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THE NORWEGIAN/GERMAN CAPITULATION AGREEMENT Part 1 Norwegian WW2 History
Ever since the end of World War II the official Norwegian government position has been to deny that the country ever capitulated to Germany in 1940. This even though she did and even though the King of Norway through his government ordered the Chief of Defence and the Commanding General of the entire Norwegian Army Otto Ruge to capitulate. But lets return to the story. As you have learned throughout my newsletters Norway got into war with Germany on April 9, 1940. By the end of May that year the allies-French, English and some Polish troops fighting in Norway were ordered back to England. PROLOGUE In the beginning the Crown Prince of Norway, Olav, did not want to flee from the country with his father, King Haakon, and the government. He wanted to be with his subjects. His father had no such wish - he wanted to go to Britain and visit his freemason friends and drink whiskey with them. Even though his motto was "All for Norway!" he did not fulfill it in the time of greatest distress for the country and its people. (In a later letter I might tell you some of the untold truths about this king and his wife.) The government also wanted to leave the country. They were afraid the Norwegians would have them tried for treason because they had undermined the country's defences in the 30's. As these proselytes of the Jews discussed whether or not the Crown Prince should stay in Norway - they discovered that the Norwegian Constitution contained an article prohibiting the King from being absent from the country for more than 6 months unless he was on the battlefield or at war. The King did not understand this - he thought that as a sovereign and freemason he could do as he pleased. The British troops had orders to kidnap the King if he did not want to come to Britain voluntarily. (I use the word British in this context because here we deal with the proselytes of the Jews living in England and governing that country.) Even the Crown Prince left Tromsø (in the far north of Norway) for England on June 7, 1940. The King and government all embarked on the destroyer Devonshire. The government wanted General Otto Ruge to come with them to England, but he demurred. He did not want for a second time in the campaign to leave his defeated troops, he said. He had left most of his troops when he left Åndalsnes (some 450 km North of Oslo). This was when he and the King and government left the south to continue fighting in the north near Narvik. That same evening General Ruge, Chief commander of all Norwegian military troops, sent a telegram to the Norwegian Embassy in Stockholm where he ask them to contact the German Embassy in order to arrange the start of negotiations regarding his troops' and country's capitulation. Aside from being the Commanding Officer of the Norwegian Army Ruge was also the commanding officer of the Norwegian 6th division, the only division that was fighting German troops as the King and government left Norway. Norwegian troops of the 6th Division under command of lieutenant-colonel Wrede Holm were fighting German troops under the command of lieutenant-general Dietl in north Norway . They were fighting close to the Swedish border east of the town of Narvik. (Narvik is also in the north of Norway some 260 km south of Tromsø.) Before the allied troops left Norway Gen. Ruge had asked for weapons and ammunition to continue fighting the Germans. Gen. Dietl was badly off, cut off from the German supply lines in the south and without daily supplies. Unhappily for Ruge and the Norwegians the allies did not have any weapons or ammunition to spare for them. The Norwegian troops could have defeated Gen. Dietl at that time. Dietl had very few and badly equipped troops with hardly any supplies from the rest of the German Army. The only supplies he could get were through air drops. The weather was bad and the planes could not fly from Trondheim every day. (Trondheim is some 550 km north of Oslo.) THE CAPITULATION Early on June 10, 1940, Ruge sent one of his men from the Norwegian General Staff, lieutenant-colonel Roscher Nielsen to negotiate with the German General Staff. Even earlier that same day the commander of the Norwegian 6th division, lieutenant-colonel Wrede Holm had been sent to Spionskop east of Narvik to negotiate with the Commander of the German troops in north Norway, lieutenant-general Dietl. Until the beginning of May 1940 Wrede and Roscher Nielsen had been on the Norwegian general staff. Wrede Holm left the general staff to help the commander of the Norwegian 6th division, General Fleischer. General Fleischer left with the King and government as they fleed to Britain. This left Wrede Holm as the top commander for the 6th division. When the two armies met to negotiate a capitulation the negotiation were led by the commanding officers of the two armies. Sadly for General Ruge he was not a man of honour and pride. He did not want to face General von Falkenhorst of the German Army in Norway so he sent Roscher Nielsen to the negotiations in Trondheim. The Germans had chosen Trondheim because this city lies "almost" in the middle of Norway. The negotiation took place at Hotell Britannia. (In a later letter I will give you Roscher Nielsens story and that of the German Colonel Borschenhagen regarding the signing of the agreement in Trondheim. As had every Norwegian officer who took part in the war in Norway, Roscher Nielsen had his own story to tell after the war - a story of heroism and