Norwegian WW2 History

Volume 2

2000

Dear Aryan Kindred

I will start this letter with some words to remember:

In 1923 Stalin said in a speech that in order for Communism to be instilled in ALL of Europe, Germany must first be destroyed.

In 1934 the Jew Emil Ludwig Cohn said: Hitler does not want war, but we will force it on him.

Among the many documents that can be read in the Norwegian Records Office in Oslo is one dated Stockholm, October 31, 1941. In this document the government in exile calls on all Norwegian officers to break the word of honour they gave in the capitulation agreement in Trondheim on June 10, 1940. According to this agreement, paragraph 4: "After the surrender of German prisoners of war and weapons and other military equipment the German Supreme Command will allow officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers who are not regular officers/soldiers to return to their homes. Regular officers can choose between giving their word of honour that for as long as the ongoing war lasts they will not take up weapons against Germany or her allies or they will remain prisoners of war. Regular officers can keep their personal weapons"

The document that was dated in Stockholm was stamped SECRET and was sent in cipher to Norway by a captain Frisvold (the name is hardly readable, but this is my interpretation of the name)

In the document the government in exile calls on the officers to decamp to Sweden and there await the opportunity to embark for England. The government in exile had granted money for support of the families of those who decamped. The commissioned and non-commissioned officers should decamp at a reasonable speed. The call to decamp and consequently break their word honour was meant for the officers of the infantry, artillery and cadets. Officers of the airforce and naval officers were also asked to decamp. Only men younger than 40 years were asked to decamp. All Norwegian officers except General Otto Ruge, the Commanding General of the Norwegian Forces and brigadier Gabriel Lund, who were prisoners of war, had given their word of honour not to take up weapons against Germany or any country allied to her during the ongoing war. General Ruge was in Germany, brigadier Lund was in Oslo. Lund had not participated in the struggle in Norway - he was war-commissary in Bergen when the war started. Brigadier Lund had been imprisoned for espionage and illegal activities after the Germans had captured Bergen. (After the war brigadier Lund wrote a book about the reason for his capture and the way the Germans treated him. The book was taken out of circulation because of Lund's honesty in telling how well the Germans treated him. The Norwegian authorities did not and still do not want the truth to be told of how well the Germans treated their prisoners.)

Regarding the word of honour - even the major-general who was imprisoned in Sweden and his soldiers and officers who had fled to Sweden shortly after the war started, and all his officers of the 1. Division gave their word of honour as they returned home. They were sent to Norway after June 10, 1940, the day Norway capitulated to Germany.

The cold hard facts are that the government in exile knew that every Norwegian commissioned and non-commissioned officer had given his word of honour. The government in exile had read the capitulation agreement. Therefore their call to decamp is a war crime committed by the Norwegian government in exile, a war crime against the Hague agreement not only by each of the decamped officers but also by the government in exile for asking their officers to decamp. If the officers had fled the country before June 10, 1940 they would not have committed a war crime, but as they fled after that day they did commit a war crime. The government in exile was therefore responsible for the reprisals Reichskommisar der Norwegens, Josef Terboven started as he learned that Norwegian officers were decamping and breaking their word of honour. (Terboven was Gauleiter in Essen, but was also given the commission to govern Norway during the war. The guilt of the government in exile in the imprisonment of Norwegian officers might be the reason why Terboven's actions against them were not mentioned by Berit Nøkleby in her book on Terboven. What Norwegian historian wants to blame the exile-government? None.)

In 1941Terboven eventually started to imprison Norwegian officers and send them to Germany. He did this to prevent them from breaking their word of honour.

Word of honour is very important in the Hague agreement for Regulations of Land War of 1905. In the paragraph 10,11 and 12 one can read what the meaning of word of honour is:

Art. 10. Prisoners of war may be set at liberty on parole if the laws of their country allow, and, in such cases, they are bound, on their personal honour, scrupulously to fulfil, both towards their own Government and the Government by whom they were made prisoners, the engagements they have contracted.

In such cases their own Government is bound neither to require of nor accept from them any service incompatible with the parole given.

