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===Continued resistance by Saborg after summer of 1944===
===Continued resistance by Saborg after summer of 1944===
By the summer of 1944, the organisation was again strengthened and "[[Normann Iversen]] waited in regards to starting activities".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kulås, Guri|title=Vanlege folk - sjøfolk og gymnasiaster - gjorde Saborg til den mest slagkraftige norske motstandsgruppa: Bergen var brennpunkt|publisher=Klassekampen|date=2015-10-17|page=48-9|quote=Ei av desse er kvifor Normann Iversen venta med å dra i gang aktiviteten sommeren 1944 då organisasjonen igjen var styrkt.<br>
By the summer of 1944, the organisation was again strengthened and "[[Normann Iversen]] waited in regards to starting activities".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kulås, Guri|title=Vanlege folk - sjøfolk og gymnasiaster - gjorde Saborg til den mest slagkraftige norske motstandsgruppa: Bergen var brennpunkt|publisher=Klassekampen|date=2015-10-17|page=48-9|quote=Ei av desse er kvifor Normann Iversen venta med å dra i gang aktiviteten sommeren 1944 då organisasjonen igjen var styrkt.}}</ref>" [[Lars Borgersrud]] says that "[[Kontor S]] ordered Saborg to decommission the activities. On May 16 the London-government had entered an agreement with Soviet, in which the Soviet forces would occupy Finnmark, while the rest of Norway would be a British occupation zone. Soviet therefore had to end its activities in South Norway".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kulås, Guri|title=Vanlege folk - sjøfolk og gymnasiaster - gjorde Saborg til den mest slagkraftige norske motstandsgruppa: Bergen var brennpunkt|publisher=Klassekampen|date=2015-10-17|page=48-9|quote=
- Svaret er enkelt: Kontor S gav Saborg ordre om å leggja ned aktiviteten. Den 16. mai hadde London-regjeringa gått inn ein avtale med Sovjet der sovjetiske styrkar skulle hærsetja Finnmark, medan resten av Noreg skulle vera britisk hærtakingsområde. Sovjet måtte derfor avslutte aktiviteten sin i Sør-Noreg. Når hausten 1944 vert den vestlandske sabotasjehausten, var det fordi sabotørene vart "fristilte" fra Saborg.}}</ref>" [[Lars Borgersrud]] says that "[[Kontor S]] ordered Saborg to decommission the activities. On May 16 the London-government had entered an agreement with Soviet, in which the Soviet forces would occupy Finnmark, while the rest of Norway would be a British occupation zone. Soviet therefore had to end its activities in South Norway".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kulås, Guri|title=Vanlege folk - sjøfolk og gymnasiaster - gjorde Saborg til den mest slagkraftige norske motstandsgruppa: Bergen var brennpunkt|publisher=Klassekampen|date=2015-10-17|page=48-9|quote=
- Svaret er enkelt: Kontor S gav Saborg ordre om å leggja ned aktiviteten. Den 16. mai hadde London-regjeringa gått inn ein avtale med Sovjet der sovjetiske styrkar skulle hærsetja Finnmark, medan resten av Noreg skulle vera britisk hærtakingsområde. Sovjet måtte derfor avslutte aktiviteten sin i Sør-Noreg. Når hausten 1944 vert den vestlandske sabotasjehausten, var det fordi sabotørene vart "fristilte" fra Saborg.}}</ref>"
- Svaret er enkelt: Kontor S gav Saborg ordre om å leggja ned aktiviteten. Den 16. mai hadde London-regjeringa gått inn ein avtale med Sovjet der sovjetiske styrkar skulle hærsetja Finnmark, medan resten av Noreg skulle vera britisk hærtakingsområde. Sovjet måtte derfor avslutte aktiviteten sin i Sør-Noreg. Når hausten 1944 vert den vestlandske sabotasjehausten, var det fordi sabotørene vart "fristilte" fra Saborg.}}</ref>"


Revision as of 09:17, 20 October 2015

Osvald Group
LeadersAsbjørn Sunde
Dates of operation1940–1944
Active regionsNorway
AlliesCommunist Party of Norway,
Milorg, XU, SOE, 2A
OpponentsNazi Germany, Nasjonal Samling
Battles and warsSabotage, assassinations

The Osvald Group was a Norwegian sabotage organisation—the most active one in Norway from 1941 to the summer[1] of 1944.[2][3] It performed around-[1] or more than [4] 110 sabotage actions. (There were 39[5] sabotage actions according to Asbjørn Sunde's book from 1947.)

