Gunnar Haarstad (12 November 1916 – 13 April 1992) was a Norwegian jurist and police officer, a resistance member during

World War II 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 later head of the Norwegian Police Surveillance Agency for fifteen years.

Early life and career

Haarstad was born in Nittedal Municipality as the son of police sergeant Jørgen Haarstad and Agnes Azora Bordoe. One of his hobbies was sports shooting. He competed at the national competition

Landsskytterstevnet Landsskytterstevnet it is the Norwegian national rifle championship for all the disciplines within Det frivillige Skyttervesen Det frivillige Skyttervesen (DFS) (), known in English as the National Rifle Association of Norway, and by DFS thems ...

several times, winning his junior class three years in a row. In his first senior year he placed fourth. He was also present at the 1937

ISSF World Shooting Championships The ISSF World Shooting Championships are governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) is the governing body of Shooting at the Summer Olympics, Olympic shooting events. It also reg ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, where he participated in a shooting competition between the Scandinavian

capitals Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

. Among his school friends from Secondary School was Tore Gjelsvik, who took private shooting lessons from him early in 1940. After finishing his secondary education at the

Oslo Cathedral School Schola Osloensis, known in Norwegian language, Norwegian as Oslo Katedralskole (''Oslo Cathedral School'') and more commonly as "Katta",

in 1936, he studied law at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

, and graduated as

cand.jur. 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 ...

in 1941. His first job was as a junior solicitor in Halden Municipality. From 1942 he worked at the police in Oslo.Haarstad 1988: pp. 30–31 He married Inger Tøger-Lie in 1942.

Resistance work

During the German invasion of Norway in April 1940 Haarstad participated in the Norwegian Campaign. Later he took part in various resistance activities, including working for the clandestine intelligence organization XU. He was arrested by the Germans 11 June 1944 and held at

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. This ...

until 14 February 1945, when he was incarcerated at the

Grini concentration camp Grini prison camp (, ) was a Nazi concentration camp in Bærum, Norway, which operated between 1941 and May 1945. Ila Detention and Security Prison is now located here. History Grini was originally built as a women's prison, near an old croft ...

until end of the war.

Post-war career

Haarstad participated as a police investigator during the

legal purge in Norway after World War II The legal purge in Norway after World War II (; ) took place between May 1945 and August 1948 against anyone who was found to have Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, collaborated with the German occupation of Norway, German occupat ...

. From 1948 he became second-in-command under leader

Asbjørn Bryhn Asbjørn Johan Bryhn (24 August 1906 – 21 January 1990) was a Norwegian police officer, known for his resistance work during World War II, and later head of the Norwegian Police Surveillance Agency. Personal life Bryhn was born in Drammen as ...

at the Norwegian Police Surveillance Agency (, POT). From 1958 to 1967 he was Chief of Police of

Sør-Varanger Municipality Sør-Varanger (; ; ) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Finnmark Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kirkenes. Other settlements in the municipality include the vill ...

. When Bryhn had to leave POT in 1967, Haarstad returned to the Police Surveillance Agency, as the next leader, and led the service until he retired in 1982. After his retirement he published the book ''I hemmelig tjeneste. Etterretning og overvåkning i krig og fred'' in 1988. He died in

Bærum Municipality Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). The administr ...

in 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haarstad, Gunnar 1916 births 1992 deaths People from Nittedal Norwegian Army personnel of World War II Norwegian resistance members XU Grini concentration camp survivors Norwegian police chiefs Directors of government agencies of Norway