Johannes S. Andersen
Encyclopedia
Johannes Sigfred Andersen (9 July 1898 – 29 July 1970) was a Norwegian
resistance fighter during the Second World War
, a member of the Norwegian Independent Company 1
(NOR.I.C.1). He was nicknamed "Gulosten"; 'The Yellow Cheese'. He also used the surname Ostein during the war. Andersen was a controversial character, because of his pre-war life as a well-known career criminal and a series of incidents that occurred during the war years. These incidents included Andersen working as an assassin during the war, and shortly after the war killing two German prisoners of war during a drinking binge. After the war, Andersen started a wood furniture business. He was supported financially by King Haakon VII of Norway
, whose friendship he had gained during the war. Andersen was repeatedly accused of crimes after the war, and on one occasion convicted.
(now Oslo), and had a difficult childhood, the latter part of it in an orphanage
. He was the son of construction worker Ole Andersen and Josefine Hansen. Soon after Johannes was born, Norway entered a period of economic difficulties, with little construction work available. This led to his father having to change jobs from mason
to milkman. Johannes' mother became obsessed with religion.
and sent to the school institution Toftes gave on the island Helgøya
in the lake Mjøsa
. While at the strict institution Johannes received parcels from home, with yellow cheese. The cheese was needed because of the meagre rations given the boys at Toftes gave. The parcels with yellow cheese led to Johannes being given the nickname "Gulosten" ("The Yellow Cheese") by the other boys at the institution, a name that stuck with him for the rest of his life. After four years on Helgøya he was transferred to Bastøy school home for maladjusted boys
, an equally harsh institution. When 29 boys rebelled at Bastøy in 1915, police officers and the Norwegian Armed Forces
were employed to crush the riot, and the leaders taken away in handcuffs. Physical punishment was common at Bastøy, including being locked away in a dark cellar, a punishment Johannes had to endure. When Johannes was 15 his mother died, and he was not informed until several days after her funeral. This led to him making suicide threats, and going amok at the warden's office, for which he was punished with a stay in the dark cell.
and had a son. Andersen got a better-paid job, laying the foundation for the headquarters of Oslo Lysverker
, but when that job was done he had to seek day-to-day work at the harbour. When Norway's financial situation again turned for the worse after the upturn of the First World War
, no-one would hire a man with an institutional background, and he was out of work. He made a last-ditch attempt to make money; he bought liquor in Tønsberg
and sold it on the black market in Kristiania, but this was not enough for his wife, who left him to pursue a more financially secure future.
It has been written that the marriage did not end until 1931. In the meantime, Andersen befriended a woman named Nancy. She helped hide him when he was wanted by the authorities, she lied during a police interrogation at Møllergata 19
to cover for him and she also helped him with practical things such as acquiring a passport. They agreed to part ways when Andersen was set to pursue a trapper career in Canada; when going to visit her one last time he stumbled upon a police officer who recognized him and arrested him. Also, when frequenting Hamburg, Andersen spent time with two prostitutes. They were described as "not [...] extraordinarily beautiful", and Andersen helped them with buying food.
from 1916 onwards opened up possibilities for a lucrative criminal career, and Andersen joined up in 1921 with old friends from his days at Toftes gave in grand-scale smuggling operations. Using ingenious methods for hiding the spirits, they smuggled alcohol into Norway by sea. In his smuggling years Andersen cooperated with future award-winning author Arthur Omre
, serving as both crew and skipper on Omre's boats before getting his own smuggling vessel. Eventually his cover was blown, and being a wanted man in Norway he had to flee to Germany
. While in Germany he worked for one of the biggest suppliers of spirits for the illegal Norwegian market. In 1925 Norway requested that Germany extradite him, and he was arrested in the harbour of Hamburg
. Prison life was harsh, but Andersen managed to get transferred to a hospital when faking syphilis
by burning his member with a cigarette. He was then deported under police escort back to Norway on the steamship Kong Dag, but when the ship entered the Oslofjord
, Andersen escaped by jumping overboard near Spro
. For several months he was on the run before being recaptured. In the years that followed he was in and out of prison repeatedly. He gained considerable renown for his elegantly executed burglaries, being labelled by the media "gentleman-forbryter i Grünerløkka-utgave" (gentleman criminal, Grünerløkka
edition). He was also well known for his safe-cracking
skills. Andersen once more tried to evade justice when he fled a crowded court room in Drammen
in 1929, jumping out a window as the sentence was being proclaimed. He was then smuggled from Drammen inside a chest of drawers
which was to undergo reparation in Oslo. He was recaptured shortly before intending to board a cargo ship bound for Canada.
