Axel Heiberg Stang was a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 who was appointed councillor of state in the Nasjonal Samling (NS) government

Quisling regime

The Quisling regime, or the Quisling government are common names used to refer to the collaborationist government led by Vidkun Quisling in occupied Norway during the Second World War. The official name of the regime from 1 February 1942 until its dissolution in May 1945 was Nasjonale regjering...

 of Vidkun Quisling

Vidkun Quisling

Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonssøn Quisling was a Norwegian politician. On 9 April 1940, with the German invasion of Norway in progress, he seized power in a Nazi-backed coup d'etat that garnered him international infamy. From 1942 to 1945 he served as Minister-President, working with the occupying...

 (1940–41), and minister (1941–45).

Stang first joined the NS in 1933 and served as district leader in Glåmdal

Glåmdal

Glåmdalen is a traditional district in Hedmark county in Eastern Norway. It comprises the municipalities of Eidskog and Kongsvinger. The regional center is the city of Kongsvinger...

, although he was largely a minor figure before the war. After the invasion he was put in joint charge of the NS political staff with Ragnar Skancke

Ragnar Skancke

Ragnar Sigvald Skancke was the Norwegian Minister of Labour and Minister for Church and Educational Affairs in Vidkun Quisling's government of the Nasjonal Samling party during World War II.Before the war, Skancke was a highly respected professor of electrical engineering at the Norwegian...

. In September he was to Vidkun Quisling's collaborationist

Collaborationism

Collaborationism is cooperation with enemy forces against one's country. Legally, it may be considered as a form of treason. Collaborationism may be associated with criminal deeds in the service of the occupying power, which may include complicity with the occupying power in murder, persecutions,...

 government as Minister of Sport. In this role he passed a law making service in the Arbeidstjenesten (German Labour Service) compulsory in 1941. However his attempts to force all sports club to join the Nasjonal Samling Sports Organisation proved a failure, leading to an almost total boycott of organised sport for the duration of the occupation. Whilst continuing as a minister he also enrolled in the SS Division Nordland and won the Iron Cross

Iron Cross

The Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....

 Second Class after seeing action in the Balkans

Balkans

The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...

.

After the war he was sentenced to 20 years hard labour for his involvement in collaboration, although he was pardoned in 1956 and retired to his estate at Rømskog

Rømskog

Rømskog is a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rømskog. The new municipality of Rømskog was separated from Rødenes on 1 January 1902....

, where he remained until his death.