Frank Meidell Falch (11 August 1920 – 15 December 2013) was a Norwegian media director. He hailed from

Kvinnherad Kvinnherad is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Sunnhordland, along the Hardangerfjorden. The municipality was the 5th in siz ...

. During the

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

he was arrested by the Nazi authorities at the end of June 1942. He was imprisoned in

Ulven concentration camp Ulven detention camp (German: ''Polizeihäftlingslager Ulven,'' ("''Ulven"'' means "the wolf")) was a concentration camp in Norway that was located in what was Os Municipality in Hordaland county (now part of Bjørnafjorden Municipality in Ves ...

. In November 1943 he was transferred to

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...

, where he remained until the camp was liberated. He was transported back to Norway with the

White Buses White Buses was a Swedish humanitarian operation with the objective of freeing Scandinavians in German concentration camps in Nazi Germany during the final stages of World War II. Although the White Buses operation was envisioned to rescue Sc ...

. After the war he took the

cand.mag. Candidate ( or ) is the name of various academic degrees, which are today mainly awarded in Scandinavia. The degree title was phased out in much of Europe through the 1999 Bologna Process, which has re-formatted academic degrees in Europe. The de ...

degree in 1950 and the cand.philol. degree in 1951. Falch served as the director of the

Bergen International Festival Bergen International Festival () is an annual international music and cultural festival in Bergen, Norway. In Spring 2022, Lars Petter Hagen took over as festival director. Biography The Bergen International festival is the largest festival ...

from 1951 to 1957, and was then an editor and district executive in the

Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

until 1990. He served as a member of

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

city council for the Conservative Party. He was decorated with the

Defence Medal 1940–1945 The Defence Medal 1940–1945 () is the award rewarded to those military and civilian personnel who participated in the fight against the German invasion and occupation of Norway between 1940 and 1945. The Defence Medal 1940–1945 can be award ...

and was a Knight of the

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon () is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by Christian X of Denmark, King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. Nowaday ...

. He was also a Rotary member since the 1950s, and edited their Nordic magazine ''

Rotary Norden ''Rotary Norden'' is an official publication of the Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to ...

''. He died in December 2013.

References

1920 births 2013 deaths People from Kvinnherad Mass media people from Bergen Ulven concentration camp survivors Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors NRK people Politicians from Bergen Conservative Party (Norway) politicians Norwegian magazine editors Knights of the Order of the Falcon {{Norway-bio-stub