His criminal escapades made Andersen a national celebrity in pre-war Norway, and his nickname "Gulosten" a household name. Between 1919 and 1937 he was sentenced to prison terms nine times, spending a total of around seven years behind bars. During the mid-1930s Andersen attempted to end his criminal career, became engaged, and started a furniture repair business. He remarried on 18 March 1939, wedding Ruth Johanne (born 1905), née
Nilsen. They had one son. In 1935 Andersen attempted to get a children's book published, but it was rejected because of its inclusion of a number of "brutal scenes, unsuited for youths". The nature scenes in the book were, however, commended by the reviewer. After yet another spell in prison, Andersen was released on 9 April 1940, the day Germany invaded Norway as a part of World War II.
in 1940 led to Andersen's life once more taking a turn into illegal activities. His furniture workshop was used as a weapons depot by the Norwegian resistance movement
, and he took part in looting German military stores. He was first arrested by the Germans after he had responded to rumours that he was a Nazi by writing the Norwegian national socialist party Nasjonal Samling's official publication Fritt Folk
and stating that "although I have done many wrong things in my life, a Nazi I am not. Yours sincerely Johs. S. Andersen". Ulateig 1996: 18 The letter was published unedited by the newspaper, although Andersen was later arrested by the occupying authorities and sentenced to one year in prison, after spending half a year in detention. Using techniques he had learned during his earlier criminal career, Andersen managed to be transferred to prison hospital during his time in detention. While there he acquired false x-ray images and tuberculosis germs to fake illnesses in other captured resistance men who were on their way to interrogation. He also infected a German interrogator with malaria
by contaminating his insulin
. At night, he would sneak out of the hospital and operate in Oslo, amongst other activities breaking into Nasjonal Samling offices and stealing documents, copying them and having them shipped to the United Kingdom together with evidence of torture in Nazi-run prisons. He served the last part of his sentence in Fuhlsbüttel
near Hamburg
, Germany. His wife was also active in resistance work, dealing with propaganda and espionage. Author Egil Ulateig doubts the veracity of Andersen's prison exploits, which are based mostly on Andersen's own testimony.
agent together with his wife and two acquaintances, kidnapping him and killing him at the animal hospital Chevals kjeller. According to Ruth Andersen's later interrogation records, the killing was carried out by crucifying him with four knives and crushing his bones with iron pipes, then dismembering the body, putting it in a container for animal carcasses and dumping it in the river Akerselva
. The confession may have been made under torture, and included no reference to the bullet holes found on Colberg's corpse when it was recovered. According to historian and leader of Norway's Resistance Museum
, Arnfinn Moland
, the claims of Colberg having been tortured and mutilated are fabrications. Moland cites autopsy reports and German archives to back up his claims. Colberg's body was discovered by a Norwegian civilian on 15 June 1942 with two 7,62 mm
calibre bullet holes in the head, and was identified through Colberg's dental records. The killing was, according to Ulateig, also motivated by Andersen's personal feelings towards Colberg, and Moland states that Andersen "may have had" such motives, a claim that is refuted by history professor Tore Pryser
.
Andersen then fled to Sweden, and travelled on to the United Kingdom, where he was recruited by Professor Leif Tronstad
for work with the British Special Operations Executive. In this context he used the surname Ostein during the war. In the United Kingdom, Andersen suggested a series of further assassinations in Oslo, naming targets and describing plans for how to carry out the killings. The British saw great potential as an agent in a man with Andersen's background. Andersen and his group was parachuted from a Halifax bomber
to Kjerkeberget
near Sandungen in Nordmarka
, Oslo. Received by Gunnar Sønsteby
and Sverre Ellingsen, this was the first parachute drop received by the resistance group Milorg
's District 13. The group spent a month training Milorg resistance people in weapons handling. They were originally intended to carry out assassinations of leading Norwegian Nazis and informers as part of Operation Bittern
, first and foremost police minister and Germanske SS Norge leader Jonas Lie
, but this was refused by the local resistance leaders because of fears of reprisals. Andersen had suggested killing the top-ranking Nazi leader, and the SOE approved. According to a plan formulated by the SOE, Andersen was to don a light suit, enter Lie's office in broad daylight, shoot the police minister in the head with a Colt
pistol, change to a dark suit hidden underneath the light one, and disappear in the confusion. Andersen commented on the SOE plan: "Lie might survive this assassination attempt, but I won't." Ulateig 1996: 24 Andersen instead wanted to kill Lie on his way from the office to his home. The Bittern operation was severely criticized by the Norwegian Home Forces in a letter to the Norwegian exile government in London.
Andersen returned to the United Kingdom via Sweden, after episodes of unruly behaviour in Oslo. In the United Kingdom he had a personal audience with King Haakon VII of Norway
. During the audience, Andersen and the King lunched at the Norwegian Club in London, and Andersen entertained the exiled monarch with stories. The King promised to take care of Andersen once the war was over. Andersen then joined the Royal Norwegian Navy
and served on a Motor Torpedo Boat
(MTB) for the duration of the war. The MTB on which Andersen served repeatedly attacked shipping off the Norwegian coast.
Many resistance people in Norway had been shocked when they found out that Andersen had been allowed to serve in NOR.I.C.1. Leading saboteur Max Manus
wrote shortly after the war in his book Det vil helst gå godt: "It was one hell of a risk to send a man with Gulosten's reputation and history out on secret military missions. It would have been a great embarrassment if Fritt Folk had been able to publish that Gulosten made a career in King Håkon's armed forces". Ulateig 1996: 25. Manus 1945: 192 Andersen protested against Manus' account when it was published.
