, the Nansen Office was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1938.