Art. 11. A prisoner of war cannot be compelled to accept his liberty on parole; similarly the hostile Government is not obliged to accede to the request of the prisoner to be set at liberty on parole.

Art. 12. Prisoners of war liberated on parole and recaptured bearing arms against the Government to whom they had pledged their honour, or against the allies of that Government, forfeit their right to be treated as prisoners of war, and can be brought before the courts.

Norwegian military law accepts that Norwegian prisoners of war give their word of honour for their freedom. The same laws §90 stipulate the punishment to be 10 years imprisonment if an officer breaks his word of honour. This punishment applies also to officers who before a war ends breaks the terms under which he was set free from imprisonment.

As you will understand, it was a serious crime the government in exile asked their officers to commit.

The reason why the agreement from Narvik June 10, 1940 at 09.15 and Trondheim June 10, 1940 at15.00, are the only agreements where officers were given their freedom for their word of honour can be found by reading the other capitulation agreements signed in Norway during the campaign. The following agreements were signed during the campaign:

- between chief of staff colonel Schioetz of the Norwegian 2 division and major in G. Baron Freytag von Loringhoven on May 3, 1940 signed in Ringdalen.

- between major Kolbjoern Knudsen of Infantry Regiment 13 and colonel and Regiment Commandor Kraetzer on may 4, 1940 signed in Steinkjaer

- between captain Graff of the Norwegian 4 battery of the Artillery Regiment 1 and Führer of the fighting group Maetsche - Feltpost 24994 A of May 2, 1940 signed at Fredrikstad

- between colonel T.A.Dahl group Vetre Gausdal and the German platoon leader lieutenant Beuer on April 29, 1940 signed at Vestre Gausdal

- between major Backer, major Graff, captain Vogt of the Norwegian 2. Division and lieutenant Wachsmuth and major Schroeder of April 15, 1940 signed at Evje.

All above agreements are hand written. All these agreements can be read if you ever visit the Norwegian Record Office in Oslo. The agreements are in the Historical defence archives, shelf number 2B08252 box 198.

In connection with the capitulation and after having given his word of honour the Norwegian military leader spoke to his fellow officers. In this speech he only mentioned paragraph 10 and 11 from the Hague agreement, not paragraph 12. By doing this General Ruge exposed his fellow officers to severe punishment should they choose not to keep their word of honour. One can always claim that every officer should acquaint himself with the requirements regarding his word of honour. In this case I will say that the officers always must trust their commanding General when he talks about the choices ahead of them. General Ruge recommend his fellow officers choose word of honour and not a prison of war. In such cases the advisor must give all information to those whom he advises. The time limit of the value of the word of honour was an agreement between general Ruge and the German High Command in Norway.

It looks as if General Ruge planned and worked for the coming decamp of the Norwegian officers, and consequently their breaking of their word of honour.

The story of the words of honour deserves an ending. This was as bad for the reputation of the Norwegian officers as was their dishonesty.

On May 8, 1943 the German chief petty officer Kuehl wrote a letter to the department of the Interior, department for Army and Navy. In this letter he mentions the Norwegian officers and their standard of honesty. Mr Kuehl said among others the following:

"............ The experience we have had is that the conception of "Word of honour" in Norway does not have the same high value as it does in Germany. The Norwegian officers have not only left the country to fight against Germany and her allies but they have organized themselves in groups within Norway and participated in anti-German actions.

The truth, that a Norwegian officer could break his Word of Honour shows that "the word of honour" does not give the same security as one would expect from a German officer.

To set free those officers who have given and broken their word of honour and who now are under police control is not advisable."

Copy of above letter is hand written.

It was a very terrible thing with dreadful consequences that the government in exile called on their officers to break their word of honour. Someone should ask the Norwegian authorities why the government in exile asked the officers to decamp and break their word of honour.

Someone should ask the authorities if the government in exile thought of the consequences this might have in coming conflicts with regard to trust in Norwegians. No one can ever trust a Norwegian or the country as a nation or as a people, as they do not keep their word of honour - and because the government can force/ask any citizen to break his/her word of honour.

Send a letter to:

Utenriksdepartementet

7 Juni-plassen 1

N-.0251 OSLO,

NORWAY

Heil og sael

 Julius

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