When Andersen returned to Norway after the German surrender in 1945, he had hoped to reunite with his wife Ruth. Instead, he discovered that his wife had been arrested by the Germans on 9 May 1944. She had been taken to Møllergata 19
, tortured during her captivity and executed at Grini concentration camp by Sonderkommando Hans
on 21 July 1944 together with five others. They were buried in a mass grave
but her body was exhumed and identified on 25 May 1945. Ruth's sister together with Ruth's friend Hertha Bergstrøm organized a proper funeral. Andersen and Bergstrøm later married.
. Andersen had broken into German barracks in Vadheim
in Sogn
during a drinking binge, killing the German soldiers Herbert Neumann and Hermann Beckmann. He later claimed to have acted in rage over his wife's death. The Norwegian court system started working on Andersen's case, eventually reaching judge advocate Ivar Follestad. Andersen was defended by Reidar Skau, who was made Supreme Court Justice
in 1945. Follestad deemed it necessary to prosecute Andersen, but wanted to pardon him after the verdict. After spending more than a year in the civilian and military court systems Andersen's murder case reached the top levels of the Royal Norwegian Navy, and on 5 August 1946 it was decided to take the case to the Gulating Military Court of Appeal
. Three months later Follestad made a decision of non-indictment, despite there being evidence to convict Andersen. In January 1947 the general jurisdiction chief, Thore Horve
, also declared for a decision of non-indictment. Follestad and Horve were supported in this by Minister of Defence
Jens Christian Hauge
, and the decision was made final by royal resolution on 25 April 1947. This led to protests from, amongst others, leading Norwegian psychiatrist Johan Scharffenberg
.
, running it for fifteen years. King Haakon VII personally helped him with money and credit, remaining Andersen's friend and patron the rest of the king's life. One time, Andersen's company was hired to perform maintenance work on the Bygdøy Royal Estate
. He eventually had to retire because of health problems sustained during the war.
Andersen was accused of crimes on several occasions in the post-war years, but was most often acquitted in court. Amongst the crimes of which he was charged but acquitted in court was the theft of building materials in 1954. Another time he was tricked into lending his car to two people who broke into a goldsmith's shop in Tønsberg
. Strongly intoxicated at the time of the crime, he was charged but fully acquitted. In 1955 he was, however, convicted and sentenced to 36 days in prison for selling 30 bottles of denatured alcohol, alcohol that was supposed to have been used at his factory.
In his later years Andersen became involved in speaking about children's rights and correctional institutions. He called the institutions for maladjusted youths "schools for criminals", and said that the loss and suffering of institutionalization naturally lead youths to crime, using his own life as an example. To explain his views on incarceration and of society's response to institutionalized children and ex-convicts Andersen said: "You are to be punished for having been punished." Ulateig 1996: 15 Johannes "The Yellow Cheese" Andersen died on 29 July 1970, aged 72. He was buried in Horten.
In late 1968 the book En mann kalt Gulosten was released, written by Bjørn Bjørnsen
. Already before the book was released, film rights
for the story were bought by the company Teamfilm. Teamfilm employee Knut Bohwim
stated that the book contained enough material for three motion pictures, but that they would concentrate the story into one film at best.
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...
resistance fighter during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, a member of the Norwegian Independent Company 1
Norwegian Independent Company 1
Norwegian Independent Company 1 was a British SOE group formed in March 1941 originally for the purpose of performing commando raids during the Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany. It was organized under the leadership of Captain Martin Linge...
(NOR.I.C.1). He was nicknamed "Gulosten"; 'The Yellow Cheese'. He also used the surname Ostein during the war. Andersen was a controversial character, because of his pre-war life as a well-known career criminal and a series of incidents that occurred during the war years. These incidents included Andersen working as an assassin during the war, and shortly after the war killing two German prisoners of war during a drinking binge. After the war, Andersen started a wood furniture business. He was supported financially by King Haakon VII of Norway
Haakon VII of Norway
Haakon VII , known as Prince Carl of Denmark until 1905, was the first king of Norway after the 1905 dissolution of the personal union with Sweden. He was a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg...
, whose friendship he had gained during the war. Andersen was repeatedly accused of crimes after the war, and on one occasion convicted.
Early life
Andersen was born on 9 July 1898 in KristianiaOslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
(now Oslo), and had a difficult childhood, the latter part of it in an orphanage
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
. He was the son of construction worker Ole Andersen and Josefine Hansen. Soon after Johannes was born, Norway entered a period of economic difficulties, with little construction work available. This led to his father having to change jobs from mason
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
to milkman. Johannes' mother became obsessed with religion.
