Karl Marthinsen
Encyclopedia
Karl Alfred Nicolai Marthinsen (sometimes spelled Karl Martinsen) (25 October 1896, Karlsøy
– 8 February 1945, Blindern
) was the Norwegian
commander of Statspolitiet and Sikkerhetspolitiet in Norway during the Nazi occupation
during World War II
.
toward the end of World War I
and finished his training as a non-commissioned officer
in 1918 and was promoted to sergeant
in 1919. After his military service, he most likely served as a sailor
until 1928, when he re-enlisted in the army. He was assigned to duties in the border regions between Norway and the Soviet Union
and was an intelligence officer in Finnmark
during the Winter War
, monitoring suspected Communist sympathizers.
Marthinsen joined Nasjonal Samling as one of its first members, in 1933. After Nazi Germany had invaded and occupied Norway in April, 1940, Police minister under the puppet Quisling regime
, Jonas Lie
appointed Marthinsen to command the newly formed Utrykningspolitiet, which was later renamed Sikkerhetspolitiet. He was made police general and became a key liaison between Norwegian police forces, the Quisling cabinet, and German Gestapo
. He also became leader of the nationwide, paramilitary Hird organization.
Marthinsen quickly earned notoriety as the leader of the all-Norwegian police force. He played an instrumental role in implementing the Holocaust in Norway
, resulting in the murder of more than 700 Jews and the brutal mistreatment of many more; he was also known to take a relaxed view of legal process, and tolerated if not encouraged torture
among his forces.
group Milorg
as part of Operation Buzzard, acting on orders from the government in exile. A team of trained gunmen waited for his car behind a woodpile near his home in Blindernveien 74 in Oslo. The car had just started to move when they opened fire with automatic weapons, instantly killing Marthinsen in the passenger seat and lightly wounding his driver. Documents disclosed after the war indicate that the political leadership ordered the assassination to prevent Marthinsen from carrying through his plans to enlist Norwegian paramilitary forces to violently subvert the expected capitulation of Nazi Germany in Norway.
Reichskommissar
in Norway Josef Terboven
convened the same day a meeting with both the Norwegian and German administration in occupied Norway, including SS commander Wilhelm Rediess
, head of Sicherheitspolizei
, Heinrich Fehlis
, Vidkun Quisling
, police minister Jonas Lie
and minister of justice Sverre Riisnæs
. Terboven argued that the assassination threatened the credibility of the Nazi regime and requested that 75 Norwegians be executed in retaliation. The Norwegian leaders objected but were overruled, but in subsequent discussions in the following day, the number was reduced to 34. A list of Norwegians was submitted, and those on the list were condemned.
Norwegian officers were coerced into carrying through the executions. Some accounts place Riisnæs at the executions visibly intoxicated, using his service pistol to participate in the execution. A press release announced that 34 were killed by firing squad, but it turned out that five individuals were kept in prison and discovered after the war.
The extent and severity of the reprisals shocked the Norwegian population and government-in-exile, resulting in a general moratorium against targeted killing
s of high-ranking Nazi officials.
Karlsøy
Karlsøy is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hansnes. Karlsøy is also the name of a village on Karlsøya island in the municipality of Karlsøy. The village of Karlsøy had a population of 70.- General information :Karlsøy was...
– 8 February 1945, Blindern
Blindern
Blindern is the main campus of the University of Oslo, located in Nordre Aker in Oslo, Norway.-The campus:Most of the departments of the University of Oslo are located at Blindern; other, smaller campuses include Sentrum , Gaustad , St...
) was the 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...
commander of Statspolitiet and Sikkerhetspolitiet in Norway during the Nazi occupation
Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany
The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht...
during World War II
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...
.
Biography
Marthinsen enlisted in the Norwegian ArmyNorwegian Army
Norway achieved full independence in 1905, and in the first century of its short life has contributed to two major conflicts, the Cold War and the War on Terror. The Norwegian Army currently operates in the north of Norway and in Afghanistan as well as in Eastern Europe. The Army is the oldest of...
toward the end of World War I
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...
and finished his training as a non-commissioned officer
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
in 1918 and was promoted to sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
in 1919. After his military service, he most likely served as a sailor
Sailor
A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...
until 1928, when he re-enlisted in the army. He was assigned to duties in the border regions between Norway and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and was an intelligence officer in Finnmark
Finnmark
or Finnmárku is a county in the extreme northeast of Norway. By land it borders Troms county to the west, Finland to the south and Russia to the east, and by water, the Norwegian Sea to the northwest, and the Barents Sea to the north and northeast.The county was formerly known as Finmarkens...
during the Winter War
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
, monitoring suspected Communist sympathizers.