The organisation was originally a branch of the Wollweber League, a subsidiary to the Soviet secret police organization NKVD which dissolved when Ernst Wollweber was arrested in 1940.

Martin Hjelmen was its first leader until Asbjørn Sunde took over in 1938.[6]

In 2015 the book Sabotører i vest. Sabotasjeorganisasjonen på Vestlandet 1940-1945 by Lars Borgersrud and Inge Bjørnar Eriksen was published.[7]

Origin of name

Historian Lars Borgersrud says about the origins of the group's name, that "The Norwegian section of Wollweber's sabotage instrument was called 'the Osvald Group' («Osvald-gruppa») after the pseudonym of the leader, Martin Hjelmen"—Osvald.[6] Osvald was also one of the pseudonyms used by Asbjørn Sunde.

History

"- Bergen was the gate towards the West for all of Scandinavia, says (...) Lars Borgersrud when he explains why the city was so important for both Germany, Soviet and Great Britain. (...) Bergen was the largest homeport to the world's third largest merchant navy. Norway was a superpower on the ocean - the opposite of Germany, which lost its navy and merchant navy after World War I.
- When nazism was becoming more influential and Soviet started to ready itself for a new, large war - the Russians saw shipping as Germany's Achilles' heel.
This was the reason that the Soviet security service contacted Ernst Wollweber. The German communist had been a union steward in International of Seamen and Harbour Workers (ISH) and the Communist Party was prohibited by Hitler in 1933.
Wollweber took the mission of building a European network of sabotage groups under Soviet command, targeting German shipping: Sabotasjeorganisasjonen, or Saborg (at Austlandet, known as The Osvald Group). Oslo was the main base. Here Wollweber contacted the communist Martin Hjelmen, who then contacted people such as Asbjørn Sunde and Normann Iversen. The last [one] named became Saborg's leader in Bergen.
- All had a background of seamanship. Seamen were at the bottom of society. Many were communists, and even more looked at Soviet with sympathy. In Bergen, Losse- og lasteforeningen was the first trade union that opposed the occupation force by refusing to unload war materials. The union became Saborg's first base of recuiting."[8]"

After the arrest of Ernst Wollweber and the revelation of the Wollweber League, the Osvald Group was intact in Oslo, but had lost contact with Moscow,[3] and had no funding. The group stored explosives around the country. They initiated their sabotage activities shortly after Operation Barbarossa, the German attack on the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, and continued until the Osvald Group was demobilised in 1944, by orders from Moscow. Their first railway sabotage mission was undertaken on 20 July 1941, the explosion of a Wehrmacht train at Nyland Station in Oslo. In July 1942 Sunde held his first sabotage course at Rukkedalen [where they had headquarters].[9] "A short time later he actioned against German friendly" companies in Hadeland.[9]

The Osvald group's active resistance policy was in opposition to the Communist Party of Norway (NKP), Milorg and other organizations that preferred a more passive resistance. The group cooperated with the group 2A and 2A's police group, as well as with Milorg, SOE and XU.

From the winter of 1942 NKP formed military groups, and Sunde had meetings with their leader Peder Furubotn. Sunde established a sabotage training center in Rukkedalen and recruited a network of saboteurs in the Torpo-Gol and Nesbyen area—and through Hallingdal and towards Oslo and Bergen. In September 1942 Sunde agreed to supply guards at the communist party's central camp in Hemsedal, in exchange for practical and financial support. Sunde became NKP's military leader, and the organisation became more efficient.

In 1944 there was a break between the group and NKP's leader Peder Furubotn, when Furubotn demanded that the group should subordinate itself to his leadership.

The Osvald Group was closed down in 1944, following orders from Moscow. During its operative period from July 1941 to July 1944 the group was responsible for around 110[1] known actions, dominating sabotage activity in Norway during this period.

35 of the saboteurs were killed, excluding the one killed in Bergen.[1]

Continued resistance by Saborg after summer of 1944

By the summer of 1944, the organisation was again strengthened and "Normann Iversen waited in regards to starting activities".[10]" Lars Borgersrud says that "Kontor S ordered Saborg to decommission the activities. On May 16 the London-government had entered an agreement with Soviet, in which the Soviet forces would occupy Finnmark, while the rest of Norway would be a British occupation zone. Soviet therefore had to end its activities in South Norway".[11]"

After the decommissioning of the Osvald Group, Saborg continued.[12] ("Saborg was originally created and developed as the Bergen chapter of the international ship sabotage organization under Ernst Wollweber's leadership. This happened before World War Two".[12]) In November and December 1944 the leaders of Saborg were arrested.[13] Saborg was the only resistance organization, that at times was subordinate to Milorg in Bergen, SOE, or the Communist Party's section in[14] Bergen.[12] (The latter relationship lasted a few days until Saborg was destroyed, and it is regarded as insignificant,[14] according to Borgersrud.)