Institutionalization
At age 10 Johannes was declared a ward of courtWard (law)
In law, a ward is someone placed under the protection of a legal guardian. A court may take responsibility for the legal protection of an individual, usually either a child or incapacitated person, in which case the ward is known as a ward of the court, or a ward of the state, in the United States,...
and sent to the school institution Toftes gave on the island Helgøya
Helgøya, Hedmark
Helgøya is an island in Mjøsa located to Ringsaker municipality in Hedmark county, Norway.With an area of 18.3 km², Helgøya is the largest freshwater island in Norway. The island is located south of the peninsula Nes, connected by bridge since 1957, and was formerly a part of Nes municipality.The...
in the lake Mjøsa
Mjøsa
Mjøsa is Norway's largest lake, as well as one of the deepest lakes in Norway and in Europe as a whole, after Hornindalsvatnet. It is located in the southern part of Norway, about 100 km north of Oslo...
. While at the strict institution Johannes received parcels from home, with yellow cheese. The cheese was needed because of the meagre rations given the boys at Toftes gave. The parcels with yellow cheese led to Johannes being given the nickname "Gulosten" ("The Yellow Cheese") by the other boys at the institution, a name that stuck with him for the rest of his life. After four years on Helgøya he was transferred to Bastøy school home for maladjusted boys
Bastøy Prison
Bastøy Prison is a minimum security prison located on Bastøy Island, Norway, about 75 kilometers south of Oslo. The facility is located on a 2.6 square kilometer island and hosts 115 inmates. Øyvind Alnæs, governor of the prison, leads a staff of 69 prison employees. Of this staff,...
, an equally harsh institution. When 29 boys rebelled at Bastøy in 1915, police officers and the Norwegian Armed Forces
Norwegian Armed Forces
The Norwegian Armed Forces numbers about 23,000 personnel, including civilian employees. According to mobilisation plans , the strength during full mobilisation would be approximately 83,000 combatant personnel. Norway has mandatory military service for men and voluntary service for women...
were employed to crush the riot, and the leaders taken away in handcuffs. Physical punishment was common at Bastøy, including being locked away in a dark cellar, a punishment Johannes had to endure. When Johannes was 15 his mother died, and he was not informed until several days after her funeral. This led to him making suicide threats, and going amok at the warden's office, for which he was punished with a stay in the dark cell.
Leaving Helgøya
Andersen went to sea at age 15, and later found work as a mason's assistant. On 7 November 1916 he married Lovise Kristine Klausen, who worked as a waitress at a restaurant frequented by Andersen. They soon got an apartment at TorshovTorshov
Torshov is an area in the borough Sagene in Oslo, Norway.Vogts gate serves as the neighborhood's main street. In the street there are trams between the city centre and Kjelsås. Along Vogts gate are several coffee shops, restaurants and cafes....
and had a son. Andersen got a better-paid job, laying the foundation for the headquarters of Oslo Lysverker
E-CO Energi
E-CO Energi is a Norwegian power company and after Statkraft the second largest producer of electricity in Norway.-Structure:E-CO is wholly owned by the City of Oslo. Operations are divided into E-CO Vannkraft, E-CO Norne and Oslo Lysverker...
, but when that job was done he had to seek day-to-day work at the harbour. When Norway's financial situation again turned for the worse after the upturn of the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, no-one would hire a man with an institutional background, and he was out of work. He made a last-ditch attempt to make money; he bought liquor in Tønsberg
Tønsberg
is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, southern Norway, located around north-east of Sandefjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tønsberg....
and sold it on the black market in Kristiania, but this was not enough for his wife, who left him to pursue a more financially secure future.
It has been written that the marriage did not end until 1931. In the meantime, Andersen befriended a woman named Nancy. She helped hide him when he was wanted by the authorities, she lied during a police interrogation at Møllergata 19
Møllergata 19
Møllergata 19 is an address in Oslo, Norway where the city's main police station and jail was located. The address gained notoriety during the German occupation from 1940 to 1945, when the Nazi security police kept its headquarters here...
to cover for him and she also helped him with practical things such as acquiring a passport. They agreed to part ways when Andersen was set to pursue a trapper career in Canada; when going to visit her one last time he stumbled upon a police officer who recognized him and arrested him. Also, when frequenting Hamburg, Andersen spent time with two prostitutes. They were described as "not [...] extraordinarily beautiful", and Andersen helped them with buying food.
Criminal career
Norway's prohibitionProhibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
from 1916 onwards opened up possibilities for a lucrative criminal career, and Andersen joined up in 1921 with old friends from his days at Toftes gave in grand-scale smuggling operations. Using ingenious methods for hiding the spirits, they smuggled alcohol into Norway by sea. In his smuggling years Andersen cooperated with future award-winning author Arthur Omre
Arthur Omre
Arthur Omre was a Norwegian novelist and writer of short stories.Omre hailed from Vestfold. With a background as sailor, journalist, constructor in the United States, engineer in Oslo, businessman and entrepreneur, he went bankrupt in 1922...