bravery. As Norwegian historians do, I shall call the agreement signed in Trondheim "The Trondheim Agreement", and the agreement sign at Spionskop "The Narvik Agreement". Lieutenant colonel Wrede Holm and lieutenant general Dietl signed their agreement, the Narvik Agreement, at 09.15 on June 10, 1940. The Trondheim Agreement was signed at 17.00 the same day. THE PREAMBLE OF THE NARVIK AGREEMENT Between the commanding officer of the German army in North Norway, Lieutenant- general Dietl, and the commanding officer of the Norwegian troops in North Norway, General Ruge, by his authorized officer, lieutenant colonel Wrede Holm, the following capitulation agreement has been agreed. The hostilities between the until now fighting troops of the German Wehrmacht (Army) and the Norwegian Army as from now called "The Norwegian North Army" has as of June 9th 1940 at 24.00 stopped. THE PREAMBLE OF THE TRONDHEIM AGREEMENT Between the German Supreme Command in Norway, represented by Herrn Colonel of the General Staff, Burschenhagen, and the Norwegian Supreme Command, represented by Herrn Lieutenant Colonel R. Roscher Nielsen the following agreement has today been reached: In consideration of the heroic behaviour of the Norwegian 6th division, by laying down their weapons the following honourable terms are given: Here we need the German text, to complete the discussion we will have in a coming newsletter: Zwischen dem deutschen Oberkommando in Norwegen, vertreten durch Herrn Oberst im Generalstabe, Buschenhagen und dem norwegischen Oberkommando, vertreten durch Herrn Oberstløytnant im Generalstabe, R. Roscher Nielsen ist heute nachstehende A b k o m m e n geschlossen worden: In Anbetracht der tapferen Haltung der norwegischen 6. Division werden ihr für die Niederlegung der Waffen nach-stehende ehrenvolle Bedingungen gewährt:
THE FIRST PARAGRAPH OF THE NARVIK AGREEMENT The Norwegian North Army undertakes at the latest by June 18th, 1940 at 24.00 to hand over all prisoners of war to the German Army (Wehrmacht). The handing over of the prisoners of war shall take place at the former Norwegian duty station at Narvik. The German prisoners of war who are in field hospitals, hospitals and etc., shall be made fit to transport and given over to the German Army. The Norwegian North Army shall, as soon as possible, give the names of all hospitals, field hospitals etc were German prisoners of war are to be found. At latest by June 18th 1940 the Norwegian North Army shall give complete lists of all German prisoners of war that have been transported outside of Norwegian territorial waters by the Allies.
THE FIRST PARAGRAPH OF THE TRONDHEIM AGREEMENT Each and all Norwegian military forces lay down their weapons, and will not for the duration of the ongoing war take up their weapons against Germany or any of her allies. We need the German text because the German text will be vital to the discussion which we will be having in newsletters to come. This is the German text: Die gesamte norwegische Streitkräfte legen die Waffen nieder, und werden sie während der Dauer des gegenwärtigen Krieges nicht wieder gegen das deutsche Reich oder dessen Verbündeten ergreifen.
CLOSING WORDS ON THE AGREEMENTS Both agreements were signed in 10 copies, five in German and five in Norwegian. Of the five Norwegian copies of the Trondheim Agreement only one is known. That one was sent to the Norwegian Embassy in Stockholm for dispatch to the Norwegian Exile Government in London. A copy of this has been discussed in a Norwegian court. None of the other Norwegian copies have been found, either among General Ruges papers or in any other military papers after the war. Of the five signed copies with the German text, none were known until 1990 when a Norwegian historian, Odd V. Aspheim found one in a private German archive. There are a lot of copies - with no signature - of the German text, but these copies are of no value to Norwegian historians. Of the Narvik Agreement no copy was known until Wrede Holm in the 70's gave "his" copy of the German text with signatures to the Norwegian Historical Military Archive. None of the Norwegian historians have ever discussed the two agreements and their meaning for the behaviour of the Norwegian exile government after June 10th 1940 and to May 8th 1945. Nor have any in the Norwegian legal community discussed the two agreements and their meaning for the postwar court decisions in Norway. IN OTHER WORDS THERE HAS BEEN NO OPEN DISCUSSIONS IN NORWAY REGARDING THE THINGS I BRING YOU IN THIS AND COMING NEWSLETTERS REGARDING THE NORWEGIAN/GERMAN AGREEMENTS. TODAY'S FINAL WORDS These are the two agreements which were signed between Germany and Norway on June 10th 1940. I will give you a discussion of the Trondheim-Agreement in a later Historical Newsetter. I will also give you a review of the Norwegian court decision on the Trondheim Agreement. And, as I have already said, I will give you Roscher Nielsen's story regarding what happened when he came to Trondheim to sign the agreement. I will give you Borschenhagens view and understanding of the Trondheim Agreement. If any of you interpret the Trondheim Agreement to be a complete capitulation of Norway to Germany, then I ask you to contact your nearest Norwegian Embassy and ask them of their interpretation. When contacting them please give them both the text of the preamble and paragraph 1 of both agreements and ask their interpretation. You will be surprised at the answer they give you, if they give you an answer! Heil og sael Julius Streiker
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