Asbjørn Edvin Sunde (12 December 1909 – 23 April 1985) was a Norwegian politician for the

Communist Party of Norway The Communist Party of Norway (, NKP) is a communist party in Norway. The NKP was formed in 1923, following a split in the Norwegian Labour Party. It was Stalinist from its establishment and, as such, supported the Soviet government while oppo ...

, communist partisan during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, saboteur against the

Nazi occupation of Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the World War II, Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the Norwegian Campaign, German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi G ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and a convicted Soviet spy. During the Second World War, from 1941 to 1944, Sunde's group, the '' Osvald Group'', carried out approximately 39 acts of sabotage and assassination against the German occupation forces and Norwegian collaborators. In 1954 he was convicted by Eidsivating Court of Appeal of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

and

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

in favour of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, and sentenced to eight years in prison. He was released from prison in 1959 after serving two thirds of his sentence. He was expelled from the

in 1970.

Early life

Sunde had served a 30-month stint in the

Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy () is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for navy, naval operations of Norway, including those of the Norwegian Coast Guard. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 i ...

, rising to non-commissioned officer rank in 1930. He was trained as both a first mate, a navigator and a gunner. He was married, and the father of one son. For several years he sailed in the Norwegian merchant marine. In the years preceding the Second World War, Sunde joined the

, wrote for the communist daily '' Arbeideren'' and was involved with work to aid and support the labourers and unemployed in his home town

Horten Horten () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Horten (town) ...

.Moen and Sæther 2009, pp. 81–82Moen and Sæther 2009, pp. 83–84

Spanish Civil War

Following the outbreak of the

in 1936, Sunde played a central role in the early efforts of the Communist Party of Norway in support of the Spanish Republic. In January 1937 Sunde led a group of four volunteers he had personally recruited from Oslo to the headquarters of the

International Brigades The International Brigades () were soldiers recruited and organized by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front (Spain), Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The International Bri ...

Albacete Albacete ( , , ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, the area around the city is known as Los Llan ...

, Spain. Sunde, who spoke Spanish, first served as a front line ambulance driver in Spain, before requesting transfer to a Republican special operations unit as a saboteur and

partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

, operating behind

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

lines. Among the tasks Sunde carried out in the unit was railway sabotage. While in Spain he also wrote letters, describing his experiences and the situation in Spain, that were published in ''Arbeideren''. Sunde left Spain in the summer of 1938, returning to Norway.Moen and Sæther 2009, pp. 283–285

Wollweber League

From 1938 he was the leader of the Norwegian branch of Ernst Wollweber's secret sabotage organization, whose actions were directed against

Fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

-controlled shipping. The Wollweber League had been established as an initiative of the Soviet

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

Second World War

Following the German attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941, Sunde's group initiated sabotage activities in Norway. The group, consisting predominately of sailors, dockworkers and industrial labourers, was responsible for some 39 known actions between July 1941 and July 1944, dominating sabotage activity in Norway during this period. One of Sunde's cover names was ''Osvald'', and his group became known as the Osvald Group (''Osvald-gruppen''). The group's main area of operations was

Buskerud Buskerud () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Innlandet, Vestland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardanger ...

. According to historian Lars Borgersrud, Sunde's renown as an aggressive and daring saboteur, led other resistance organisations to approach him to carry out particularly delicate missions, in particular assassinations. After attacking the

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

and Aker offices of the State Police 21 August 1942, a reward of 50,000

NOK Nok is a village in Jaba, Nigeria, Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, ...

was offered for information that would lead to his capture.

Breakout from surrounded building

On 30 May 1944 he and 8 other members of "Osvald" are surrounded by German forces, at a former hotel ("Sollia") in Søndre Land Municipality in

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The ...

county. * Signe Raassumpaywall:

Post-war activities

After the war Sunde wrote the book ''Menn i mørket'' (1947) (Men in the Darkness), describing his wartime activities.Den sorte hånd slår til - 20. april 1943 – Av Steinar Åge Brenden
– ''Friheten'' (Retrieved on 17 September 2008)
– ''Dagbladet (18 February 1998)'' (Retrieved on 17 September 2008) Menn i mørket. The story of a sabotage group in Norway under the German occupation
– ''amazon.co.uk'' (Retrieved on 17 September 2008) Sunde received an award Odd Bergfald: ''KGB «OPERASJON NORGE».'' HJEMMENES FORLAG, Oslo, 1975, side 96 og 103. ('' deltagermedaljen'' in bronze)—by

certified mail Registered mail is a postal service in many countries which allows the sender proof of mailing via a receipt and, upon request, electronic verification that an article was delivered or that a delivery attempt was made. Depending on the country, ...

—from the Norwegian government. In 2013, then minister of defence honored 8 members—of the 17 who are still alive. Sunde and his organization received award and recognition the Soviet Union for their contributions during the war. The more famous and acknowledged partisan

Gunnar Sønsteby Gunnar Fridtjof Thurmann Sønsteby DSO ( 1918 – 10 May 2012) was a member of the Norwegian resistance movement during the German occupation of Norway in World War II. Known by the nickname "Kjakan" ("The Chin") and as "Agent No. 24", ...

unsuccessfully spoke in favour of giving Sunde a war pension, which was given to both the merchant sailors and the military branch of the resistance. Sunde played a central role in the internal conflicts of the Communist Party of Norway in the late 1940s.Moen and Sæther 2009, p. 317 The struggle culminated with the expulsion of former chairman Peder Furubotn and a number of other so-called "

Titoist Titoism is a Types of socialism, socialist political philosophy most closely associated with Josip Broz Tito and refers to the ideology and policies of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (LCY) during the Cold War. It is characterized by a br ...

s" in 1949/1950.

Conviction for treason and espionage

From 1949 the Norwegian Police Surveillance Agency began a surveillance operation against Sunde, leading to his arrest five years later on suspicion of espionage. In 1954 Sunde was convicted for treason and espionage for the Soviet Union, and sentenced to 8 years imprisonment. After serving two thirds of his sentence, he was paroled from prison in 1959. After his parole, he lived a quiet life. Terje Ranes who portrayed Sunde in a 2015 film, said that Sunde "was a

Stalinist Stalinism (, ) is the totalitarian means of governing and Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1927 to 1953 by dictator Joseph Stalin and in Soviet satellite states between 1944 and 1953. Stalinism in ...

hardliner, but there are many questions surrounding the trial against him ".

Film

A film, '' Offer eller spion?'' ("victim or spy?") was scheduled to be shown on Thursday 9 February 2015at Ringen Kino in Oslo, Norway.

Biographies

* Egil Ulateig: ''Raud krigar, raud spion'', 1989. (''Red Warrior, Red Spy''; biography) *Asbjørn Sunde: ''Menn i mørket'', 1947. (''Men in the Darkness''; autobiography) . Reissued in 2009, with foreword by Lars Borgersrud

References

Bibliography

External links

Offer eller Spion - Trailer #1Offer eller Spion - Trailer #2
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunde, Asbjorn 1909 births 1985 deaths Royal Norwegian Navy personnel Communist Party of Norway politicians Norwegian people of the Spanish Civil War International Brigades personnel Norwegian anti-fascists Norwegian resistance members Norwegian sailors Norwegian World War II memoirists Osvald Group People convicted of treason against Norway Norwegian people convicted of spying for the Soviet Union 1954 in politics 20th-century Norwegian writers People from Horten People from Vikna