Marthinsen joined Nasjonal Samling as one of its first members, in 1933. After Nazi Germany had invaded and occupied Norway in April, 1940, Police minister under the puppet Quisling regime
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...
, 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...
appointed Marthinsen to command the newly formed Utrykningspolitiet, which was later renamed Sikkerhetspolitiet. He was made police general and became a key liaison between Norwegian police forces, the Quisling cabinet, and German Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
. He also became leader of the nationwide, paramilitary Hird organization.
Marthinsen quickly earned notoriety as the leader of the all-Norwegian police force. He played an instrumental role in implementing the Holocaust in Norway
Holocaust in Norway
In the middle of the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany, there were at least 2,173 Jews in Norway. At least 775 of these were arrested, detained, and/or deported. 742 were murdered in the camps, 23 died as a result of extrajudicial execution, murder, and suicide during the war; bringing the total...
, resulting in the murder of more than 700 Jews and the brutal mistreatment of many more; he was also known to take a relaxed view of legal process, and tolerated if not encouraged torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
among his forces.
Death and reprisals
Marthinsen was assassinated by the Norwegian resistanceNorwegian 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:...
group Milorg
Milorg
Milorg was the main Norwegian resistance movement in World War II....
as part of Operation Buzzard, acting on orders from the government in exile. A team of trained gunmen waited for his car behind a woodpile near his home in Blindernveien 74 in Oslo. The car had just started to move when they opened fire with automatic weapons, instantly killing Marthinsen in the passenger seat and lightly wounding his driver. Documents disclosed after the war indicate that the political leadership ordered the assassination to prevent Marthinsen from carrying through his plans to enlist Norwegian paramilitary forces to violently subvert the expected capitulation of Nazi Germany in Norway.
Reichskommissar
Reichskommissar
Reichskommissar , in German history, was an official gubernatorial title used for various public offices during the period of the German Empire and the Nazi Third Reich....
in Norway Josef Terboven
Josef Terboven
Josef Antonius Heinrich Terboven was a Nazi leader, best known as the Reichskommissar during the German occupation of Norway.-Early life:...
convened the same day a meeting with both the Norwegian and German administration in occupied Norway, including SS commander Wilhelm Rediess
Wilhelm Rediess
Wilhelm Rediess was the SS and Police Leader during the German occupation of Norway in the Second World War. He was also the commanding General of all SS troops stationed in occupied Norway, assuming command on 22 June 1940 until his death in 1945.- Early life :Rediess was born in Heinsberg,...
, head of Sicherheitspolizei
Sicherheitspolizei
The Sicherheitspolizei , often abbreviated as SiPo, was a term used in Nazi Germany to describe the state political and criminal investigation security agencies. It was made up by the combined forces of the Gestapo and the Kripo between 1936 and 1939...
, Heinrich Fehlis
Heinrich Fehlis
Heinrich Fehlis was an SS officer during World War II, most noted for his command of the Sicherheitspolizei and Sicherheitsdienst in Norway during the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany....
, 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...
, police minister 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...
and minister of justice Sverre Riisnæs
Sverre Riisnæs
Sverre Parelius Riisnæs was a Norwegian jurist and public prosecutor who was born 6 November 1897 in Vik, Sogn county and died 21 June 1988 in Oslo...
. Terboven argued that the assassination threatened the credibility of the Nazi regime and requested that 75 Norwegians be executed in retaliation. The Norwegian leaders objected but were overruled, but in subsequent discussions in the following day, the number was reduced to 34. A list of Norwegians was submitted, and those on the list were condemned.
Norwegian officers were coerced into carrying through the executions. Some accounts place Riisnæs at the executions visibly intoxicated, using his service pistol to participate in the execution. A press release announced that 34 were killed by firing squad, but it turned out that five individuals were kept in prison and discovered after the war.
The extent and severity of the reprisals shocked the Norwegian population and government-in-exile, resulting in a general moratorium against targeted killing
Targeted killing
Targeted killing is the deliberate, specific targeting and killing, by a government or its agents, of a supposed terrorist or of a supposed "unlawful combatant" who is not in that government's custody...
s of high-ranking Nazi officials.