Legal purge in Norway after World War II
The purge in Norway after World War II took place between May 1945 and August 1948 against anyone who was deemed to have collaborated with the German occupation of the country. Several thousand Norwegians and foreign citizens were tried and convicted for crimes committed in Scandinavia during the Second World War. However, the scope, legal basis, and fairness of these trials has since been a matter of some debate. A total of 40 people—including Vidkun Quisling, the Prime Minister of Norway during the occupation—were executed after capital punishment was reinstated in Norway. A further five were sentenced to death in Poland in 1947 for their actions in Norway.
Background
The German invasion of Norway during World War II created a number of constitutional issues, chiefly related to what was the legitimate Norwegian government, and whether the constitution and Norwegian code of law remained in effect during the occupation. Although the occupying power, under Reichskommissar Josef Terboven and the puppet Norwegian regime under Vidkun Quisling claimed that the Norwegian government had abandoned its authority in the spring of 1940, the Norwegian government claimed that it had merely capitulated in the military struggle for the homeland, while the executive branch had been given special powers by the Norwegian parliament through the Elverum Authorization. The Norwegian government's claim was upheld both by parliament and the Norwegian Supreme Court after the war, which in turn led to an extensive set of indictments and convictions against Norwegian citizens for treason, and German citizens for war crimes.[1]
As early as 1941 and 1942, the Norwegian government in exile put into effect a number of decrees regarding treasonous acts. Capital punishment was reinstated as an option, prison sentences with hard labor were approved, higher upper limits for financial penalties introduced, and a controversial, new measure known as "loss of public confidence” (tap av almenn tillit) adopted, which would effectively deprive those convicted of various civil privileges. These decrees reached a final, workable form on 15 December 1944, the so-called Landssvikanordning. Crimes defined in these decrees notably included membership of Nasjonal Samling, the Norwegian fascist party that collaborated with the Nazis.[2]
Culpable acts during the occupation
In autumn 1940 the Nazi-supporting Norwegian fascist party, Nasjonal Samling, was made the only legal political organization in Norway. Its claim to be the government was based on the premise that the pre-war leadership had abdicated its responsibilities by leaving Norway. As Nasjonal Samling had taken the responsible course by assuming the mantle of power, it was therefore the legal administration. However it never achieved any level of support justifying its claim to be the legitimate Norwegian government.
This was the view taken in London by Norway's government-in-exile. It saw the Nazi Party and its Third Reich to be the "enemy of war". Anything that aided or encouraged the German occupation of Norway was to be considered in principle an act of treason, this included membership of Nasjonal Samling.[3] Norway's exiled government also considered it to be a criminal act to assist the Nazi regime through economic support and commercial activities.
Norwegians who had volunteered for military service with the Wehrmacht, and especially Germanic-SS were subject to criminal prosecution after the war. Police officers who worked with the RSHA in the Sikkerhetspolitiet (Norwegian Secret State Police) or joined the Gestapo faced charges relating to war crimes, torture, executions, and the mistreatment of prisoners.
Arrests, trials and executions
In May 1945, at the close of World War II, the paramilitary Milorg (Norway's official resistance movement in the war) joined units of the Norwegian police that had been trained in Sweden. Both had been well briefed and prepared ahead of the official liberation on 8 May 1945. The Norwegian government-in-exile assembled this force because it viewed it as paramount to avoid lynching or other extrajudicial punishment against former members of the Nazi regime. Nevertheless, during the summer of 1945, there was a fierce debate reported in Norwegian newspapers about the prosecution and punishment of war criminals and traitors. Many spoke openly of retaliation, but others argued that death penalty was a "drawback for a civilized community". As tensions hardened, those fighting against the death penalty for humanitarian reasons were stigmatized as "the silk front". Those who favored harsh penalties were known as "the ice front". The editorial pages of Norwegian newspapers (Dagbladet being one of the most prominent) demanded harsh penalties.