, serving as both crew and skipper on Omre's boats before getting his own smuggling vessel. Eventually his cover was blown, and being a wanted man in Norway he had to flee to Germany
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
. While in Germany he worked for one of the biggest suppliers of spirits for the illegal Norwegian market. In 1925 Norway requested that Germany extradite him, and he was arrested in the harbour of Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. Prison life was harsh, but Andersen managed to get transferred to a hospital when faking syphilis
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
by burning his member with a cigarette. He was then deported under police escort back to Norway on the steamship Kong Dag, but when the ship entered the Oslofjord
Oslofjord
The Oslofjord is a bay in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the Torbjørnskjær and Færder lighthouses and down to Langesund in the south to Oslo in the north....
, Andersen escaped by jumping overboard near Spro
Spro
Spro is a village in Nesodden municipality, Akershus, Norway.It is a former site of ice block extradition industry, and there are a number of man-made ponds created for this purpose. The village is located in southern Nesodden, between Fjellstrand in the north and Fagerstrand in the south. On the...
. For several months he was on the run before being recaptured. In the years that followed he was in and out of prison repeatedly. He gained considerable renown for his elegantly executed burglaries, being labelled by the media "gentleman-forbryter i Grünerløkka-utgave" (gentleman criminal, Grünerløkka
Grünerløkka
Grünerløkka is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. Grünerløkka became part of the city of Oslo in 1858.Grünerløkka was named after Friedrich Grüner who bought a mill in the area from king Christian V of Denmark in 1672 . During the 19th century, Grünerløkka became a working class area...
edition). He was also well known for his safe-cracking
Safe-cracking
Safe-cracking is the process of opening a safe without either the combination or key. It may also refer to a computer hacker's attempts to break into a secured computer system, in which case it may be shortened to "cracking" or black hat hacking....
skills. Andersen once more tried to evade justice when he fled a crowded court room in Drammen
Drammen
Drammen is a city in Buskerud County, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the eastern and most populated part of Norway.-Location:...
in 1929, jumping out a window as the sentence was being proclaimed. He was then smuggled from Drammen inside a chest of drawers
Chest of drawers
A chest of drawers, also called a dresser or a bureau, is a piece of furniture that has multiple parallel, horizontal drawers stacked one above another...
which was to undergo reparation in Oslo. He was recaptured shortly before intending to board a cargo ship bound for Canada.
His criminal escapades made Andersen a national celebrity in pre-war Norway, and his nickname "Gulosten" a household name. Between 1919 and 1937 he was sentenced to prison terms nine times, spending a total of around seven years behind bars. During the mid-1930s Andersen attempted to end his criminal career, became engaged, and started a furniture repair business. He remarried on 18 March 1939, wedding Ruth Johanne (born 1905), née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Nilsen. They had one son. In 1935 Andersen attempted to get a children's book published, but it was rejected because of its inclusion of a number of "brutal scenes, unsuited for youths". The nature scenes in the book were, however, commended by the reviewer. After yet another spell in prison, Andersen was released on 9 April 1940, the day Germany invaded Norway as a part of World War II.
Early resistance work
The German invasion of NorwayOperation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...
in 1940 led to Andersen's life once more taking a turn into illegal activities. His furniture workshop was used as a weapons depot by the Norwegian resistance movement
Norwegian resistance movement
The Norwegian resistance to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms:...
, and he took part in looting German military stores. He was first arrested by the Germans after he had responded to rumours that he was a Nazi by writing the Norwegian national socialist party Nasjonal Samling's official publication Fritt Folk
Fritt Folk
Fritt Folk was a Norwegian newspaper, published in Oslo. It was the official organ of the Fascist party Nasjonal Samling, and came to prominence during the Second World War.-History:...
and stating that "although I have done many wrong things in my life, a Nazi I am not. Yours sincerely Johs. S. Andersen". Ulateig 1996: 18 The letter was published unedited by the newspaper, although Andersen was later arrested by the occupying authorities and sentenced to one year in prison, after spending half a year in detention. Using techniques he had learned during his earlier criminal career, Andersen managed to be transferred to prison hospital during his time in detention. While there he acquired false x-ray images and tuberculosis germs to fake illnesses in other captured resistance men who were on their way to interrogation. He also infected a German interrogator with malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
by contaminating his insulin
Insulin
Insulin is a hormone central to regulating carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body. Insulin causes cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood, storing it as glycogen in the liver and muscle....
. At night, he would sneak out of the hospital and operate in Oslo, amongst other activities breaking into Nasjonal Samling offices and stealing documents, copying them and having them shipped to the United Kingdom together with evidence of torture in Nazi-run prisons. He served the last part of his sentence in Fuhlsbüttel
Fuhlsbüttel
Fuhlsbüttel is an urban quarter in the north of Hamburg, Germany in the district Hamburg-Nord. It is known as the site of Hamburg's international airport, and as the location of a prison which served as a concentration camp in the Nazi system of repression....
near Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany. His wife was also active in resistance work, dealing with propaganda and espionage. Author Egil Ulateig doubts the veracity of Andersen's prison exploits, which are based mostly on Andersen's own testimony.
