The legal purge in Norway after World War II (; ) took place between May 1945 and August 1948 against anyone who was found 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 World War II. 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 self-proclaimed and Nazi-supported Minister President of Norway during the occupation—were executed after capital punishment was reinstated in Norway. Thirty-seven of those executed were executed under Norwegian law, while the other three were executed under Allied military law.
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 Storting (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.
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" () 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 . Crimes defined in these decrees notably included membership of Nasjonal Samling, the Norwegian fascist party that collaborated with the Nazis.Andenæs (1980, pp. 52–53)
Culpable acts during the occupation In autumn 1940 the Nazi-supporting Norwegian fascist party, Nasjonal Samling, was declared as 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. 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 or, especially, the Germanic-SS were subject to criminal prosecution after the war. Police officers who worked with the RSHA in the Statspolitiet (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 the avoidance of lynching or other extrajudicial punishment of former members of the Nazi regime as being of paramount importance. 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 in custody in August 1946.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.
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 requested death sentences in 200 cases of treason; of these only 30 were passed down, with 25 being carried out. All were executed by firing squad, except for Erich Hoffmann, who was hanged. From the beginning, the application of capital punishment was controversial in Norway, in part because the country's first government instituted capital punishment before the Norwegian parliament had reconvened after the war."Quisling's Fate: Controversy in Norway"
People executed Forty people were executed. Thirty-seven of them were executed under Norwegian law, and the other three under Allied military law. One man was hanged; the rest were shot.
For treason under Norwegian law Name Date Location Notes Reidar Haaland 17 August 1945 Akershus Fortress, OsloServed in the Statspolitiet Hans Birger Egeberg 4 October 1945 Kristiansten Fortress, TrondheimMember of the Rinnan gang Arne Braa Saatvedt 20 October 1945 AkershusServed in the Statspolitiet Vidkun Quisling 24 October 1945 AkershusCoup leader, head of the pro-Nazi puppet government Hans Jakob Skaar Pedersen 30 March 1946 Sverresborg Fortress, BergenServed in the Statspolitiet Albert Viljam Hagelin 25 May 1946 AkershusInterior minister Alfred Josef Gärtner 8 August 1946 SverresborgGerman-born translator for the Gestapo Holger Tou 30 January 1947 SverresborgServed in the Statspolitiet Henry Rinnan 1 February 1947 KristianstenLeader of the Rinnan gang Ole Wehus 10 March 1947 AkershusServed in the Statspolitiet Eilif Rye Pisani 2 April 1947 Kvarven Fortress, BergenTranslator for the Gestapo Einar Dønnum 22 April 1947 AkershusServed in the Statspolitiet Johny Alf Larsen 29 May 1947 Bremnes Fortress, BodøTranslator for the Gestapo Max Emil Gustav Rook 5 June 1947 SverresborgGerman-born translator for the Gestapo Per Fredrik Bergeen 12 July 1947 KristianstenMember of the Rinnan gang Harald Grøtte 12 July 1947 KristianstenMember of the Rinnan gang Olaus Salberg Peter Hamrun 12 July 1947 KristianstenMember of the Rinnan gang Harry Arnfinn Hofstad 12 July 1947 KristianstenMember of the Rinnan gang Bjarne Konrad Jenshus 12 July 1947 KristianstenMember of the Rinnan gang Aksel Julius Mære 12 July 1947 Kristiansten Member of the Rinnan gang Kristian Johan Randal 12 July 1947 KristianstenMember of the Rinnan gang Harry Aleksander Rønning 12 July 1947 KristianstenMember of the Rinnan gang Olav Aspheim 19 March 1948 AkershusServed in the Statspolitiet Hermann Eduard Franz Dragass 10 July 1948 KristianstenGerman-born translator for the Gestapo Ragnar Skancke 28 August 1948 AkershusMinister for Church and Educational Affairs in Quisling's government; the last person to be executed in Norway
For war crimes under Norwegian law Name Date Location Notes Karl-Hans Hermann Klinge28 March 1946 Akershus Ludwig Runzheimer6 July 1946 Sverresborg Nils Peter Bernhard Hjelmberg 8 August 1946 SverresborgDanish national Willi August Kesting8 August 1946 Sverresborg Emil Hugo Friedrich Koeber22 March 1947 KristianstenAugust Stuckmann28 March 1947 Akershus Richard Wilhelm Hermann Bruns20 September 1947 Akershus Rudolf Theodor Adolf Schubert20 September 1947 AkershusOtto Wilhelm Albert Suhr10 January 1948 Akershus Gerhard Friedrich Ernst Flesch28 February 1948 Kristiansten Siegfried Wolfgang Fehmer16 March 1948 AkershusJulius Hans Christian Nielson10 July 1948 Kristiansten
For war crimes under Allied military law
The three men executed under Allied military law were convicted and sentenced after standing trial in Oslo.
Name Date Location Notes Hans Wilhelm Blomberg 10 January 1946 Akershus Werner Seeling10 January 1946 Akershus Erich Hoffmann 15 May 1946Hamelin Prison, HamelinHoffmann was not shot in Norway, but instead hanged at Hamelin Prison in Germany
Legacy These were the last executions carried out in Norway.
A great deal of sensitivity continues to surround this subject in Norwegian society. For example, the volunteers who joined the Waffen-SS and served on the Eastern Front were tried only for treason, never for war crimes.
References Notes
Citations
Bibliography University of Oslo: The Legal Purges in Norway after 1945 – A Research Project: Project Description Home page for project
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 (archived link) Anika Seemann (2020) "Citizen Outcasts", Scandinavian Journal of History, 45:3, 360–383,