Within just a few days of the war ending, up to 28,750 people were arrested for questioning. Although many were released quickly, between 5,000 and 6,000 individuals were still detained in custody in August 1946.[4]
Former wartime resistance leader Sven Arntzen was made acting chief barrister of the Norwegian Prosecuting Authority. He was given the responsibility for bringing the cases to trial. Arntzen played a highly public role in establishing the principles that should drive the trials. This led to considerable public and internal debate about the nature of the legal purges.
Altogether prosecutors called for the death penalty in 200 cases of treason; of these only 30 were passed down, with 25 being carried out. From the beginning the application of capital punishment was controversial in Norway, in part because the country's first government instituted the death penalty before the Norwegian parliament had reconvened after the war.[5]
Legacy
A great deal of sensitivity continues to surround this subject in Norwegian society.[6] In later years, studies and inquiries have shown that justice was administered unevenly and—by today's standards—harshly.
For example, the volunteers who joined the Waffen-SS and served on the Eastern Front were only tried for treason, never for war crimes.[7] People who sided with Nasjonal Samling were often publicly shamed and ostracised well beyond the punishment their crimes merited, such as fines or a prison sentence. The prosecution of individuals who served with the German Red Cross has also been questioned. Among those to be convicted was Hanna Kvanmo, who later rose to fame as a socialist politician.
Death sentences
Treason
| Name | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Olav Aspheim | 19 March 1948 | Akershus fortress, Oslo | firing squad served for the Statspolitiet |
| Per Fredrik Bergeen | 12 July 1947 | Kristiansten Fortress, Trondheim | firing squad member of the Rinnan gang |
| Hermann Eduard Franz Dragass | 10 July 1948 | Kristiansten | firing squad German-born translator for the Gestapo |
| Einar Dønnum | 22 April 1947 | Akershus | firing squad served for the Statspolitiet |
| Hans Birger Egeberg | 4 October 1945 | Kristiansten | firing squad member of Rinnan gang |
| Harald Grøtte | 12 July 1947 | Kristiansten | firing squad member of Rinnan gang |
| Alfred Josef Gärtner | 8 August 1946 | Sverresborg fortress, Bergen | firing squad German-born translator for the Gestapo |
| Albert Viljam Hagelin | 25 May 1946 | Akershus | firing squad interior minister |
| Olaus Salberg Peter Hamrun | 12 July 1947 | Kristiansten | firing squad member of Rinnan gang |
| Harry Arnfinn Hofstad | 12 July 1947 | Kristiansten | firing squad member of Rinnan gang |
| Reidar Haaland | 17 August 1945 | Akershus | firing squad served for the Statspolitiet |
| Bjarne Konrad Jenshus | 12 July 1947 | Kristiansten | firing squad member of Rinnan gang |
| Johny Alf Larsen | 29 May 1947 | Bremnes fortress, Bodø | firing squad translator with the Gestapo |
| Aksel Julius Mære | 12 July 1947 | Kristiansten | firing squad member of Rinnan gang |
| Hans Jakob Skaar Pedersen | 30 March 1946 | Sverresborg | firing squad served for the Statspolitiet |
| Eilif Rye Pisani | 2 April 1947 | Kvarven Fortress, Bergen | firing squad translator for the Gestapo |
| Vidkun Quisling | 24 October 1945 | Akershus | firing squad coup maker, ministerpresident |
| Kristian Johan Randal | 12 July 1947 | Kristiansten | firing squad member of Rinnan gang |
| Henry Rinnan | 1 February 1947 | Kristiansten | firing squad leader of Rinnan gang |
| Max Emil Gustav Rook | 5 June 1947 | Sverresborg | firing squad German-born translator for the Gestapo |
| Harry Aleksander Rønning | 12 July 1947 | Kristiansten | firing squad member of Rinnan gang |
| Arne Braa Saatvedt | 20 October 1945 | Akershus | firing squad served for the Statspolitiet |
| Ragnar Skancke | 28 August 1948 | Akershus | firing squad minister, last person to be executed in Norway |
| Holger Tou | 30 January 1947 | Sverresborg | firing squad served for the Statspolitiet |