Assassin, SOE agent and naval rating
After his return to Norway in 1942, Andersen carried out the assassination of well-known informer Raymond Colberg and then made good his escape to Sweden. Colberg had been active in the Sandefjord area, uncovering an illegal radio transmitter. This led to the arrest of eight resistance members in March 1941, three of whom were executed (Øivind Ask, Andreas Bertnes and Johan Midttun were shot 4 December 1941). Andersen carried out the assassination of the AbwehrAbwehr
The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only...
agent together with his wife and two acquaintances, kidnapping him and killing him at the animal hospital Chevals kjeller. According to Ruth Andersen's later interrogation records, the killing was carried out by crucifying him with four knives and crushing his bones with iron pipes, then dismembering the body, putting it in a container for animal carcasses and dumping it in the river Akerselva
Akerselva
Akerselva, or Akerselven, is a river which flows through Oslo. It starts at Maridalsvannet in Oslomarka, and follows the urban areas Nordre Aker, Sagene, Grünerløkka, Oslo centre and Grønland, whereby it finally ends at Paulsenkaien and Oset in Bjørvika. The river is considered to be a part of the...
. The confession may have been made under torture, and included no reference to the bullet holes found on Colberg's corpse when it was recovered. According to historian and leader of Norway's Resistance Museum
Norway's Resistance Museum
Norway's Resistance Museum also known as the Norwegian Home Front Museum is a museum located at the Akershus Fortress in Oslo.The museum collection focuses on Norwegian resistance during the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany from 1940 to 1945. The museum displays equipment, photos and documents...
, Arnfinn Moland
Arnfinn Moland
Arnfinn Moland is a Norwegian historian.He was born in Kvinesdal. He finished his secondary education in Flekkefjord in 1970, served in His Majesty the King's Guard from 1973 to 1974, and graduated from the University of Oslo with the cand.philol. degree in 1977. His master's thesis was...
, the claims of Colberg having been tortured and mutilated are fabrications. Moland cites autopsy reports and German archives to back up his claims. Colberg's body was discovered by a Norwegian civilian on 15 June 1942 with two 7,62 mm
7.62 mm caliber
7.62 mm caliber is a nominal caliber used for a number of different cartridges. Historically, this class of cartridge was commonly known as .30 caliber, the Imperial unit equivalent, and was most commonly used for indicating a class of full power military main battle rifle cartridges...
calibre bullet holes in the head, and was identified through Colberg's dental records. The killing was, according to Ulateig, also motivated by Andersen's personal feelings towards Colberg, and Moland states that Andersen "may have had" such motives, a claim that is refuted by history professor Tore Pryser
Tore Pryser
Tore Pryser is a Norwegian historian, professor at the Lillehammer University College since 1993.Pryser was born in Oslo, and took the cand.philol. degree at the University of Oslo. He was appointed at the Lillehammer University College in 1975, became associate professor in 1978, and was promoted...
.
Andersen then fled to Sweden, and travelled on to the United Kingdom, where he was recruited by Professor Leif Tronstad
Leif Tronstad
Leif Hans Larsen Tronstad DSO, OBE was a Norwegian scientist, intelligence officer and military organizer. He graduated from the Norwegian Institute of Technology in 1927 and was a prolific researcher and writer of academic publications...
for work with the British Special Operations Executive. In this context he used the surname Ostein during the war. In the United Kingdom, Andersen suggested a series of further assassinations in Oslo, naming targets and describing plans for how to carry out the killings. The British saw great potential as an agent in a man with Andersen's background. Andersen and his group was parachuted from a Halifax bomber
Handley Page Halifax
The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engined heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing...
to Kjerkeberget
Kjerkeberget
Kjerkeberget is a hill in Nordmarka, Oslo, Norway.It is the highest point in the county and municipality of Oslo...
near Sandungen in Nordmarka
Nordmarka
Nordmarka is the mostly forested region which makes up the northern part of Oslo, Norway. The area called "Nordmarka" also extends into the municipalities of Hole, Ringerike, Lunner, Jevnaker and Nittedal. It is the largest part of the Marka borough. The forests are popular sites for hiking and...
, Oslo. Received by Gunnar Sønsteby
Gunnar Sønsteby
Gunnar Fridtjof Thurmann Sønsteby DSO was a member of the Norwegian resistance movement during the German occupation of Norway in World War II...
and Sverre Ellingsen, this was the first parachute drop received by the resistance group Milorg
Milorg
Milorg was the main Norwegian resistance movement in World War II....
's District 13. The group spent a month training Milorg resistance people in weapons handling. They were originally intended to carry out assassinations of leading Norwegian Nazis and informers as part of Operation Bittern
Operation Bittern
Operation Bittern was a military operation in occupied Norway planned and carried out in 1942 by the British Special Operations Executive and the Norwegian government-in-exile in London....
, first and foremost police minister and Germanske SS Norge leader Jonas Lie
Jonas Lie (government minister)
Jonas Lie was a Norwegian councillor of state in the Nasjonal Samling government of Vidkun Quisling in 1940, then acting councillor of state 1940–1941, and Minister of Police between 1941 and 1945 in the new Quisling government...
