Johannes Sigfred Andersen (9 July 1898 – 29 July 1970) was a Norwegian resistance fighter during the Second World War, a member of the Norwegian Independent Company 1 (NOR.I.C.1). He was nicknamed "Gulosten"; 'The Yellow Cheese'. He also used the surname Ostein during the war. Andersen was a controversial character, because of his pre-war life as a well-known career criminal and a series of incidents that occurred during the war years. These incidents included Andersen working as an assassin during the war, and shortly after the war killing two German prisoners of war during a drinking binge. After the war, Andersen started a wood furniture business. He was supported financially by King Haakon VII of Norway, whose friendship he had gained during the war. Andersen was repeatedly accused of crimes after the war, and on one occasion convicted.
Early life Andersen was born on 9 July 1898 in Kristiania (now Oslo), and had a difficult childhood, the latter part of it in an orphanage. He was the son of construction worker Ole Andersen and Josefine Hansen. Soon after Johannes was born, Norway entered a period of economic difficulties, with little construction work available. This led to his father having to change jobs from mason to milkman. Johannes' mother became obsessed with religion.
Institutionalization At age 10 Johannes was declared a ward of court and sent to the school institution Toftes gave on the island Helgøya in the lake Mjøsa. While at the strict institution Johannes received parcels from home, with yellow cheese. The cheese was needed because of the meagre rations given the boys at Toftes gave. The parcels with yellow cheese led to Johannes being given the nickname "Gulosten" () by the other boys at the institution, a name that stuck with him for the rest of his life. After four years on Helgøya he was transferred to Bastøy school home for maladjusted boys, an equally harsh institution. When 29 boys rebelled at Bastøy in 1915, police officers and the Norwegian Armed Forces were employed to crush the riot, and the leaders taken away in handcuffs. Physical punishment was common at Bastøy, including being locked away in a dark cellar, a punishment Johannes had to endure.Ulateig 1996: 16 When Johannes was 15 his mother died, and he was not informed until several days after her funeral. This led to him making suicide threats and going amok at the warden's office, for which he was punished with a stay in the dark cell.
Leaving Helgøya Andersen went to sea at age 15, and later found work as a mason's assistant. On 7 November 1916 he married Lovise Kristine Klausen, who worked as a waitress at a restaurant frequented by Andersen.Bjørnsen 1968: 36 They soon got an apartment at Torshov and had a son. Andersen got a better-paid job, laying the foundation for the headquarters of Oslo Lysverker, but when that job was done he had to seek day-to-day work at the harbour.Bjørnsen 1968: pp. 38–39 After an upturn during the First World War, Norway's financial situation again turned for the worse, no-one would hire a man with an institutional background, and he was out of work. He made a last-ditch attempt to make money, buying liquor in Tønsberg and selling it on the black market in Kristiania, but this was not enough for his wife, who left him to pursue a more financially secure future.Bjørnsen 1968: 42
It has been written that the marriage did not end until 1931. In the meantime, Andersen befriended a woman named Nancy. She helped hide him when he was wanted by the authorities, she lied during a police interrogation at Møllergata 19 to cover for him and she also helped him with practical things such as acquiring a passport. They agreed to part ways when Andersen decided to pursue a trapper career in Canada; when going to visit her one last time he stumbled upon a police officer who recognized him and arrested him.Bjørnsen 1968: pp. 99–101 Also, when frequenting Hamburg, Andersen spent time with two prostitutes. They were described as "not [...] extraordinarily beautiful", and Andersen helped them with buying food.Bjørnsen 1968: pp. 80–81
Criminal career Norway's prohibition from 1916 onwards opened up possibilities for a lucrative criminal career, and Andersen joined up in 1921 with old friends from his days at Toftes gave in grand-scale smuggling operations. Using ingenious methods for hiding the spirits, they smuggled alcohol into Norway by sea. In his smuggling years Andersen cooperated with future award-winning author Arthur Omre, serving as both crew and skipper on Omre's boats before getting his own smuggling vessel. Eventually his cover was blown, and being a wanted man in Norway he had to flee to Germany. While in Germany he worked for one of the biggest suppliers of spirits for the illegal Norwegian market. In 1925 Norway requested that Germany extradite him, and he was arrested in the harbour of Hamburg. Prison life was harsh, but Andersen managed to get transferred to a hospital when faking syphilis by burning his member with a cigarette.Bjørnsen 1968: pp. 88–91 He was then deported under police escort back to Norway on the steamship Kong Dag, but when the ship entered the Oslofjord, Andersen escaped by jumping overboard near Spro.Bjørnsen 1968: pp. 92–94 For several months he was on the run before being recaptured. In the years that followed he was in and out of prison repeatedly. He gained considerable renown for his elegantly executed burglaries, being labelled by the media "gentleman-forbryter i Grünerløkka-utgave" (). He was also well known for his safe-cracking skills.Fjørtoft 1997: 34 Andersen once more tried to evade justice when he fled a crowded court room in Drammen in 1929, jumping out a window as the sentence was being proclaimed. He was then smuggled from Drammen inside a chest of drawers which was to be repaired in Oslo.Bjørnsen 1968: 99 He was recaptured shortly before intending to board a cargo ship bound for Canada.