| Ole Wehus | 10 March 1947 | Akershus | firing squad served for the Statspolitiet |
War crimes
| Name | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Wilhelm Hermann Bruns | 20 September 1947 | Akershus | firing squad |
| Siegfried Wolfgang Fehmer | 16 March 1948 | Akershus | firing squad |
| Gerhard Friedrich Ernst Flesch | 28 February 1948 | Kristiansten | firing squad |
| Nils Peter Bernhard Hjelmberg | 8 August 1946 | Sverresborg | firing squad Danish national |
| Willi August Kesting | 8 August 1946 | Sverresborg | firing squad |
| Karl-Hans Hermann Klinge | 28 March 1946 | Akershus.[8] | firing squad |
| Emil Hugo Friedrich Koeber | 22 March 1947 | Kristiansten | firing squad |
| Julius Hans Christian Nielson | 10 July 1948 | Kristiansten | firing squad |
| Ludwig Runzheimer | 6 July 1946 | Sverresborg | firing squad |
| Rudolf Theodor Adolf Schubert | 20 September 1947 | Akershus | firing squad |
| August Stuckmann | 28 March 1947 | Akershus | firing squad |
| Otto Wilhelm Albert Suhr | 10 January 1948 | Akershus | firing squad |
Sentenced for war crimes by Allied law in Oslo
| Name | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hans Wilhelm Blomberg | 10 January 1946 | Akershus fortress, Oslo | firing squad |
| Erich Hoffmann † | 15 May 1946 | Hamelin prison, Hamburg | hanging |
| Werner Seeling | 10 January 1946 | Akershus fortress, Oslo | firing squad |
† Erich Hoffmann was brought to Hamelin prison in Germany and hanged by British executioner Albert Pierrepoint. He was executed by hanging because he was sentenced to death by an Allied war tribunal and not in a Norwegian court.
Sentenced by Poland for war crimes in Norway
| Name | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| George Koenig | 14 November 1947 | Łódź, Poland | for killing Polish workers in a camp at Umbukta |
| Willi Mueckler | 14 November 1947 | Łódź, Poland | for killing Polish workers in a camp at Umbukta |
| Fritz Gustaw Weidemann | 14 November 1947 | Łódź, Poland | for killing Polish workers in a camp at Umbukta |
| Heinrich August Ossenkopp | 3 February 1949 | Łódź, Poland | for shooting Polish prisoners who escaped from a Todt work camp near Sørfold |
| Friedrich Ferdinand Schlette | 3 February 1949 | Łódź, Poland | for shooting Polish prisoners who escaped from a Todt work camp near Sørfold |
Notes
Citations
- Andenæs, Johs (1980) [1979]. Det vanskelige oppgjøret (in Norwegian) (2nd ed.). Oslo: Tanum-Norli. pp. 91, 96. ISBN 82-518-0917-7.
- Andenæs (1980, pp. 52–53)
- A landmark case was brought against the aging Nobel laureate Knut Hamsun, who had written admiring articles about Hitler and Nazism. Even though he was never proven to be a member of Nasjonal Samling, he was still convicted and sentenced.
- Andenæs (1980, p. 59). Andenæs notes that no cases of extrajudicial punishments were known to have taken place, with the exception of women who had had children with German military personnel (tyskertøser), who had committed no crime but had offended public sensibilities. These often had their heads shaved and were humiliated in public.
- "Quisling's Fate: Controversy in Norway"
- Ole Kristian Nordengen (2008-09-21). "Nytt lys over det norske rettsoppgjøret?". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 2007-02-21. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
- Egil Ulateig (2006-12-04). "Krigsforbryterne blant oss". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 2011-05-24. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
- Law-Reports of Trials of War Criminals, The United Nations War Crimes Commission. III. London: HMSO. 1948. Archived from the original on 2010-05-14 – via Essex University.
References
- University of Oslo: The Legal Purges in Norway after 1945 – A Research Project: Project Description
- Home page for project
- Per Ola Johansen (ed.). På siden av rettsoppgjøret (in Norwegian). Oslo: Unipub. ISBN 82-7477-233-4.
- The Norwegian SS Volunteers In addition to general information about the Norwegian SS volunteers, also contains information about what happened to these soldiers after the war.