, but this was refused by the local resistance leaders because of fears of reprisals. Andersen had suggested killing the top-ranking Nazi leader, and the SOE approved. According to a plan formulated by the SOE, Andersen was to don a light suit, enter Lie's office in broad daylight, shoot the police minister in the head with a Colt
Colt's Manufacturing Company
Colt's Manufacturing Company is a United States firearms manufacturer, whose first predecessor corporation was founded in 1836 by Sam Colt. Colt is best known for the engineering, production, and marketing of firearms over the later half of the 19th and the 20th century...
pistol, change to a dark suit hidden underneath the light one, and disappear in the confusion. Andersen commented on the SOE plan: "Lie might survive this assassination attempt, but I won't." Ulateig 1996: 24 Andersen instead wanted to kill Lie on his way from the office to his home. The Bittern operation was severely criticized by the Norwegian Home Forces in a letter to the Norwegian exile government in London.
Andersen returned to the United Kingdom via Sweden, after episodes of unruly behaviour in Oslo. In the United Kingdom he had a personal audience with King Haakon VII of Norway
Haakon VII of Norway
Haakon VII , known as Prince Carl of Denmark until 1905, was the first king of Norway after the 1905 dissolution of the personal union with Sweden. He was a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg...
. During the audience, Andersen and the King lunched at the Norwegian Club in London, and Andersen entertained the exiled monarch with stories. The King promised to take care of Andersen once the war was over. Andersen then joined the Royal Norwegian Navy
Royal Norwegian Navy
The Royal Norwegian Navy is the branch of the Norwegian Defence Force responsible for naval operations. , the RNoN consists of approximately 3,700 personnel and 70 vessels, including 5 heavy frigates, 6 submarines, 14 patrol boats, 4 minesweepers, 4 minehunters, 1 mine detection vessel, 4 support...
and served on a Motor Torpedo Boat
Motor Torpedo Boat
Motor Torpedo Boat was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the Royal Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy.The capitalised term is generally used for the Royal Navy boats and abbreviated to "MTB"...
(MTB) for the duration of the war. The MTB on which Andersen served repeatedly attacked shipping off the Norwegian coast.
Many resistance people in Norway had been shocked when they found out that Andersen had been allowed to serve in NOR.I.C.1. Leading saboteur Max Manus
Max Manus
Maximo Guillermo "Max" Manus DSO, MC & Bar was a Norwegian resistance fighter during World War II.Manus was born in Bergen to a Norwegian father and a Danish mother...
wrote shortly after the war in his book Det vil helst gå godt: "It was one hell of a risk to send a man with Gulosten's reputation and history out on secret military missions. It would have been a great embarrassment if Fritt Folk had been able to publish that Gulosten made a career in King Håkon's armed forces". Ulateig 1996: 25. Manus 1945: 192 Andersen protested against Manus' account when it was published.
Loss of wife and third marriage
Møllergata 19
Møllergata 19 is an address in Oslo, Norway where the city's main police station and jail was located. The address gained notoriety during the German occupation from 1940 to 1945, when the Nazi security police kept its headquarters here...
, tortured during her captivity and executed at Grini concentration camp by Sonderkommando Hans
Oscar Hans
Oscar Hans was a German executioner, leader of an SS Sonderkommando during the occupation of Norway. He led the execution of more than 300 persons during the war years. His first job was the executions of Viggo Hansteen and Rolf Wickstrøm in September 1941, following the court-martial after the...
on 21 July 1944 together with five others. They were buried in a mass grave
Mass grave
A mass grave is a grave containing multiple number of human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. There is no strict definition of the minimum number of bodies required to constitute a mass grave, although the United Nations defines a mass grave as a burial site which...
but her body was exhumed and identified on 25 May 1945. Ruth's sister together with Ruth's friend Hertha Bergstrøm organized a proper funeral. Andersen and Bergstrøm later married.
POW killing controversy
On 3 July 1945 Andersen killed two German prisoners of war with his Thompson submachine gunThompson submachine gun
The Thompson is an American submachine gun, invented by John T. Thompson in 1919, that became infamous during the Prohibition era. It was a common sight in the media of the time, being used by both law enforcement officers and criminals...
. Andersen had broken into German barracks in Vadheim
Vadheim
Vadheim is a village in the municipality of Høyanger in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located on the north shore of the Sognefjord, along the highway . It is about northeast of the village of Lavik, northwest of Kyrkjebø, and northwest of Austreim...
in Sogn
Sogn
Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway . It is located in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, surrounding the Sognefjord. Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Balestrand, Hyllestad, Høyanger, Gulen, Leikanger, Luster, Lærdal, Sogndal, Solund, Vik, and Årdal. The district covers ...
during a drinking binge, killing the German soldiers Herbert Neumann and Hermann Beckmann. He later claimed to have acted in rage over his wife's death. The Norwegian court system started working on Andersen's case, eventually reaching judge advocate Ivar Follestad. Andersen was defended by Reidar Skau, who was made Supreme Court Justice
Supreme Court of Norway
The Supreme Court of Norway was established in 1815 on the basis of the Constitution of Norway's §88, prescribing an independent judiciary. It is located in Oslo and is Norway's highest court...
in 1945. Follestad deemed it necessary to prosecute Andersen, but wanted to pardon him after the verdict. After spending more than a year in the civilian and military court systems Andersen's murder case reached the top levels of the Royal Norwegian Navy, and on 5 August 1946 it was decided to take the case to the Gulating Military Court of Appeal
Gulating Court of Appeal
Gulating Court of Appeal is a Norwegian Court of Appeal.-Jurisdiction:Gulating Court of Appeal is based in Bergen, Norway. Gulating Court of Appeal holding many hearings in Stavanger and also maintains permanent offices in the Stavanger Courthouse....
