The Norwegian Resistance Movement during WW2, Taking Form IV

Blog post III ended with the first uprising against the tightening grip of the German occupation authorities and the Norwegian fascists under the leadership of Vidkun Quisling and his Nasjonal Samling (NS) party.

Let’s look a global look at what happened in the fall and winter of 1940-1941 in the civil resistance.

Oslo as the hub

Most of the struggle took place in Oslo - or at least was coordinated from the capital - as it was the seat of government and the center of all the important educational institutions and economic activities in Norway. Most of the national professional and trade organizations had their head offices in Oslo. So it was logical that the resistance movement also centered its attention there and continued to set up an organization in Oslo that could cater to the rest of the country.

The first teachers’ protest

In October 1940, the NS directed their demand for declarations of loyalty to public servants. Doctors and teachers were the first in the line of fire. Soon the trade unions, clergy and legal profession would follow. Those that refused to become party members were dismissed from their jobs on political grounds. It’s no wonder that these professional groups have continued to be at the heart of the resistance throughout the war.

The teachers’ organizations sent out a joint circular to their members, referring to their right to reject such pressure based on the Hague Convention. Despite the threat of dismissal, many refused to become an NS member and claimed teacher independence. The first nation-wide directive in the war (parole) was sent out in what has become known as the ‘Standfast’ struggle:

“With reference to the inquiry received, I hereby declare that I will remain true to my teaching vocation and my conscience, and that on that basis I shall, in the future as in the past, carry out the decisions relating to my work which are lawfully given by my superiors.”

The word ‘lawfully’ clarifies that the Norwegian public didn’t accept the NS as lawful. The sheer courage of this act of defiance would later resonate with even more power through the teacher ranks in 1942 when thousands were arrested and deported.

But for now, the wave of teacher protests and this first Standfast action resulted in the NS pressure taken off for the time being. It also enhanced solidarity among resisters and provided a pattern for other groups of public officials. The parole proved, both on this occasion and later, to be an effective instrument of warfare against nazification.

The legal government

Another powerful blow to the oppressing authorities was the resignation of the entire Supreme Court - the 3rd element in governing the country - in December 1940. They simply refused to set aside the principle of judicial independence, which the NS proclaimed. Now the Supreme court had taken side with the resistance, it legalized the ‘illicit’ opposition. Chief Justice Paal Berg and other Supreme Court judges went on to play a key role in Norway’s resistance movement.

The NS didn’t shun to show how it would undermine legal security. A ‘People’s Court was set up, which could deal with criminal cases at the request of the authorities. For example, the entire Labor Party group of the Oslo City Council was denounced and imprisoned after a protest. But many fore arrests happened without a trial. And the Hird - secret police, fashioned after Hitler’s SA - was let loose on the Norwegian streets to create havoc, without any intervention from the side of the police who were ordered to give them active support. It was a time of brute force and mob rule in Norway, with as its darkest moment the visit in January 1941 of the German Gestapo leader Himmler.

Breakdown of local self-government

Albert Viljam Hagelin was the second man of the NS and the only one to share Quisling’s fate of execution after the war. He was the ‘strong man’ of the party and headed the newly established Department for Home Affairs. On the day the Supreme Court ceased to function, an ordinance was sent out for changing local government law. The Fürherprincip (leader principle) was introduced into county and district administration. Representatives were no longer elected but nominated by his Department. This happened so suddenly that in this area, the NS was successful. Archives of a post-war inquiry show that in April 1944 82% of district chairpersons were NS members and that at the liberation of Norway everyone was a member or a fellow-traveler. On a local level, few of the old political leaders served as a sheet-anchor in the emergency. In sailors’ language, most of them were mere sea-anchors in the great political storms to which the German occupation had exposed the Norwegian community.

Church protests

All the main divisions in the Norwegian Church came together in a Joint Christian Council under the leadership of the Bishop of Oslo, Eivind Berggrav, Professor Ole Hallesby and the lay preacher Ludvig Hope. They sent out an Episcopal letter that also quickly found its way to the government-in-exile in London. Their point was firm and clear:

“When those in authority in the community tolerate violence and injustice and oppress the souls of men, then the Church is the guardian of men’s consciences… On that account the bishops of the Church have laid before the Minister some of the facts and official announcements concerning the administration of the community…which the church finds to be in conflict with the law of God…”

The NS tried to counter the bishops by police actions in and outside the churches and Bishop Berggrav was summoned to meet Reichskommissar Terboven and Himmler to answer for his doings.

As with the legal professions, the suppression only led to the clergy taking the side of the resistance and play an important role in it during the rest of the war. Some of them, like Ludvig Hope ended up in concentration camps

Trade unions

The forces of resistance in the trade union organisation (LO) and Labor movement were feebler, certainly during the winter of 1940/41. The reason was partly because Germany had a pact with the Soviet Union and the communist party and the Comintern collaborated with the occupying forces at that point and were promoting a peace agreement with the Nazis.

But after the coup of 25 September active groups formed around Einar Gerhardsen who was the chairman of the Oslo City Council and vice-chairman of the Labor Party. He would go on to head the first inter-party Government after the war.

In the next blog, we will see how all these different groups become organized in an inner circle and a coordination committee.