Violent actions

The Saborg section of the Osvald Group was responsible for 30 actions.[12]

Organization

The number of members was over 200.[1]

"The communist sabotage organization in Bergen"[20] was called Saborg, and the core[12] of the organization counted around 60-65 members.

The Vågård Group (Vågårdsgruppa[21]) was another section of the Osvald Group, and it was based North of Hønefoss, in the forest.[22]

Post-war

Saboteur Josef Monsrud said that "I am proud of having been part of the Osvald organization. And the recognition that we have not received, I can [accept or] live with. Because I know what we have done", according to a 2009 LO-Aktuelt article.[9]

Sunde received an award[23][when?] (deltagermedaljen in bronze)—by certified mail—from the Norwegian government.[9]

In 2013, then minister of defence honored[1] 8 members—of the 17 who are still alive. Sunde and his organization received award and recognition the Soviet Union[citation needed][when?] for their contributions during the war.

2014 lawsuit over research project

In 2014 Lars Borgersrud filed a lawsuit against Museum Vest,[24] and he demanded the return of documentation that he had gathered,[25] Later that year the lawsuit was settled out of court.

Monument and plaquettes

On 30 May 1995 a plaquette was installed on a wall of an atrium that leads to Østbanehallen (from Jernbanetorget in Oslo), listing employees of the State Railways [whereof at least two were "Osvald members"] who died during World War Two. In 2015 the plaquette was moved onto the base of the monument located at Jernbanetorget in Oslo. Other[26] plaquettes are at other places in Norway.

On 29 April 2015 a monument was installed at Jernbanetorget,[27] and unveiled on 1 May. The monument—["crush nazism"] Knus nasismen[28] by Bjørn Melbye Gulliksen—shows a hammer[29] (specifically a mukkert[30][31]) that is crushing a swastika,[32][33] with the swastika nearly[34] becoming "invisible (...) What we now see is a sledgehammer slamming at Norway's bedrock". On the base of the monument are two plaquettes and one inscription: an Asbjørn Sunde quote, "It was worth fighting for the freedom—for all nations, for all races, for all classes, for all people".[34] (One plaquette is dedicated to dead Osvald members; another larger plaquette is for State Railway employees killed in World War II. Two of the names appear on both plaquettes.) Present at the unveiling were 4 surviving members.[35] The permit (from the municipality) for the monument's current location, lasts for six months, whereupon placement of the monument will be reviewed.[36] Controversy has lasted since 2014.[26][32][34][37][38][39][40][41]

Members

Members of Saborg

"- The people of Saborg did not come from affluent homes, like some in SOE did", says Lars Borgersrud.[47]"

  • August Rathke,[20] claimed chief of recruiting for Saborg[48] (and [a] leader in[14] the Communist Party's youth organization[13] during a period of World War Two)
  • Alf Bjørkman[12]
  • Frank Nilsen[12][49]
  • Olaf Rutledal[12]
  • Martin Lundberg[12]
  • Leif Myrmel[12]
  • Martin Hjelmen[12] was the Osvald Group's first leader.[14]
  • Norman Iversen[12] was the leader of Saborg when it was unraveled and destroyed.[14]
  • Reidar Olsen
  • Arvid Abrahamsen (member who helped hiding weapons and equipment; imprisoned in January 1945 and tortured; attendee at 2015 unveiling of monument.[50])