. Three months later Follestad made a decision of non-indictment, despite there being evidence to convict Andersen. In January 1947 the general jurisdiction chief, Thore Horve
Thore Horve
Thore Horve was a Norwegian naval officer and businessperson. He is best known for his naval commands and efforts during World War II, for leading the Royal Norwegian Navy from 1946 to 1949 and in 1951, and for his work to compensate war sailors many years later.-Early life and career:He was born...
, also declared for a decision of non-indictment. Follestad and Horve were supported in this by Minister of Defence
Minister of Defence (Norway)
The Norwegian Minister of Defence is a Councillor of the Council of State and Chief of the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, the position has existed since the Secretary of the Army and Secretary of the Navy was combined into the Minister of Defence...
Jens Christian Hauge
Jens Christian Hauge
Jens Christian Hauge , often written Jens Chr. Hauge, was a Norwegian World War II resistance figure and politician who was the leader of the secret military organization Milorg during WWII...
, and the decision was made final by royal resolution on 25 April 1947. This led to protests from, amongst others, leading Norwegian psychiatrist Johan Scharffenberg
Johan Scharffenberg
Johan Scharffenberg was a Norwegian psychiatrist, politician, speaker and writer.-Early life:Scharffenberg was born in Moss as the son of military officer Hedvard Carl Scharffenberg and Caroline Fredrikke Dietrichson . He was a nephew of priest Johannes W. C. Dietrichson...
.
Later life
With starting help from his new wife, Andersen started the wood product factory Apenes Trevarefabrikk in HortenHorten
is a town and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway—located along the Oslofjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Horten. The municipality also includes the villages of Borre, Åsgårdstrand, Skoppum, and Nykirke....
, running it for fifteen years. King Haakon VII personally helped him with money and credit, remaining Andersen's friend and patron the rest of the king's life. One time, Andersen's company was hired to perform maintenance work on the Bygdøy Royal Estate
Bygdøy Royal Estate
Bygdøy Royal Estate occupies a large part of the northwestern part of the Bygdøy peninsula in Oslo, Norway. It is the official summer residence of the King of Norway.- History :The estate originally belonged to the Cistercian monastery on Hovedøya...
. He eventually had to retire because of health problems sustained during the war.
Andersen was accused of crimes on several occasions in the post-war years, but was most often acquitted in court. Amongst the crimes of which he was charged but acquitted in court was the theft of building materials in 1954. Another time he was tricked into lending his car to two people who broke into a goldsmith's shop in Tønsberg
Tønsberg
is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, southern Norway, located around north-east of Sandefjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tønsberg....
. Strongly intoxicated at the time of the crime, he was charged but fully acquitted. In 1955 he was, however, convicted and sentenced to 36 days in prison for selling 30 bottles of denatured alcohol, alcohol that was supposed to have been used at his factory.
In his later years Andersen became involved in speaking about children's rights and correctional institutions. He called the institutions for maladjusted youths "schools for criminals", and said that the loss and suffering of institutionalization naturally lead youths to crime, using his own life as an example. To explain his views on incarceration and of society's response to institutionalized children and ex-convicts Andersen said: "You are to be punished for having been punished." Ulateig 1996: 15 Johannes "The Yellow Cheese" Andersen died on 29 July 1970, aged 72. He was buried in Horten.
In late 1968 the book En mann kalt Gulosten was released, written by Bjørn Bjørnsen
Bjørn Bjørnsen
Bjørn Bjørnsen is a Norwegian journalist, non-fiction writer and politician.-Personal life:He was born in Hillevåg, Stavanger to merchant Bernhard Bjørnsen and his wife Marie Magnusson . In 1968, he married Torill Johnsen .-Career:Bjørnsen quit school at a young age and started his journalistic...
. Already before the book was released, film rights
Film rights
Film rights are the rights under copyright law to make a derivative work—in this case, a film—derived from an item of intellectual property. Under U.S...
for the story were bought by the company Teamfilm. Teamfilm employee Knut Bohwim
Knut Bohwim
Knut Bohwim is a leading Norwegian film director. He co-founded the company Teamfilm A/S in 1962. His debut as film director was Operasjon Sjøsprøyt from 1964. He directed the war drama Det største spillet from 1967, about the double agent Gunvald Tomstad. He directed twelve films of the Olsen...
stated that the book contained enough material for three motion pictures, but that they would concentrate the story into one film at best.