His criminal escapades made Andersen a national celebrity in pre-war Norway, and his nickname "Gulosten" a household name.Ulateig 1996: 17 Between 1919 and 1937 he was sentenced to prison terms nine times, spending a total of around seven years behind bars. During the mid-1930s Andersen attempted to end his criminal career, became engaged, and started a furniture repair business. He remarried on 18 March 1939, wedding Ruth Johanne (born 1905), née Nilsen. They had one son.Ulateig 1996: 26 In 1935 Andersen attempted to get a children's book published, but it was rejected because of its inclusion of a number of "brutal scenes, unsuited for youths". The nature scenes in the book were, however, commended by the reviewer.Søbye 1995: 169 After yet another spell in prison, Andersen was released on 9 April 1940, the day Germany invaded Norway as a part of World War II.
Second World War
Early resistance work The German invasion of Norway in 1940 led to Andersen's life once more taking a turn into illegal activities. His furniture workshop was used as a weapons depot by the Norwegian resistance movement, and he took part in looting German military stores. He was first arrested by the Germans after he had responded to rumours that he was a Nazi by writing the Norwegian national socialist party Nasjonal Samling's official publication Fritt Folk and stating that "although I have done many wrong things in my life, a Nazi I am not. Yours sincerely Johs. S. Andersen". Ulateig 1996: 18 The letter was published unedited by the newspaper, although Andersen was later arrested by the occupying authorities and sentenced to one year in prison, after spending half a year in detention. Using techniques he had learned during his earlier criminal career, Andersen managed to be transferred to prison hospital during his time in detention. While there he acquired false x-ray images and tuberculosis germs to fake illnesses in other captured resistance men who were on their way to interrogation. He also infected a German interrogator with malaria by contaminating his insulin. At night, he would sneak out of the hospital and operate in Oslo, amongst other activities breaking into Nasjonal Samling offices and stealing documents, copying them and having them shipped to the United Kingdom together with evidence of torture in Nazi-run prisons. He served the last part of his sentence in Fuhlsbüttel near Hamburg, Germany.Ulateig 1996: 19 His wife was also active in resistance work, dealing with propaganda and espionage. Author Egil Ulateig doubts the veracity of Andersen's prison exploits, which are based mostly on Andersen's own testimony.
Assassin, SOE agent and naval rating After his return to Norway in 1942, Andersen carried out the assassination of well-known informer Raymond ColbergFjørtoft 1997: 38 and then made good his escape to Sweden. Colberg had been active in the Sandefjord area, uncovering an illegal radio transmitter. This led to the arrest of eight resistance members in March 1941, three of whom were executed (Øivind Ask, Andreas Bertnes and Johan Midttun were shot 4 December 1941).Sæther 2007: 294Lund 1945: 212 Andersen carried out the assassination of the Abwehr agent together with his wife and two acquaintances, kidnapping him and killing him in the basement of the Oslo animal hospital Cheval.Fjørtoft 1997: 32–34 According to Ruth Andersen's later interrogation records, the killing was carried out by crucifying him with four knives and crushing his bones with iron pipes, then dismembering the body, putting it in a container for animal carcasses and dumping it in the river Akerselva. The confession may have been made under torture, and included no reference to the bullet holes found on Colberg's corpse when it was recovered.Fjørtoft 1997: 33Ulateig 1996: 21 According to historian and leader of Norway's Resistance Museum, Arnfinn Moland, the claims of Colberg having been tortured and mutilated are fabrications. Moland cites autopsy reports and German archives to back up his claims.Moland 1999: 102–104 Colberg's body was discovered by a Norwegian civilian on 15 June 1942 with two 7,62 mm calibre bullet holes in the head, and was identified through Colberg's dental records.Ulateig 1996: 20 The killing was, according to Ulateig, also motivated by Andersen's personal feelings towards Colberg, and Moland states that Andersen "may have had" such motives,Moland 1999: 342 a claim that is refuted by history professor Tore Pryser.