Other participants in the illegal work of the Osvald Group

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Lars Borgersrud (2013-11-13). "I spissen for sabotasjekampen". Aftenposten. p. 5.
  2. ^ Borgersrud, Lars (1995). "Osvald-gruppen". In Hans Fredrik Dahl (ed.). Norsk krigsleksikon 1940-45 (in Norwegian). Oslo: Cappelen. pp. 319–320. ISBN 82-02-14138-9. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
  3. ^ a b Borgersrud, Lars (1995). "Sunde, Asbjørn". In Hans Fredrik Dahl (ed.). Norsk krigsleksikon 1940-45 (in Norwegian). Oslo: Cappelen. pp. 404–405. ISBN 82-02-14138-9. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
  4. ^ Guri Kulås (2015-02-16). "Rettssaka mot Asbjørn Sunde har vorte tema for ny dramadokumentar: Kaldkrigsdrama". Klassekampen. p. 24.
  5. ^ Page 245 - 248. Asbjørn Sunde: Menn i mørket. Dreyer Forlag. Oslo (1947)
  6. ^ a b c d Uklart om likvidasjoner
  7. ^ http://www.klassekampen.no/article/20151012/ARTICLE/151019993
  8. ^ Kulås, Guri (2015-10-17). "Vanlege folk - sjøfolk og gymnasiaster - gjorde Saborg til den mest slagkraftige norske motstandsgruppa: Bergen var brennpunkt". Klassekampen. p. 48-9. - Bergen var porten mot vest for heile Skandinavia , seier krigshistorikar Lars Borgersrud når han skal forklare kvifor byen var så viktig for både Tyskland, Sovjet og Storbritannia under andre verdskrig. (...) Bergen var den største heimehamna til verdas tredje største handelsflåte. Noreg var ei stormakt på sjøen - stikk motsett Tyskland, som mista både marinen og handelsflåten etter fyrste verdskrigen.
    - Då nazismen vann fram og Sovjet byrja å bu seg på ein ny storkrig, såg russarane på sjøfarten som Tysklands akilleshæl.
    Dette var årsaka til at den sovjetiske tryggingstenesta tok kontakt med Ernst Wollweber. Den tyske kommunisten hadde vore tillitsvald i International of Seamen and Harbour Workers (ISH) og kommunistpartiet vart forbodne av Hitler i 1933.
    Wollweber tok oppdraget med å byggja eit europeisk nettverk av sabotasjegrupper under sovjetisk kommando, retta mot tysk sjøfart: Sabotasjeorganisasjonen, eller Saborg (på Austlandet kjent som Osvald-gruppa). Oslo var hovudbasen. Her tok Wollweber kontakt med kommunisten Martin Hjelmen, som igjen tok kontakt med folk som Asbjørn Sunde og Normann Iversen. Sistnemde var Saborgs leiar i Bergen.
    - Alle hadde sjømannsbakgrunn. Sjømenn var på botn av samfunnet. Mange var kommunistar, og endå fleire såg med sympati på Sovjet. I Bergen vart Losse- og lasteforeningen den første fagorganisasjonen som sette seg opp mot okkupasjonsmakta med å nekta å lossa krigsmateriell. Foreninga vart Saborgs første rekrutteringsbase.     {{cite news}}: line feed character in |quote= at position 539 (help)
  9. ^ a b c d Glemte sabotører. LO-Aktuelt nr. 11/2009
  10. ^ Kulås, Guri (2015-10-17). "Vanlege folk - sjøfolk og gymnasiaster - gjorde Saborg til den mest slagkraftige norske motstandsgruppa: Bergen var brennpunkt". Klassekampen. p. 48-9. Ei av desse er kvifor Normann Iversen venta med å dra i gang aktiviteten sommeren 1944 då organisasjonen igjen var styrkt.
  11. ^ Kulås, Guri (2015-10-17). "Vanlege folk - sjøfolk og gymnasiaster - gjorde Saborg til den mest slagkraftige norske motstandsgruppa: Bergen var brennpunkt". Klassekampen. p. 48-9. - Svaret er enkelt: Kontor S gav Saborg ordre om å leggja ned aktiviteten. Den 16. mai hadde London-regjeringa gått inn ein avtale med Sovjet der sovjetiske styrkar skulle hærsetja Finnmark, medan resten av Noreg skulle vera britisk hærtakingsområde. Sovjet måtte derfor avslutte aktiviteten sin i Sør-Noreg. Når hausten 1944 vert den vestlandske sabotasjehausten, var det fordi sabotørene vart "fristilte" fra Saborg.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Jenny Heggsvik; Lars Borgersrud; August Rathke; Egil Christophersen; Ole-Jacob Abraham. "Prosjektbeskrivelse for det historiske forskningsprosjektet SABORG I BERGEN". pdf file: www.fagforbundet.no/file.php?id=11179 Cite error: The named reference "Prosjektbeskrivelse" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  13. ^ a b Kristen, krigshelt og sosialdemokrat
