Olga Lundin in the United States after being rescued from the Titanic. Picture taken by Swedish journalist Torbjörn Wester of the Lundin sisters' relatives.
Olga Elida Lundin was one of the 34 Swedish survivors of the RMS Titanic in 1912.
Background[]
Olga Elida Lundin was the daughter of Gustava Eriksdotter and Edvard Måhlgren Lundin. She was born on 9 January 1889, in Hallaryd, Kronoberg, Sweden. Her father was a soldier in Kronoberg's regiment and her parents had four children together. After the youngest child was born in 1900, her father disappeared. After a few years at school, Olga started working in the beet fields and as a nanny. From the little she managed to earn, she saved as much as possible, to have a starting capital in life.
Emigration[]
When Olga's cousin Nils Johansson came to visit the village after living for a period in the USA, he told them about the great country in the west, which had so many opportunities to offer. Nils worked as a machinist but owned shares in a factory operation and real estate in Seattle. He had a life insurance policy worth a 1000 dollars. Olga was captivated by Nils' stories about his success in the United States. As a result, Olga and Nils decided to travel to America as a couple. They decided to go on the Titanic's Maiden Voyage in the belief that it would be safer since the Titanic had been described in newspapers as unsinkable.
Titanic[]
In addition to Olga and Nils, Olga's friend Carl Jonsson and blacksmiths Albert Augustsson and Paul Andreasson from Hallaryd also traveled with them. The journey went via Denmark to Southampton, where they boarded the new ship on April 10th. Olga and the comrades had Third Class tickets. A story goes that Olga became seasick during the sea voyage across the Channel and Nils exchanged her Third Class ticket for a Second Class ticket, in order to have a more comfortable passing. Nevertheless, Olga shared a Third Class cabin with another Swedish woman named Gerda Dahlberg.
Olga, Nils and the rest of the party took part in the dancing feasts. In an interview with the local newspaper Norra Skåne in 1960, she described that before the disaster it was a wonderful trip where everyone had a good time. It was a journey of luxury where people danced and amused themselves, the food and service being outstanding.
During the night on April 14, Olga was awakened by a heavy impact and had gone up on deck to see what had happened. On her side of the ship, no major concern was noticed, but in another part of the ship there was a full panic. More and more passengers began to understand that the ship was sinking and panic had begun to spread. There were too few lifeboats to be enough for all passengers, women and children were therefore prioritized first. Olga was taken by a crewman and she was thrown into a lifeboat.
From the lifeboat she could see the ship settling, not hearing the Orchestra playing and seeing how Titanic sank faster after she heard explosions, which she connected to the boilers.
Olga wrote a letter later aboard the rescue ship Carpathia to her mother, describing that she was holding her fiancé Nils' hand and wanted him in the lifeboat but that he was forbidden to jump in. Lundin's friend Carl Johnsson, also survived the disaster. Sadly, Nils and the other men in the traveling group had perished.
Later life[]
After the disaster, Olga was ill and recovered with her sister Jenny who was already living in the United States. From there, she slowly built up her new life in the country. From "The Women's Relief Commitee", she received a total of 75 US dollars. She moved to California and worked as a housewife for five years. Then returned to Hallaryd where for some time she ran a café. She wanted to save up a capital for a marriage to a new man she had met. Her future husband died before the wedding, and Olga decided to return to the United States. There were many trips across the Atlantic and despite the accident, she never felt the fear of having another shipwreck. Olga worked as a cook for the Norwegian Crown Princess Märta and her children, while they lived in exile in Washington DC when Germany had occupied Norway. In Washington she would have dinner with Franklin D. Roosevelt.
On June 15 1935, Olga married Charles Andersson in Washington D.C. He was a builder from Mönsterås. For many years they lived together in Washington DC. The marriage lasted until 1964, when Charles died of illness. Two years before Andersson's death, the couple had moved back to Sweden to live in Osby, a few kilometers from Hallaryd where she grew up. On July 10, 1961, Dagens Nyheter confirmed that she had donated SEK 10,000 to Hässleholm Hospital to be used for artistic decoration, this as a thank you for the good car she had received.
She married Charles Andersson on 15 June 1935, in Washington D.C., United States. They never had any children together.
Olga Elida Lundin-Andersson was 84 years old when she passed away in Ostby on 1 March 1973. She now lays to rest in Hallaryd Cemetry.
Mystery[]
Olga Lundin, like Finnish passenger Anna Sofia Sjöblom, is said to have described a scene where a young couple meet a terrible fate. A man watches in horror how his wife falls to her death in the icey waters, after which he completely changed, his hairs turning grey within the hour. However Olga said she was on deck when this happened, and according to Anna this rather strange moment took place in her lifeboat.