  14. ^ a b c d e f Saborgs historie må skrives
  15. ^ Mathilde Becker Aarseth (2015-02-07). "Sier nei til monument". Klassekampen. p. 47.
  16. ^ Christensen, 2006: p. 115
  17. ^ Christensen, 2006: p. 114
  18. ^ "PFU-sak 059/05". Norwegian Press Complaints Commission.
  19. ^ Uheldig skittkasting
  20. ^ a b Saborg i Bergen må sikres
  21. ^ Vi trodde ikke vi skulle overleve - Leif Kjemperud - Motstandsmann fra Ringerike
  22. ^ ""Bekkestua" åpnet" (PDF). Heggedalsposten. October 2013. p. 36.
  23. ^ Odd Bergfald: KGB «OPERASJON NORGE». HJEMMENES FORLAG, Oslo, 1975, side 96 og 103. ISBN 82-7006-151-4
  24. ^ "Sjokkerende fra Borgersrud". Bergens Tidende. 2014-04-27.
  25. ^ Trekker museum for retten
  26. ^ a b Steinar R. Paulsen; et al. (2015-05-09). "Hammer og hakekors i tigerstaden". Klassekampen. p. 41.
  27. ^ Her kommer det omstridte Osvald-monumentet til Jernbanetorget
  28. ^ Omstridt monument på plass 1. mai
  29. ^ Korslund, Frode (2015-05-06). "Hammer eller slegge eller begge". Klassekampen.
  30. ^ Laberg, Inge (2015-05-08). "Ganske sikkert en mukkert". Klassekampen.
  31. ^ mukkert
  32. ^ a b Må krympe monument [Must shrink the monument]
  33. ^ Russiske Anna Karpova om Osvald-monumentet: - Dette minner om monumentene fra sovjettiden
  34. ^ a b c Bård Larsen (2015-05-08). "Skivebom om Osvald-monumentet". Dagsavisen. p. 48.
  35. ^ 1. MAI-TALE V/NKPS INTER-NASJONALE SEKRETÆR SVEND HAAKON JACOBSEN ■ PÅ NORDRE GRAVLUND 2015 - 70 ÅR ETTER SEIEREN OVER FASCISMEN
  36. ^ Beskyldes for å sette opp kommunistpropaganda i Oslo
  37. ^ "Nytt Osvald-monument skal vise Stanghelle som knuser Stalin".
  38. ^ Sculpture stirs resistance debate
  39. ^ Bjørgulv Braanen (2015-05-12). "Kjempet ikke Osvald-grupp for et fritt og selvstendig Norge? Motstandskampen". Klassekampen. p. 2.
  40. ^ Halvorsen, Terje (2015-05-12). "Foreløpig bunnpunkt". Klassekampen.
  41. ^ Sørheim, Erle Marie (2015-05-16). "Bråket rundt Osvald-monumentet på Jernbanetorget i Oslo er absurd, sett fra Berlin. Russernes inntogsmarsj". Klassekampen.
  42. ^ War hero rejects military medal
  43. ^ Oslogryta : motstandens hovedsentrum
  44. ^ Pelle-gruppens minnesmerke avdukes neste måned
  45. ^ Osvald-medlemmer kan likevel få Krigskorset
  46. ^ paywall: Vigdis Alver (2014-06-14). "Med fare for sine liv spionerte de, var kurerer og likviderte forrædere". Dagbladet Magasinet. Retrieved 2014-06-15. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  47. ^ Kulås, Guri (2015-10-17). "Vanlege folk - sjøfolk og gymnasiaster - gjorde Saborg til den mest slagkraftige norske motstandsgruppa: Bergen var brennpunkt". Klassekampen. p. 48-9. - Saborg-folka kom ikkje frå velståande heimar, slik fleire i SOE gjorde.
  48. ^ Godt besøkt frokostmøte i LO i Bergen og omland. "August Rathke fortalte om sine opplevesler i SABORG under krigen. Han var rekrutteringsansvarlig i SABORG. [August Rathke told about his experiences in SABORG during the war. He was chief of recruiting in Saborg.]"
  49. ^ Våre falne. p. 386.
  50. ^ Torturert på det grusomste midt i Bergen sentrum
  51. ^ Halvor Hegtun (2014-10-24). "Jødiske Sally skjulte seg ved nazileir i fem år". Aftenposten A-Magasinet.
  52. ^ Halvor Hegtun (2014-10-24). "Jødiske Sally skjulte seg ved nazileir i fem år". Aftenposten A-Magasinet. Johansen var medlem av Norges Kommunistiske Parti og med på det illegale arbeidet til Osvald-gruppen.

External links

Paywall:

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